"Dena! My God, I just had the worst nightmare. My head is killing me." Dena held out a bottle of aspirin. "No. Get me some scotch."
"Ari, it's two in the afternoon."
"I don't give a damn what time it is. After the nightmare I just had, I need it."
"Ari, it wasn't‑"
"I thought the Wolfe twins were sent in to torture me."
"Ari‑"
"Can you imagine? I gotta get more sleep," Ariane sat up and tossed back the scotch her friend offered her.
"Ari, shut up for a minute."
"What?" Ariane asked.
"Shit . . . how do I say this. That wasn't a nightmare," Ariane stared at her, her knuckles turning white from her grip on the glass.
"They're here. They were sent to help," Ariane's tanned face turned white and she scowled.
"This isn't funny," Ariane whispered.
"It's not a joke. They're outside. Aric carried you in."
"What?" she hissed.
"The twins were sent in by the investors," Dena said quietly.
"Those bastards," her friend murmured.
"Which ones?" Dena asked bitterly.
As Ariane's partner, this was a major blow to her. Their partnership was being mocked and insulted. And having the twins, of all people, here was pouring salt, lemon juice and vinegar into a bleeding wound.
Ariane was on her feet, lacing up her boots.
"Where are you going?"
Ariane grabbed the scotch and poured another double. Downing it she shuddered, then grabbed a cigarette and lit it.
"To get rid of them."
***
Courtney explained to the crew that Ariane's lack of sleep, complete exhaustion and the heat had gotten the better of her. They accepted the explanation readily. All had been concerned about the time she was putting in. When the men took a break from the heat, she kept working.
Aric and Quinn stood awkwardly by the trailer. The crew watched them suspiciously. Taking in their surroundings, the twins couldn't help but notice the beautiful younger girl whose eyes were glued to them. Ariane would be fine, she assured the crew. The girl hadn't approached them yet.
The trailer door opened and the crew looked up. When Ariane appeared, they applauded her. Waving at them to keep working, she faced the twins.
Aric saw the ashen face. Reluctant to accept this job, Quinn had talked him into it.
"Maybe she's over it. Besides, you know you want to see her again."
"Yeah, I know. But I have a really bad feeling about this, little brother."
Now Aric knew he should have listened to his instinct. Quinn had been crazy to think she was over the past.
"Are you feeling better?" he asked politely. Her lovely face was emotionless. Time in the sun had tanned her once fair skin and lightened her already golden hair. The red lips he once knew so well were set harshly. Blue eyes, once as warm as a summer sky, were full of ice and hate.
“What are you doing here?"
"We were called by Thomkins. We've worked with him before. Asked us to come in and assist."
"And of course you jumped at another chance to humiliate me," she snapped. Aric's pale blue eyes glared at her.
"That's not what happened and you know it. I didn't know it was your project until the other day. By then it was too late to back out," Ariane waved her hand in annoyance.
"Whatever. Don't feed me your lies, Aric Wolfe, because this time I'm not taking them," she hissed. "This is my crew, my project, and I'll be damned if you think I'm going to lie down and let you or anyone else take it away from me!" she growled. Aric swallowed.
This would be worse than he thought. Quinn was watching closely, concerned. The striking brunette, Dena, once a fling of his, was right behind her. The younger girl, whose eyes were on him, was only a few feet away.
“We have no intentions of bringing in a new crew. We're here to assist. This will remain your project."
"Yeah, whatever is convenient for you at the time, right?" she demanded. "I wish they had sent Farbes!"
Storming off she yelled, "Back to work! Everyone!"
Aric looked at Dena.
"She never got over it, did she."
"That's one way to put it. How are you guys?"
"Been better," Aric sighed. Court followed her sister.
Quinn stepped forward. Though not in contact since they graduated, they had managed to remain friends when the romance ended. Pulling the woman to him, he hugged her tightly.
"How 'bout yourself?"
"All right, I suppose. Trying to keep her out of trouble," Dena smiled at him.
"Who's the kid?" Quinn asked.
"Her sister."
"That's Courtney?" Aric asked, surprised.
"Yep."
"I saw a picture of her when she was a kid . . . she's grown up well," Aric noted. Quinn grinned, with a mischievous chuckle. "No, you sicko, I'm not about to go after her. I don't think she's legal."
