You mean when you dug up bones or artifacts belonging to them? Do you expect anything like that here in town once things get more—interesting?” Jordan asked.
“ Who knows? I certainly didn’t expect anything like Scott when I checked into your lovely B & B. But here we are. I’ve learned over the years that in my line of work it’s best to keep an open mind about these things.”
“But you’re a scientist who deals with facts staring back at you. How is it you believe in…such things?” He’d almost used the G word, but changed it at the last minute in front of the kids.
But a bout that time Hutton and Scott decided they were finished eating and wanted down. While Nick stood up to mop messy faces and fold bibs, the discussion ground to a halt.
T he minute the children scampered off to play in the other room, River went with intuition. “One of the things I wanted to ask, and you’re under no obligation to answer this, but how do you know Hutton hasn’t already seen him? He is, after all, her father.”
Jordan’s eyes went wide again. “Okay, how did you know that?”
River decided to keep it simple. “I was reminded earlier today that Pelican Pointe is a small town. People talk.”
“ Ah. So you weren’t using your vast experience with these sorts of things to hone in on that?”
“Not yet,” River said, smiling , keeping her skill close to the vest.
“That touches on all kinds of possibilities,” Nick surmised. “That must be one of the reasons Scott’s opened up to you already.”
River let him think that for now without setting him straight . “Let me remind you that because I have Native blood running through my veins I grew up on myths and legends, some beautiful, some not so pretty. Some were downright scary. But scary isn’t Scott.”
“Scary ? Not at all, but he does love to bug people sometimes. This all must relate in some way to why you’re here and what you do for a living.”
“I’ve thought of that. I made archaeology my life’s work because most times I could come up with a reasonable hypothesis, an assessment if you will, about how a civilization lived at one time based in fact.” She didn’t share how because that would take another discussion.
“ But some days I admit to blending the rational facts and figures I learn with what I know of my own ancestral beliefs. That isn’t to say at the moment, I’m meshing Pueblo lifestyle with Chumash or Coushatta for that matter, quite the contrary. I deal in what I find in the ground, go from there. But sometimes there are other factors at play that can’t be so easily explained. Throw in those elements and they tell me a lot about the people from the past.”
Nick raised a brow. “You’re not ready to divulge these other factors, are you?”
River smiled again. “Another night maybe.”
“ That’s extremely candid for you to admit that digging up artifacts is so theoretical,” Jordan said.
“ It would be disingenuous of me otherwise. Don’t get me wrong. Like other archeologists, I deal in facts and figures, what I find in the ground. I live by carbon dating just like others do, most of the time anyway. But I also take my Native heritage seriously. The part of me that grew up listening to magical tales about supernatural beings is in here.” She tapped her chest. “I don’t turn away from who I am or where I came from.”
“But keeping an open mind is probably what brought Scott to your door.”
“ More like brought me here to his. But it’s also why I’m the best person for this job here in Pelican Pointe. This is a different kind of site altogether for me. That’s why I lobbied to get it. I’ll have a successful dig site here because I’m thorough and I’m willing to give Marcus Cody his due. I want to learn as much from him about the Chumash people as I do by digging in the dirt.”
“ As soon as the cliffs collapsed and gave up that canoe, I started reading about carbon dating on the
“ Who knows? I certainly didn’t expect anything like Scott when I checked into your lovely B & B. But here we are. I’ve learned over the years that in my line of work it’s best to keep an open mind about these things.”
“But you’re a scientist who deals with facts staring back at you. How is it you believe in…such things?” He’d almost used the G word, but changed it at the last minute in front of the kids.
But a bout that time Hutton and Scott decided they were finished eating and wanted down. While Nick stood up to mop messy faces and fold bibs, the discussion ground to a halt.
T he minute the children scampered off to play in the other room, River went with intuition. “One of the things I wanted to ask, and you’re under no obligation to answer this, but how do you know Hutton hasn’t already seen him? He is, after all, her father.”
Jordan’s eyes went wide again. “Okay, how did you know that?”
River decided to keep it simple. “I was reminded earlier today that Pelican Pointe is a small town. People talk.”
“ Ah. So you weren’t using your vast experience with these sorts of things to hone in on that?”
“Not yet,” River said, smiling , keeping her skill close to the vest.
“That touches on all kinds of possibilities,” Nick surmised. “That must be one of the reasons Scott’s opened up to you already.”
River let him think that for now without setting him straight . “Let me remind you that because I have Native blood running through my veins I grew up on myths and legends, some beautiful, some not so pretty. Some were downright scary. But scary isn’t Scott.”
“Scary ? Not at all, but he does love to bug people sometimes. This all must relate in some way to why you’re here and what you do for a living.”
“I’ve thought of that. I made archaeology my life’s work because most times I could come up with a reasonable hypothesis, an assessment if you will, about how a civilization lived at one time based in fact.” She didn’t share how because that would take another discussion.
“ But some days I admit to blending the rational facts and figures I learn with what I know of my own ancestral beliefs. That isn’t to say at the moment, I’m meshing Pueblo lifestyle with Chumash or Coushatta for that matter, quite the contrary. I deal in what I find in the ground, go from there. But sometimes there are other factors at play that can’t be so easily explained. Throw in those elements and they tell me a lot about the people from the past.”
Nick raised a brow. “You’re not ready to divulge these other factors, are you?”
River smiled again. “Another night maybe.”
“ That’s extremely candid for you to admit that digging up artifacts is so theoretical,” Jordan said.
“ It would be disingenuous of me otherwise. Don’t get me wrong. Like other archeologists, I deal in facts and figures, what I find in the ground. I live by carbon dating just like others do, most of the time anyway. But I also take my Native heritage seriously. The part of me that grew up listening to magical tales about supernatural beings is in here.” She tapped her chest. “I don’t turn away from who I am or where I came from.”
“But keeping an open mind is probably what brought Scott to your door.”
“ More like brought me here to his. But it’s also why I’m the best person for this job here in Pelican Pointe. This is a different kind of site altogether for me. That’s why I lobbied to get it. I’ll have a successful dig site here because I’m thorough and I’m willing to give Marcus Cody his due. I want to learn as much from him about the Chumash people as I do by digging in the dirt.”
“ As soon as the cliffs collapsed and gave up that canoe, I started reading about carbon dating on the
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