Expedition of Love

The Wild Rose Press
www.thewildrosepress.com

Copyright ©2004 by Jo Barrett

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.

Expedition Of Love

COPYRIGHT ©

2004 by Jo Barrett

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author or The Wild Rose Press except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

Contact Information: [email protected]

Cover Art by
R.J.Morris

The Wild Rose Press

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Adams Basin, NY 14410-0706

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Publishing History

First American Rose Edition, September 2006

ISBN 1-60154-015-9

Writing is a joy, research is not. If I have made any historical inaccuracies, please forgive me. I hope you enjoy Expedition Of Love, my first historical romance.

Jo Barrett

Chapter One

New York, 1894

"My word,” a young man muttered to his friend.

"Yes, she is extraordinary, isn't she?"

Doctor Stephen Baxter turned from his office door and glanced at the two students, curious as to whom they were discussing with such awe. Following their gaze down the hall of Graham University's science building, his eyes lit on the object of their attention.

Kristina Peterson
.

Everything about her called out to a man's baser instinct. Her exotic features and natural beauty surpassed that of any woman Stephen had ever known. Although her auburn hair was held beneath her Boater straw hat with an assortment of pins, several wispy strands had escaped, framing her exquisite face. If she turned her full red lips up into a smile, her brown eyes would shimmer with beguiling warmth, capturing the attention of every male within a fifty-yard radius, each one hoping beyond hope that she would choose him. Stephen, however, had no delusions in that quarter.

Women weren't interested in a boring scientist such as himself and had flatly informed him of that fact on several occasions. He never seemed to say the right things, do the right things, or be who they wanted him to be. So the search for a mate was not on his list of lifetime pursuits and neither was Kristina Peterson.

As she moved closer, Stephen turned away and slipped his key into the lock. Somehow whenever the woman came near, his perfectly scripted schedule went completely awry.

"That's Professor Peterson's daughter,” the young man said quietly to his friend.

Stephen winced as the smell of jasmine wafted in the air as she passed. Unable to resist one last look, he lifted his head and watched her walk down the hall. She was as close to perfection as any woman could come.

She paused and looked back over her shoulder, thoroughly entrancing him with her dark brown eyes.

"Good afternoon, Doctor Baxter."

Struck dumb with his hand still on the key in the lock, he managed a faint nod, but was quite sure his mouth hung open like a codfish.

Her exquisite lips spread into a teasing grin before she turned and continued down the hall.

Once the click of her heels faded as she slipped from view, he managed to find his voice. Glancing reproachfully at the two students, he said, “I suspect you are late for class, gentlemen."

"Yes, sir.” They hurried off and dodged around a corner.

Stephen could hear their muffled laughter at his expense.

With a forceful turn of his key, he pushed open his door, slammed it solidly behind him, rattling the glass pane, then dropped a stack of term papers onto his desk. He could feel the heat of embarrassment singeing his stiff collar. Thankfully his beard hid the majority of his vexation. Turning red-faced in front of his students could seriously damage his position of authority.

Still, caught watching Kristina Peterson's perfect form float down the hall didn't do much for his reputation as a devout scientist and scholar. He was only human, after all, a fact that stood in direct contradiction to popular student opinion. Admittedly, he was a difficult teacher, but he expected the best from his students and refused to accept anything less.

He dropped down into his worn leather chair with a sigh of defeat. Shoving his spectacles to the top of his head, he massaged his tired eyes. The image of Kristina Peterson and her saucy smile projected clearly against the backs of his eyelids.

"Damn the woman,” he growled. She'd done it again. Now she would be on his mind all day, totally upsetting his concentration.

A wry grin formed beneath his moustache as he pulled at his beard. The yellow striped dress she wore with its tailored jacket hugged her curvaceous figure perfectly. And the way her body moved inside the bell shaped skirt, the soft swish of material brushing her legs as she walked, made his gut clench. She was so beautiful, and so damnably exasperating.

Lifting an Ichthyosaurs tooth from the edge of his desk, he fingered its serrated edge. This he knew. This he understood. Searching for and studying fossils, delving into the mysteries of the earth's past and the life that had once existed on it. Not the workings of the female mind and the interplay between men and women. Beautiful women.

The clicking of heels and swishing of skirts caught his attention. His eyes snapped to the glass panel in the door. In a matter of moments a figure passed by, but it wasn't her.

Expelling the breath he hadn't realized he had been holding, he raked his fingers through his hair. “You are a pathetic representation of the human male,” he mumbled.

Shaking his head, he set aside the fossil, picked up one of the discarded term papers, and began an intensive scrutiny of his students’ work one agonizing page at a time.

Kristina smiled all the way to her father's office. In the two years she'd known Doctor Baxter, she had rarely ever seen him at a loss for words. The man usually sounded like a six foot-two inch tall, walking talking encyclopedia. She had overheard some of the various discussions he'd had with the students and faculty. Some of which she found quite interesting, but he always sounded so serious and grim. The man never even smiled, for pity's sake. Of course, if he did, who would know under all that brown fur? But to think he was struck speechless simply because she said hello, was absolutely priceless. There was nothing more fun than befuddling an old poop like Doctor Baxter.