"She's not, so keep it in your pants," Dena said sternly, looking at Quinn. Quinn grinned at her in response.
"What do you mean by keeping her out of trouble?"
"Well, she finally quit smoking . ."
"When did she start?" Aric demanded.
“Right before graduation. Right after the whole mess."
"Oh."
"That cigarette you saw was her first in a year. Now she's drinking a bottle of scotch almost nightly. "
Aric sighed. Ariane had drunk too much in college, especially when she couldn’t sleep, tossing and turning all night, paranoid about oversleeping and missing a class.
"Yeah. Plus she kills herself working. Ask any of the crew . . . they can't keep up with her."
Aric watched Ariane, as she knelt in the sand, talking to a worker.
* * *
"I think they're gorgeous!" Courtney tossed her hair. Ariane ignored her, writing in the log. "Don't you?"
"I know them too well to think they're cute," she finally muttered.
“How?" Ariane paused.
"We went to school together."
"So . . . are they single?"
"They're too old for you. They're my age."
"I'll be eighteen next week! I don't see why I can't go join Mom and Dad."
"You know the rules. You agreed to this to stay out of summer school. Besides, I have control of your trust fund. You wouldn't get far without any money."
"Can we go to Athens? Please?"
"Next week? I don't know yet, Court. Something will happen soon. I can feel it."
"You've been 'feeling it' for weeks now."
"I will try to take you to Athens next week, Court. No promises," Ariane left the trailer.
Court sighed. At this rate, she'd never get to Athens. Hmmm . . . Quinn looked like the adventurous sort . . .maybe he'd take her to Athens.
Yeah, right, she thought. They were so good looking she couldn't even introduce herself to them earlier that afternoon. The five years from graduation had served them well, their boyish good looks having matured. Aric wore his platinum hair shorter, Quinn's was shoulder length; otherwise they were completely identical to her. No dumb twin questions. They probably hated that . . .
A knock at her door interrupted her thoughts. Opening the trailer she saw it was Quinn. Shyly, she stepped back.
"Hi. You're Courtney, right?"
"Uh . . . yeah," she managed.
No dumb twin questions, no dumb twin questions . . .
"Is your sister here?"
Courtney just stared at him. Flashing her a smile, he waited for an answer.
"Hello?"
"What? Oh, uh, sorry, she's out . . . probably working."
"Ok. We haven't been introduced yet. I'm Quinn Wolfe," he held out his hand.
"I know," she smiled weakly, holding onto the door with one hand and taking his in the other.
"Would you tell her I stopped by?"
"Sure."
"Great, thanks," He turned to go and then turned back. "Would you tell her one more thing?"
"Uh‑huh."
"Tell her we're not the enemy. We're here to help her."
"Ok," Courtney frowned. Quinn looked at her carefully.
"You don't know what's going on, do you?"
"Nope."
"Can I come in for a minute?"
Courtney stared at him, grasping for words. Finally she nodded.
"Sure."
Quickly she backed out of the doorway. Stepping in, he towered over her five foot nine frame.
"Well, to give you the short story, my brother and your sister had a relationship once. You were pretty young, I bet."
Courtney nodded. Never had she been this close to such a man before. The power radiating from him made her feel like swooning. . .or was it his smile? Maybe his scent. Strong and manly and tingly. It was making her knees feel weak.
"Things went badly, to put it mildly. Your sister has never gotten over it, or forgiven Aric."
"What happened?" she asked. Quinn paused.
"You should ask your sister," he finally answered. "I just don't want you to get caught up in this mess."
"Oh. Thanks."
Quinn glanced at his watch.
"You're welcome. I need to go. If you get lonely in here, come on over. Aric and I are musicians and we love an audience. We brought our guitars."
"Ok," She managed a smile. Smiling back at her, he left the trailer.
Closing the door behind him, Courtney started shaking. Did he like her? He had invited her over . . . Rushing to her bed, she pulled out her last issue of Seventeen magazine. Somewhere it listed a bunch of signs that a guy liked you . . .
