Page 37 of Irish Betrayal

It was also possible that a wealthy landowner went to all that effort purely for aesthetic reasons, without any practical purpose.

It was clear to Blair from the few surviving Ouachita Indigobush, several of which had reached a very mature and substantial six feet in height, that they had been quite prevalent years ago. She couldn’t wait until they started blooming next month in April.

She unstrapped her heavy pack and lugged it out to the site today. It contained OSU’s handheld core sampler. She wanted to get the samples today so that she could test for signs of old buried Indigobush roots from years past.

As she paced several feet north of the last bush, staying parallel to the river, she placed the metal cylinder into the soil. Before she could begin the arduous chore of cranking what was in essence an overgrown corkscrew, she caught sight of Katy waving in the distance, her smile wide and welcome.

Katy didn’t know sign language, but they communicated perfectly. Blair was getting used to speaking, especially when she wasn’t in large groups. Blair waved back and was about to ask if Katy had come to help her crank the core sampler when a man stepped from behind her on the trail.

Peter Samson.

Blair had been avoiding him for weeks even when he tried to intrude on her meetings with Dr. Bartel.

Linda had recently become suspicious of Peter, even going so far as to ask him not to interrupt her classes. Peter had been apologetic, laying on the charm unnecessarily thick. Blair could tell Linda was close to asking what the deal was between them.

And there was no way Blair wanted that to happen.

Blair tried to act natural as Katy closed the distance, but her unease must have projected, because Katy’s steps slowed and her grin faltered. She tried to cover by motioning toward the corer in her hand and smiling.

“Did you come to help, Mrs. Stanton?” she teased while trying her best to ignore the rotting pestilence at Katy’s shoulder.

“Of course,” Katy said, rubbing her hands together like she was warming up. “Look who came to see your progress, Blair. Dr. Samson was thrilled that you finally invited him to see your babies.” She waved a hand behind her at the line of indigobush.

That made Blair glance at the liar. Fury erupted, rubbing her nerves raw with the need to attack, yell, scream, spit, hit…anything but converse.

She would never put Katy in the middle of something so ugly, so she attempted a congeniality she didn’t feel. She announced an excuse out loud for Katy’s benefit, even though allowing Peter to hear her voice sickened her further.

“Sorry your trip was wasted, Dr. Samson. I only just discovered the soil is slightly too dry to get a good sample. A light rain is forecast for tonight. I’ll try to get a sample tomorrow or the next. I still have a few measurements to get today. Katy,” she started, turning her attention to her host, “I’m afraid today’s a bust. Would you mind leading Dr. Samson back to the car park?”

Out of the corner of her eye she saw a look of anger cross Peter’s face, there and gone. Adopting a friendly smile, he clapped his hands with fake excitement.

“Nonsense. I don’t mind about the sample. It’s the results that interest me anyway. Whenever you get them.

“I would, however, love for my former student to give me a tour. I’m sure Blair wouldn’t mind leading me back when she’s done for the day. After all, I’ve driven over an hour and a half to get here.”

Blair felt her stomach sink, knowing he had outmaneuvered her this time. Absolute refusal would raise suspicion.

Through numb lips, she nodded jerkily. “Of course.”

Katy hesitated, glancing between her and Peter. “Perhaps I’ll stay as well. After all, it’s a beautiful day, and William is on a boring work call.”

Blair felt her spirits lift and was already nodding her agreement when Peter inserted, “I’m afraid, Mrs. Stanton, since I haven’t had time to read Blair’s reports, that I need to spend what time we have now to go over what she’s learned so far and her next steps.

“Even though a lot of our students’ time is spent in the field, there is still a certain number of hours they need to fulfill in class.”

Peter was speaking down to Katy. Blair felt her face blazing.

“Dr. Bartel asked me to check in with our star student while I’m here,” Peter added, a fake smile spreading grotesquely across his lips.

Blair wanted badly to refute Peter’s claims. He was no longer one of her professors and hadn’t been for quite some time. He had no authority over her or the project, and yet, if she called him out, Katy would know something was going on. It was easier to stay silent.

Blair absently ran her thumb under the tight waistband of her rugged utility pants. She’d had Mags alter them. Her talented cousin always altered Blair’s clothes, so it was weird that her pants were all snug. It could be from whatever was causing her stomach to constantly ache. Her whole body ached if she were honest and had for four weeks.

Blair knew the time it started. The day Peter showed up in Oklahoma.

Nothing about her body felt right, though tension and stress were probably the culprits, knocking her normally vibrant health.

Her stomach bothered her most at night, and trying to eat away the discomfort with packets of crisps only made her feel worse.