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Until the last lie, she’d nearly succeeded in cal herself But now her heart rate picked up and her body treed since Arizona had dropped into her life Now they were lovers Hoas she supposed to resist him? The way he touched her, the way he ic

She closed her eyes and willed herself to cal emotionally to a difficult situation That hat the dreas were different now She wasn’t really going to marry Arizona, live in Bradley and have three children That was crazy She was going to oing to getherself to pain and Chloe had sworn to never do that again It hurt too much

"I’m fine," she whispered to herself "It was just a dream It’s not true"

She repeated the sentences over and over Slowly, her body relaxed It wasn’t real He wasn’t her destiny In a couple of weeks he would disappear froo on as before

"There’s nothing to be afraid of," she told herself "Nothing at all"

Arizona shifted in his sleep and pulled her closer She allowed herself to press against hi to her eyes She felt them fill her eyes, then spill onto her te with her? She was fine It had just been a strange drea horror She wasn’t crying because she was afraid the dream would come true…but because she was afraid it wouldn’t

THEY WALKED IN to the dig a little after one in the afternoon Chloe hadn’t knohat to expect Her entire experience with archaeology had been a visit to the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles when she’d been ten or twelve She vaguely recalled some ht in tar outside, and sos was the actual site itself, but that memory was a blur

Here she’d expected to see a few open pits with college students delicately re dental instruments Instead, she and Arizona crested the rise and looked down into an entire village

To the left were the tents used by the scientists and workers To the right were obviously ancient stone huts, so tall with open places for s and doors A couple hundred yards back froe circle painted in white

"What do you think?" Arizona asked

"It’s huge," she told hi s a society here, not digging up dinosaur bones Some of the finds are from two or three different Indian tribes That’s what everyone cao, they started unearthing a much older civilization…and one that was more advanced No one knoho they are or where they came from They’re the ones who interest me"

As he spoke, he started down the side of the rise Chloe followed him While she was pleased they’d arrived and she could put down her heavy pack for a few hours, in a way she was sorry to be around other people Instead, she wanted to be alone with Arizona

This e dream and their physical intiazes Instead, Arizona had awakened her with a kiss She’d felt perfectly co there in his arms They’d had breakfast and dressed, but in the process of rolling up their sleeping bags and packing up clothes, they’d beco had been hot and fast, leaving them both satisfied and out of breath Not a bad way to start the

But all that would be different now, she told herself There were other people around She had to remember they were both here to work

A tall, skinny man with a scruffy beard looked up at their approach He wore thick glasses and baggy clothes He had a clipboard in one hand and a handheld tape recorder in the other

"Arizona!" he called when he spotted the to check out e found"

"Hey, Jeff Good to see you" They walked over to hiht She’s a reporter"

Jeff shook her hand and winked "He’s all flash, no substance Don’t let hi otherwise"

Chloe found herself s at the rumpled man "I’ll do my best to remain objective"

Jeff returned his attention to Arizona "We’ve foundthat will interest you" He slapped his friend’s back "The aer tents Chloe fell into step behind theet a feel for all the activity Long wooden tables had been stacked with bowls, stone disks and knives There were open crates and to them with the stone objects

Every ti He knew the words for each of them Chloe was reuests as she did, and she’d lived in Bradley all her life She supposed it was just his personality He enjoyed getting to know people and they wanted to know hi theest tents

Arizona let his backpack slip to the ground before entering and Chloe did the same There were more tables set up in here, she noticed as they entered The objects littering the surface were small and delicate Some ood, a few cloth Despite the canvas flaps rolled back to let in both air and light, the area sht have been a wooden box Unfortunately, it disintegrated e moved it But the amulet is intact There are a dozen or so stone beads Very round with a tiny hole through the center We figured it was part of a necklace of some kind How they uess"

Jeff stopped in front of a table in the rear of the tent "I’ve already finished the paperwork You just have to sign for it and promise you won’t lose it"

Arizona s it to you" He glanced at Chloe "We have some sandwiches left over froreat"

"Help yourself when you’re done" He picked up a rectangular acrylic case that was about six inches square and handed it to Arizona "Good luck I’ure out" With that he waved and left the tent

Arizona lifted the cover and stared down at the small round stones Chloe er than the others, and