***
A few nights later, Aric was out walking when he saw the light on in the back of Ariane's trailer. The door opened and he paused. Stepping out, she shut the door behind her quietly. In one hand was a package of some sort. Glancing around, she finally headed off, away from the main site. Quinn was entertaining a group of the workers, Courtney and Dena.
At a safe distance where he couldn't be seen, Aric followed. Reaching a rock, she climbed up and sat on it, her back to Aric. First she lit a cigarette, elegantly flipping a Zippo lighter out.
Watching, he saw her take a bottle out of a paper bag, remove the lid and take a swallow. The scotch?
Keeping the bottle near her mouth, Ariane kept taking drinks from it. Not short sips, but long drinks that only someone accustomed to drinking could do.
When Aric could no longer stand to watch her destroy herself, he approached. Wrapped in her thoughts, she didn't acknowledge his presence until he was next to her. Barely able to hold onto her bottle from fright, she glared at him.
"Here to watch me fail at drinking, too?"
"How much of that have you drunk tonight?" he asked.
"Not enough if I'm talking to you."
"Don't do this, Ariane."
"Do what?" she snarled.
“Drink. I've seen you do it before."
"I like to drink. Is that all right with you, oh Great One? I'm not the stupid girl who you manipulated into loving you."
"You loved me freely and I loved you," he said crossly.
"Yeah, so you're here to watch me keep on failing. You're as bad as Farbes."
"That's a cheap shot."
"It fits."
"Why do you want to hurt yourself? And Courtney."
"You leave my sister out of this!" Ariane turned flashing eyes on Aric.
"She suffers the most, watching you do this."
"Go away."
"No. Not until we get a few things settled."
"Settled?"
"I am perfectly willing to go home, but I can't now. So you're going to have to live with it."
"After being engaged to you, I can live with anything," she replied. Aric grabbed the bottle from her and poured out the rest of its contents, which wasn't much.
"What are you doing!"
With one muscled arm he kept her back until the bottle was empty, then gave it to her.
"You can break this over my head if you want, but I will not stand by and watch you kill yourself because of a fluke accident years ago!"
Without a word, Ariane got up and headed to her trailer. Aric's heart sunk. Only a steady drinker could walk that straight of a line after the amount of liquor she had consumed. It wasn't his fault. She had dumped him, breaking their engagement, all because of that stupid grant so long ago.
* * *
"Her sister is a babe."
"She's seventeen, Quinn, stay away from her."
"She'll be eighteen next week. Dena told me."
"We have enough problems with Ariane, don't you add another one."
Quinn sat up, staring at his brother in amazement.
"You're still in love with her."
“I am not. But I did love her once and I can't stand to see her kill herself."
Quinn stood, circling his brother. Aric's face had taken on the slightest tinge of pink. Embarrassment? Quinn shook his head in disbelief.
"I don't believe you. She breaks your heart and you still love her, years later.”
"Quinn, I do not. You don't know anything."
"I know you, big brother."
Sighing, Aric left their trailer. Sometimes being a twin was just a pain in the ass. Hiding his true feelings from Quinn was near to impossible.
* * *
"Isn't it dangerous for such a pretty lady to be out at night alone?"
Dena looked up from where she sat on the small hill of dirt and smiled at her ex‑boyfriend. Changing her cigarette to her other hand, she blew the smoke away from him.
"Just clearing my head. Have a patch of dirt."
She patted the ground next to her; Quinn sat down.
“Haven't seen you much the last couple days."
“I know. Ariane keeps me busy."
"She really hates us, doesn't she?" Quinn asked. Dena sighed.
"I honestly don't know, Quinn. She doesn't talk about either of you to me or Court. She never really dealt with what happened, she just shut down. I don't think she know what to think at this point. She's probably a mass of confusion. Hey, Quinn, can you answer a question?"
"Sure," He reached over and brushed a lock of dark hair from her eyes.
"How did you guys hear about this? Thomkins wouldn't have randomly chosen you guys without some kind of pushing."
Quinn sighed. What to say?
"It's a long, messy story . . . basically your investors put out a call for someone to come and bail you guys out. I talked Aric into it."
"It's that bad?" Dena asked quietly. Quinn nodded. When Dena looked away to hide her tears, he took her hand and kissed it gently. Alarmed, she looked back at him. "What was that for?"
