Page 110 of Digging Up Love
Next to him, Caitlyn whooped, and laughter rippled through the crowd.
“Yes, I think we can all agree it’s a pretty big deal. We are presented with an opportunity to study these fossils, existing where they ought not to, as well as the unique geological conditions which allowed for their preservation.”
Behind him, Tre grunted approval. Mr.and Mrs.Blake had granted the geology team access to the dig after Quentin had gotten reinstated. Tre might’ve been more excited about the chance to get his hands dirty on the field site than the impending birth of his own child.
Smiling, Quentin continued. “None of this would’ve been possible if not for the generosity of the Blake family, who not only allowed us to excavate on their property, but donated the fossils to the university.”
A smattering of claps followed this announcement. He wished Alisha’s grandparents could’ve made the trip, but he’d promised to send a recording, courtesy of his mother’s propensity to document every moment of his life.
Of course, there was one Blake in particular whose absence he felt acutely. But hang on ...
The door of the hall slid open, letting in a slant of light. A woman in a tight leather jacket and flowy skirt backed in, tripping over an invisible obstacle on the carpet, and his heart soared.Alisha.
Bent double, she slunk into the last row and pulled down the bottom of a seat, collapsing into it. Their eyes met, held.
The smile that lifted his cheeks turned wobbly, and when he glanced down at the notecards to buy time, the letters blurred. She’d come. Strength surged through his veins. Strength and euphoria and an exuberant sense of peace, like smudged sidewalk chalk muddled by raindrops into a burst of color. Happiness.
He put down the notecards, gripped the edges of the podium. “We’re here to share our preliminary findings from the Hawksburg excavation. And if you would’ve told me at the start of this year that we’d be pulling dinosaur remains out of the dirt in western Illinois, I would’ve pinched myself, because surely I’d be dreaming.”
He glanced up at Alisha to assure himself her presence was indeed real, and he found her eyes on his, lips parted.
“But so much of life is that way, right? You start out your life with dreams that seem so real you could reach out and grab them. For some of us, that dream is a singular thing. Paleontology, for me.”
“Rubik’s Cube world champion,” Forrest muttered.
Quentin shot him a grin over his shoulder. “Whatever that dream is, circumstances either propel us toward it, or hinder us. Sometimes it doesn’t look like we’re on a path at all, but rather wandering in the wilderness. Something which”—he glanced at Dev and Cait—“I happen to know a little about as well.”
Cait laughed and held up a finger. “One word: GPS.”
He chuckled. “But other times, moments like this year, like today.” He locked eyes with Alisha. “In these moments, all the lost and disparate pieces of your journey pull together, much like a shattered vertebra held together by superglue and a prayer. And as you begin to piece it together, the backbone, the essence of that thing you’ve been chasing all along, takes shape before you. And maybe it looks like what you imagined, but other times it’s completely unexpected. New, and staring back at you. Whole and real and complete before you ever came along.
“And all we’re doing”—he leaned one elbow on the podium, and though he addressed the crowd, his words were for Alisha—“our wholerole, in fact, is to let these bones speak for themselves. To not put words in their mouth or reshape them into what we want, what we expect.”
A flash of red caught his eye—Alisha’s fingers, toying with the fringe of her scarf.
With a deep breath, Quentin pushed on. “Paleontology has enriched my life in ways I never imagined. This dig reminded me of the sheer joy in asking questions, in seeking truth, in living one’s life to the fullest in the pursuit of knowledge, yes. But also in the pursuit of joy.”
He cleared his throat. “I can’t take credit for this find. A man named Steve Snyder scraped the earth away. Eleanor, Wayne, and Alisha Blake offered up their land. Dr.Bridget Reid, and my students Forrest Abernathy, Caitlyn Hsu, and Dev Mehra, identified bones from at least three animals over the course of the summer, most notably the skull, ribs, ilium, and femur of a new species of tyrannosaurid.”
Another whoop, from Forrest this time, and cheers from his family.
“All of us had a hand—or backhoe—in the process, but I’ve generously been afforded the honor of naming the dinosaur discovered in Hawksburg, Illinois. I can’t lie and say I haven’t been preparing for this moment since I was ten.” Laughter rippled through the crowd.
“I could name this dinosaur based on where she was found. Or her physical characteristics. But after this summer of discovery, only one name fits. Without further ado, I’d like to introduce you to the new species unearthed on the Blakes’ property,Tyrannosaurus mariannae. Strong, powerful, and determined not to stay hidden any longer.”
After the others had finished presenting, they’d ended with a short Q&A panel. Now Quentin stood off to the side and scanned the room. Alisha was nowhere in sight, but his mom stepped sideways down the stairs in heels and wool trousers.
“I got so many photos!” She held up her phone and scrolled down through what looked like an entire SD card’s worth of pictures. Quentin barked out a laugh and squeezed her shoulder.
Dad stepped down after her and gave him a curt nod. “Good thing you kept it short; otherwise, people in the back row might’ve nodded off.” But he winked, a gesture Quentin hadn’t seen in years, and yanked him in for a bear hug.
“I pick up your slack for thirty-three years and don’t even get a dinosaur named after me?” Hector appeared, trailed by Lauryn, so focused on the tablet in her hands she nearly tripped down the last stair. “This is some bull—” Lauryn swiveled her head to look up at her dad, and his eyes went wide. “—loney. Baloney.”
Grinning at his brother’s ridiculousness, Quentin scooped up his niece, and she wrapped spindly arms around his neck, cutting off his air supply. He peeled off her arms and sucked in a breath. “Thanks for coming to cheer me on, Laur. Where’s your sister?”
“Right here.”
Quentin whipped around, stumbling on noodle legs. Alisha stood behind him, holding Lily’s hand.