"Shame on you, Kristina,” she whispered with a light laugh.

She tapped softly on her father's office door, then opened it and peered inside. He was sound asleep in his tattered old chair. With a wide smile, she silently entered and took a moment to study him.

His silver hair wasn't as thick as it once was, and his face held an abundance of wrinkles above his white beard. But he was her father, and she adored him. Studying his face more closely, she noted how tired he looked.

Thank goodness this was his last semester. Deciding to retire had been an extremely difficult decision for him. He loved his work, and with her grown and her mother gone, he didn't care for being at home much. But the rigor of teaching paleontology to the many students at the university was taking its toll on the kindly old professor.

Kristina felt a fresh pain in her heart at the thought of her mother. She still missed her terribly, but her death had brought Kristina and her father closer together. Finding comfort in one another's company, they had trekked around the world through her youth on various hunts for fossils. An unusual but interesting upbringing, and one she would forever cherish.

"Papa,” she said softly, and kissed his wrinkled brow.

"Kris?"

She grinned. “I caught you sleeping again."

"Don't be ridiculous,” he sputtered. She eyed him a moment. “Oh, very well. I stayed up rather late last night grading papers. The term is almost over, you know.” He motioned for her to sit down.

Settling herself in the chair across from him, her gaze wandered to the pictures, paintings, and sketches, occupying every available space on the walls of the little office. The many expeditions they had been on, favored students, old colleagues, so much of her father's life hung on these walls. He was going to miss it terribly, but he needed to retire before she lost him too.

Her gaze fell back to him as he retrieved his spectacles from his desk. “What did you want to see me about?” she asked.

"I have a proposition for you."

He looked up, and she clearly caught the gleam in his eye.

"This isn't about another one of your handpicked suitors for me is it? Because I told you last time—"

"Now missy, there wasn't a thing wrong with that young man."

"Young is right. He was barely out of short pants. Papa, I know you mean well, but I don't wish to marry. I like my life the way it is."

"You're almost twenty-six, and I want grandchildren."

Kristina's eyes widened at such a brazen statement, although she shouldn't be surprised. She and her father had always been immensely frank with one another, but this was a bit much.

"Papa—"

He waved his hand in the air, dismissing her rebuttal. “That's not why I sent for you."

She breathed a soft sigh of relief. The marriage talks were getting worse, and she wasn't sure how much longer she could bear them.

Her father stood and paced across the small office, then stopped and turned to her. “I want you to accompany me to Argentina. Doctor Baxter has gotten together a team of graduate students for a three-month expedition to Patagonia, and was kind enough to ask me to join him. I guess he feels sorry for this old man,” he chuckled.

She crossed the room and slipped her arms around his thick waist. “That's not true and you know it. He wants the best man for the job and that's you."

He kissed her forehead. “Thank you, sweetheart. But I'm not in my prime anymore."

"You may not be in your prime, but you're still the most brilliant paleontologist I know."

He laughed as he patted her cheek. “Sorry to burst your bubble, missy, but Stephen is well on his way to earning that title."

"That old poo—uh—gentleman?"

"Old? Stephen's only a few years older than you, young lady.” He playfully tweaked her nose. “You'd best watch who you're calling an old poop."

Kristina opened her mouth to deny what she had meant to say, but knew, by the look in her father's eye, it was hopeless. She'd been caught, and nothing she could say would change that fact.

"Stephen is proving to be one of the top men in the field,” he continued. “A young genius who will undoubtedly take paleontology to new levels, and I feel honored that he has asked me to join his team."

Kristina made a mental note to thank the old—the good doctor. She hadn't seen her father in such high spirits in ages. “Very well. I'll concede he seems intelligent, but why on earth do you want me to go?"

He pulled away and resumed his pacing. “You will help with the dig, of course, but what I really want is for you to document the whole thing with your camera."

"But I haven't been on an expedition in ages. I'm not even sure if I could tell a fossil from a rock,” she said.

"Don't tell me my best student has forgotten everything I taught her,” he said, feigning indignation.

"Unofficial student. And that was a long time ago."

Grinning crookedly, he took hold of her hands and settled on the edge of his desk. “You still read every journal and paper you can get your hands on. I see you sneaking them out of my library when you think I'm not looking. Don't you dare deny it."

Her cheeks warmed. “Guilty, but that still doesn't explain why you want me to document everything. I'm sure the students will do quite well with their journals and such. I wouldn't be surprised if one of them had a camera. They are becoming more and more common, you know."

"I realize that, my dear, but this is my last expedition. I don't want to forget a thing. I want to be able to pull out the pictures and relive it over and over. And I know you are the only one who can provide me with those pictures. You understand how I see things, the things I want to remember.” He grinned softly. “And I'd like you to come along because you're my favorite daughter."

"I'm your only daughter."

"And the best daughter a man could ever ask for. Come with me, or else I shall miss you terribly. This is going to be a rather long expedition. Nearly three months in total."