"Dena," he looked into her almost black eyes, "I'd like to start our relationship over."
Dena's mouth fell open, eyes widening. "Say what?"
“The last couple days . . . being with you again, it's been great. I was young and foolish and I messed up. I'd like to start over."
Dena looked away. Finally she stared him in the eyes and said, "No."
"Can you tell me why not?" he asked. Smiling, her hand touched his cheek.
“There are many reasons. One, Courtney is completely head over heels in love with you and I won't hurt her, or let you hurt her. Two, Quinn, you cheated on me. Multiple times," she said gently.
Quinn looked down for a moment, then back at her.
"I know. I apologize from the bottom of my heart. I was stupid."
"Quinn, I'm divorced. And I'm not ready to get involved with anyone."
Quinn fell silent.
"It was very painful. He took my son and everything I had. I don't ever want to be involved again with someone."
"I'm sorry," he murmured, looking down. Quinn knew damn well who it was. The creep she had started dating after breaking up with him. Through the grapevine he knew she had married him. If he hadn't been such a dick, Dena wouldn't have ever been involved with the guy.
"This was last year. He took advantage of the fact I was out here and told the courts it wasn't good for our son. The courts gave him everything. Ariane has been taking care of me ever since.
“Even if Court and the past wasn't a factor, I couldn't get involved with you."
"I understand." he smiled at her. She smiled back.
"Good. Are we still friends?"
"Of course." He chuckled. Leaning over, he kissed her cheek.
* * *
The next day, the temperature was 114 degrees Fahrenheit. Ariane had the men work until ten AM, and then she let them rest until six, and would have them work again till midnight.
"We may have to start doing a lot of night digging," Ariane groaned. "Any more get sick, we're doomed."
"That shouldn't be a problem," Dena said. Ariane shook her head.
"It will be. That means we need generators and heavy duty lights. That means more money that the investors won't like shelling out. Plus, even if we did get a bunch of lights, it's too easy to trip over something important, miss something or step on something breakable. Night digging sucks."
"Ariane is right," Quinn said. The women turned to see the brothers standing under the tarp, a few feet away. Ariane ignored them, turning back to sheets of paper.
"What else can be done to cut expenses?" the younger twin asked.
"We're at the max, Quinn. Short of letting go of half the crew, not a damn thing. Our supplies are down to the absolute basics. I have to be careful with the men. Almost all of them have been sick from heat at least once this month. If they die, I have a lawsuit to deal with."
Aric remained silent. Speaking would only anger her more. Resentment radiated off her tanned figure. White streaks shot through her gold hair from the sun bleaching it, Courtney's hair was similar, almost as long, but wavier. Still long and kept braided out of her face, she was more muscular, but retained her curvy figure. Tanned darkly from two years of being in the Greek sun, her blue eyes were electric, dark and smoldering with anger. Yet still she was stunning and sexy.
Dena looked the same as she had in college, but her beauty had matured into ravishing. Long waves of raven black hair, deep brown eyes, beautiful mouth. The same height as Courtney, not as thin. How she and Quinn had remained friends was a mystery to Aric. Once Quinn broke up with a girl, it was a war zone.
A soft footstep behind him, and Aric turned. Courtney was there. He smiled at her. Shyly she smiled back, her eyes drifting to Quinn. Aric wasn't surprised the girl had a crush on his lady killer brother.
"Hi there," he said.
"Hi."
At her voice, Ariane turned towards her sister and frowned. Dena looked up, too, trying not to chuckle.
Courtney was wearing full makeup. Striking as always, her long legs exposed from shorts, she wore a white tank top, a size too small, to show off her slender body. Her long, thick hair was pulled up and piled on top of her head.
“What is it, Court?" Ariane was glaring at her.
"I, uh . . . brought you more water." Court held out four water bottles, which Dena took. "I thought you might need some."
Ariane's glare deepened. The twins smiled at her; Dena kept her face stern.
"That was sweet of you," Quinn said. Courtney flushed red in the face. _ "Uh . . . you're welcome . . . I'll, uh . . . leave you to your work."
Court backed away from the group quickly, hoping Quinn was watching her.
