Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE

I managed to fill an entire nother bucket, without any help.

I hated to admit it, but it felt good. Traipsing back down the hill path with both filled buckets swinging from my hands and a smug look on my face, I felt like a million bucks. Now all I had to do was make a big find and my thorough trouncing of him would be complete. And I had complete faith in my choices of dirt.

Mostly.

At least back at the flumes I got to sit down on the rough wood bench and rest my legs. I did enjoy my time panning through my clay, keeping an eye out for any minerals I ran into, making sure I separated the dirt clods from the rocks and rubbing each as clean as I could manage. It was more relaxing and more fun than the digging. This was the best part of gem mining.

I probably started humming to myself at some point. It’s known to happen when I’m having a good time. And I was. I was really glad I had remembered to bring gloves with me though. The perforated metal bottoms of the wooden pans were rough and some of the rocks were sharp. As much as I loved having my hands in water, my fingers would thank me later.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t finding much. Micha, garnet, a little jasper. Some quartz. Not an awful haul, but very little corundum—that’s the technical name for rubies and sapphires. I found a little piece in a hazy lavender color, recognizing it even in its rough uncut state by the shape of the crystal. Six sides on a stubby little tube-like rock.

After getting as clean as I possibly could in the running water of the flume, I stepped out from under the wood awning to get a look at it in the sunlight. It felt good to stretch my legs after sitting so long. My knee ached. But at least the birds were singing and the trickle of running water sounded like music to my ears. It took my mind off the pain.

The sapphire looked pretty good for being such a little thing out under the light of the sun. Unfortunately, my attention caught on something else as my eyes were finally away from my pan full of wet dirt.

Spencer was raking through the discarded rocks and dirt between the flumes people had left behind. It was a great way to find any gems the inexperienced or unenthused had missed and not taken home. His strong arms pulled the rake through the gravel strewn mess. They were a soft golden color and a… very efficient shape.

A moment later, the power of my distracted gaze drew his attention. Panic rose in me and my eyes snapped back to the little gem between my fingers faster than you could say?—

“Find somethin’ you like?”

Now, he did NOT have to take that tone of voice with me. Amused and, deep and… I felt caught. I was all hot in the face and embarrassed but there wasn’t a snowball’s chance of me fessing up to that.

“Pfft. Yeah right,” I dismissed him. Technically, it wasn’t clear if he’d been referring to the gemstone or himself, so I decided to go with the former. “So far, all I’ve got is this little lavender guy.” I waggled the stone at him. “You’d think there’d be more rubies at a ruby mine, eh?”

He tilted his head, trying to appraise the rock from a distance but then gave up and started over. Which was fine. Totally fine. I didn’t mind if he came closer to me. Wouldn’t bother me one bit, no sirree.

Okay, that was a lie. I took an involuntary step back as he closed the distance between us, closer and closer, until he was way within arms reach. Hesitantly, he looked from the gem in my hands up to me.

“May I?” He nodded at the stone.

I just nodded back and held my hands out to him.

He plucked it deftly but slowly from my fingers, careful not to drop it on the ground where it might get lost. His calloused fingers brushed against mine and I was acutely aware of it all. Did he have to go quite so slow?

“Yeah…” Spencer held it up in the light to see, then rolled it over in his deft fingers scouring its surface. “It’s got good color, but it's so small you couldn’t really do anything with it. Maybe cab it. Pretty much good for a keepsake and nothin’ else.”

He flashed me a little smile. “Tough luck.”

“Hmphm,” I hummed with displeasure as he dropped the precious stone back into my waiting palm. “You know, if only there’d been someone around here who could have shown me where the best digging spot was…” My words trailed off as I gave him a good humored glare.

“Hmph,” he huffed a laugh through his nose. When he spoke his eyebrows moved for emphasis. “Yeeaah. If only.” He shook his head slow, as if he were sad for me, but I could see the mirth under his act.

My eyes rolled as I turned from him and went back to my seat on the long wooden bench. A couple minutes later I was reaching for my phone to check the time when I noticed it only had 5% battery left. Rats.

There was also a text from Anna I had missed. The wedding of a mutual friend was coming up soon and all of us local friends were supposed to meet up tonight at The Factory (an amusement center—it's super cool if you’ve never been) at 6:30pm. I frowned. Lovely how nobody asked me. I could have had a date tonight!

Not that I did, but still.

Before I even knew it, I was halfway to my car in the gravel parking lot to grab the portable phone charger I always kept there. I thought a silent thank you to my Dad for convincing me I needed one. Quickly, I typed a response to Anna before returning to finish out my mining time.

For a second I debated just heading home with my current finds and abandoning what was left of my dirt. It was already close to three o’clock. I could just go home, shower, change and chill before tonight’s event, but I had worked so hard for that dirt. It felt wrong to abandon it after all that.

I looked up past my open driver door and my eyes narrowed. Wait… Was that Spencer poking around my buckets?

“Shoot!” I slammed the door shut behind me as I sprinted back over to my spot. “Hey, hey! What are you doin?” I hollered, like he was some racoon with his tail hanging out of my trash can.

His head shot up in surprise, hazel eyes wide. “Whoa, whoa, slow your roll, Barbie!” He raised his hands in front of him defensively, like you would calm a horse. One of his golden brown brows rose quizzically. “What? Guy can’t do his job anymore?”

“What?”

Spencer nodded his head to the end of the flume. “You do know I have to clean this out right?” He just fixed me with a patronizing look, waiting for me to admit my faux pas.

“Well…” I gestured to the rushing water and wood. My face burned with a fury that I doubted my potential sunburns could hide.

His eyes darkened and his smirk turned devious. “Unless…” He leaned close to me, hand anchored on the flume edge by my side. When did he get so tall? “You’re hiding something?”

“No!” I shoved my hand out to halt any further progress, and it splayed against his chest. My eyes shot down to the sight and widened in momentary horror. “Of course not!” I snatched my hand away as fast as I could, as if it had just touched something hot.

… Which to be fair, it had.

Physically! In the ‘man-working-outside-for-hours-in-the-humid-eighties’ kind of hot. The, sweat soaked t-shirt clearly flirting with heatstroke, kind of way. Not the attractive way!

I coughed. “Can you—?” My eyes were flitting everywhere but to the hellion in front of me. “Get back to it then?”

He chuckled. He chuckled at me!? It was a snorty little laugh he barely bothered to conceal, only giving a slight turn to the side, and I didn’t care for it one bit. Other girls could fall for his rugged mirthful charms, but I knew better.

“Well?” I prompted hotly, arms crossed.

Spencer was still suppressing laughter. It looked like he wanted to say something, but decided against it. I hated that. I always hated not knowing what trouble was brewing in that darned head of his. He opted for a nod.

“Sure thing, Leah.”

Had he just used my actual name? Well, that was incredibly disconcerting.

“Whatever you want.” With another snort laugh, one last smirking once-over, and a shake of his head, he finally left my flume and headed for the next one.

I huffed a growl of frustration under my breath and rolled my eyes so hard I almost saw the back. Our last interaction played over in my brain. I wanted to slap that pretty smirk right off his face. If there was one thing Spencer Williams hadn’t needed it was a glow up. Being pretty gave him too much power.

There was no way I could leave this place fast enough.