"She's a sweet kid," Quinn remarked. Ariane was in his face instantly, eyes flashing, fists ready.
“You keep your hands off of her or so help me God I'll have you arrested for statutory rape," she hissed. Quinn glared at her. Only slightly taller than her, in a rage, she was an intimidating figure.
"I'm not a pedophile, Ariane. Don't you trust your sister?"
"It's you I don't trust, Quinn Wolfe. I will not have my baby sister suffer at the hands of you or anyone else in your family!"
"Ari, calm down." Dena pulled her back.
"I just want the lines known," Ariane said through clenched teeth, her dark eyes locked on Quinn.
"You know, the job here is to find this temple, not kill each other. Can we just please focus on the task at hand?"Aric interjected. Ariane glared at him before pulling herself from Dena's grasp.
"Fine. You figure out the expenses, Mr. Brains." Fists clenched, she stormed away. "I'll go work."
* * *
The days crept by and still no discoveries were made. Ariane was in a bad mood all the time, to the point where even Dena avoided her for hours at a time. Working alongside the crew in the ditches, she hardly spoke.
Thomkins was threatening to shut the operation down. Ariane had one week to find something or the project would be abandoned. There simply wasn't enough evidence. Two years ago there had been a local who found a chunk of concrete, or its 2000 year old equivalent. Once the carbon dating had proven its age, Ariane heavily researched the myths about Artemis, whose temple was rumored to have been in the area.
As the goddess of the hunt, the moon, protectress of girls, and patron of the Amazons, there was a myth of her largest temple vanishing mysteriously one day. As the reign of Christianity approached, the last priestess closed the doors and cast a spell, hiding the temple from destruction. Speculation included it had been sunk into the ground, or hidden in another dimension, according to some of the wilder tales.
Ariane felt sure the piece found belonged to the temple and had approached Thomkins for the project. Several other archaeologists turned the project down, and finally Thomkins gave it to her. Without a strong reputation to back her, Thomkins had been reluctant to hand the assignment to an "amateur". Ariane's blood boiled when he called her that and she vowed to prove him wrong.
The current site covered several acres of desert, and most of it had been dug up already. Nothing had been found since that one piece. Lately Ariane had begun to doubt everything, including her own sanity. Not a bone, not a shoe, not a bowl. Nothing. Ariane herself was losing faith.
Away from the digging, for safety purposes, were the European‑styled motored homes. One was shared between the sisters and Dena, the other belonging to the twins. They were equipped with showers and generators. Tents and shelters covered another section of the land, where the workers slept. Portable showers were set up for the workers to cool off at night. Many of the workers spoke some English, and Ariane had picked up Greek over the years, as well as Latin, French and German. Ancient written languages like Sumerian were easy for her. Communication wasn't a problem.
One of the things Ariane dreaded about being shut down was that the workers would lose their jobs. They were hardworking men, who counted on their generous salaries.
Ariane had retreated to Greece after college, immersing herself in mythology for a museum dedicated to the ancient goddesses. There she had been able to forget Aric, the college, and even her family for weeks at a time. Courtney was a virtual stranger to her. Only because her mother had insisted it would help both girls get to know each other did she finally relent to let Court spend the summer with her. Since Court's arrival, the sisters hadn't bonded. Ariane had been almost nine when Court was born. By the time Court was interesting to her, Ari was off at boarding school in Switzerland, then back to the States for college, where she met and fell in love with Aric Wolfe.
As for the eighteen year old Courtney, she moped around even more. It was late June, the twins had been here three weeks, she was of legal age and still clueless if Quinn liked her. Time would run out soon and she would need a new plan to avoid being sent home. There was no way she could talk to Ariane. Ariane probably had scared Quinn off. Though the boys always invited her to join them in their nightly playing and singing, there were walls everywhere. The largest being named Ariane.
At Court's boarding school there had been a couple boys she liked, and one who liked her. They hadn't ‘gone all the way’; Court wasn't ready. Franc, her spoiled French boyfriend, hadn't been pleased and they broke up. Court was all right with the breakup, their relationship had been mostly clumsy groping anyway.
Court dreamed of a man who would sweep her off her feet and shower her in love and attention and treat her like a princess. A kind man, like her father, who would give her the world and love her forever. A man like Quinn couldn't be expected to indulge the whims of an 18 year old, she knew. Once she got out of Greece, and returned to the States, she'd start looking for a man in her own age group.
Being sentenced to spend the summer in Greece with her reclusive sister wasn't her idea of fun either. Her memories of Ariane from childhood were so faded and rare, she knew next to nothing about her. Ariane hadn't even picked her up at the airport, Dena had. Even their mother had no idea what Ariane's interests were, other than Greek mythology, something that had always bored Courtney.
With the twins' arrival, Court had hoped things would get interesting. How the hell was she supposed to know her sister hated the twins? No one ever talked to her. As long as Ari didn't find out that Court had set it up for the twins to be sent in, things would be okay. Thomkins would shut the operation down within the week and they'd all go home. Or at least, she could return to Athens, where Ariane had been living before. Surely she could find something or someone interesting in Athens.
The immediate problem was that summer was about to end, and that meant Mother would be calling to get her ready for school. How was she supposed to tell them that she had been expelled, not put on probation? Court would have to get Ariane's full cooperation, and that meant she had to get on her sister's good side. Easy enough. Pretend to be interested in digging in dirt and stupid, old Greek legends. Courts thoughts turned to the twins.
Aric was sweet and charming, with a smile to melt any woman's heart, except her sister's, apparently. Quinn, while just as charming, had a wicked, roguish air to him. Court knew he and Dena had once been a hot item, but Dena was boycotting men. That was another story no one would tell Court about. Instead, Court spent her free time following Dena around.
"So? Does he like me?" she pestered Dena. Dena groaned.
"Court, you're putting me in a really bad place."
"What happened with Aric and Ari?"
Dena looked uncomfortable.
"I shouldn't talk about it. Ari doesn't want it discussed."
"I'm eighteen!" Courtney stamped her foot. "I want to know what's going on in this family."
Dena shook her head.
"No, Court. You'll have to wait for Ari."
"I'll be dead by then," Court snapped, slamming the trailer door behind her.
Turning the corner of the trailer, she bumped into Quinn. His arms caught her before she could tumble backwards.
"Slow down there, Court. What's the rush?"
“I was just ‑ going for a walk," she said quickly, staring into his pale blue eyes. He looked around. Dirt streaked his hair, face and clothes.
"At high noon?"
"Why not?" she asked nervously. His hands were still holding her arms. Even covered in dirt he was gorgeous.
"Cause you'll get heat sick and pass out. Come with me."
"Where?" Court asked, suddenly on cloud nine.
“Our trailer. It's cooler. Your sister has ordered the men to stop till this afternoon. Everyone is in their tents until it cools off."
"Oh, okay." She smiled at him, following. Maybe he did like her. Or, he was just a nice guy.
Disappointing was the fact that Aric was there, looking over papers. Dena stood next to him.
"She's right. There's absolutely no way to cut the budgeting any further." Aric rubbed his temples.
Dena sighed. "I've looked at these things for days now."
"So now what?"
"Let me talk to Thomkins. If there's a request for more money, he might accept it from me," Aric said reluctantly. This would really piss Ariane off. They turned when the door opened and Quinn and Court came in.
"Hi, guys," Dena greeted them. Quinn offered Court a chair to sit in.
"What's up?" Quinn asked.
"Money. We're just about out," Aric replied. Quinn sighed.
"Yeah, Ari was saying something about it earlier when we were in the hole."
"She talks to you?" Aric asked. Quinn shrugged.
"Sometimes. She just starts rambling."
Court listened attentively, feeling a flutter of panic. Surely Ariane wouldn't develop some kind of feelings for Quinn. Quinn would never notice her if something started between him and her gorgeous sister. Quickly she calmed herself. Don't overreact, she thought to herself. With Ariane there was no telling.
At eighteen, with little experience with men, Courtney lacked the self‑esteem she desired, and that Dena carried so well. Court considered herself a young puppy growing into feet that were too big. What Courtney couldn't see, that everyone else could, was the beautiful young woman she was. Bearing a strong resemblance to her sister, Court had innocence written all over her lovely face, instead of the pain and harshness Ariane wore. Her green eyes stood out against her fair skin, entrapping anyone who looked into them too long.
Quinn had experienced it the other night, bewitched by her gaze across the campfire. The words to the song he had been playing with Aric simply vanished from his head. Aric had thought he was drunk.
"Sometimes she doesn't say anything. I just keep quiet or joke with the workers." Quinn reached into the refrigerator for an apple.
"I'll draft a proposal tonight and fax it." Aric sighed.
A pounding at the door caught their attention. Quinn opened it. Ariane, covered in dirt from head to toe, stepped in.
"I need some help to get the tarps ready. The sky is filling with clouds. It could open up at any minute," she snapped, leaving again.
"What are the tarps for?" Court asked quietly.
Quinn grinned at her. "To cover anything we find so the rain won't damage it. But there's nothing to cover right now. I'll go humor her."
Swaggering outside, he winked at Court first. Dena followed Quinn. Aric sighed.
"Aric?" Court asked. He looked over at her. "Can I ask you something?"
"What happened to make your sister hate me?" he guessed.
"Well, yeah."
"Do you want something to drink? This could take a while."
"No, I'm all right."
Turning his chair around backwards, he sat facing her, one arm resting on the back. His handsome features were marked with sadness.
"We met during our freshman year of college." he sipped his water. "She was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, the day we met. We had a lab class together and we were partnered," Aric's eyes were misty.
Aric looked up as the door opened. The professor was already lecturing, but curiosity distracted him. A tall, beautiful girl stood in the doorway, wearing a green halter top and jeans, long, gold hair clipped back from her face. Large, shy, blue eyes viewed the room for an empty seat. Impulsively Aric waved at her to join him. Slipping into the seat, she smiled shyly at him and turned her attention to the professor.
Pulling a notebook from her backpack, she began copying the notes on the board, which the prof wrote rapidly. Aric forgot about the class, watching the long, slender hands write elegantly and neatly.
Beautiful fingers, he thought to himself. Delicate wrists, too delicate for the black sports watch on her right wrist.
Blinking a few times, Aric realized she was looking at him.
"Uh, what?" he asked weakly.
"He just partnered us for the lab. Do you have a phone number?"
"Sure, yeah, I do." Aric scribbled it down and took the slip of paper with her number on it. Then she was up and moving through the sea of students and out the door.
Aric smiled dreamily at the memory.
"That was the first day. She was in almost all of my classes, so I managed to be partners with her for everything. A couple days later I asked her out. She agreed and we just . . . fell in love." Aric looked away. Court waited. "At the beginning of our senior year I asked her to marry me. She said yes, and things were great."
"So what happened?" Court asked. "It's a total fairy tale. Love at first sight."
"There was a grant contest. It included the opportunity to assist on a major dig in South America and a large cash prize, as well as a mention in a major archaeological magazine. Ari didn't care about the money, she just wanted to go on that dig. She was at the top of our class. Quinn and I were good, and up there, but she was the star of our class, basically. Everyone expected her to win it."
"She didn't?"
"No. Someone else did. She helped the winner with his research, and even wrote parts of the report. She didn't think it was her best work but . . . apparently it was."
"You won it," Court murmured. Aric nodded.
"I did my best to give it back . . . but they wouldn't hear of it. She was stunned, I was stunned. Everyone was. No one could believe she didn't win. She left the awards ceremony in tears . . . wouldn't take my phone calls . . . a couple days later I received her engagement ring in the mail."
"Oh, Aric." Court felt her heart breaking.
"You were just a kid. Ariane had never failed, and as far as I'm concerned she still hasn't. But her pride dictated otherwise. Something in her died that day, and then . .. she just vanished. Trying to keep tabs on her over the years was almost impossible."
Court wiped her eyes, trying not to see Aric's tears. She rose.
"I'm sorry, Aric. I didn't mean to bring all of this up for you guys. I didn't know. When I contacted Thomkins . . . I didn't know. I thought bringing you guys here would help her. The pictures I found . . . you guys looked so in love . . . I never thought . . ."
“I don't blame you for anything, Court. You were a child. I would do anything I could to help her. If she'd let me."
"Thank you for telling me, Aric. Please don't be sad. It will work out."
His answer was a sad smile. Quickly she left, before his tears fell.