That night, I put my bag down and went straight outside.  I definitely wasn't being careful enough, not even checking to make sure Owen wasn't watching me.  After a long day, I think he just wanted to sit on the couch and drink a beer.  I crouched down next to the nest, finding them still fully intact.  I turned them over, which is something Jake had mentioned today.  Sometimes it seemed I knew a great deal about dinosaurs, but other times I still felt like such an amateur.  Why didn't I think of these things?

I looked around, trying to find someplace I might be able to better hide the eggs. But also somewhere I could get to easily to check on them.  I spotted a tree about 50 feet away that might work.  It seemed to have a bit of a shelf where two branches were merged.  I picked up one of the eggs, which were heavier than you might think.  Carefully I moved the eggs and the other nest materials closer to the tree, then very gently set them in their new home.  I would need to keep an even closer eye on them so they wouldn't fall out.

After fifteen minutes or so, I reluctantly wandered back to the cabin so Owen wouldn't suspect anything.  He was finishing up making us some pasta when I walked back in.

"You seem to be spending a lot of time out there," he observed, pouring the pasta through the strainer.

Apparently I was being too obvious.  This is why I wanted to go after he or Claire had gone to bed, but that hadn't worked out well last time.

"Oh," I said, avoiding eye contact.  "I don't know.  I just like being outside."

He smirked as he plated the pasta and reached for the sauce simmering on the stove.  I'm glad he didn't pry much like Claire sometimes did.  We sat down to our meal and began eating in comfortable silence.  A few minutes later, the phone rang and we both saw that it was Claire.  She tended to freak out if no one answered, so Owen picked it up.  We both immediately heard screaming on the other end.

Owen pulled the phone away from his ear so he didn't lose his hearing.  "Woah, woah.  Claire, slow down.  What's going on?"

"Someone was here today," she said, obviously rattled, "and I think someone's roaming around outside. I keep hearing voices."

Owen looked concerned as he wiped his mouth and then stood up.  He found his keys on the counter and started to shove his feet into his shoes.  "I'll be right over," he promised.  "Hang tight."

I watched him heading towards the door, bewildered.

"Stay here," he instructed me.  "I'm gonna go get Claire."

"Oh-" the door opened and the screen slammed behind him.  "...kay."

I pushed my pasta around, wondering what was going on.  Claire wasn't the type to freak out without reason.  She worked with dinosaurs for a living so she wasn't easily skittish.  I finished off my pasta and rinsed my plate in the sink. I left Owen's, not knowing if he wanted to finish when he got back.  I played around on my phone laying on my bed.  When the Jeep pulled in fifteen minutes later, I peeked out the window.  Claire looked shaken, but fine.  As they walked towards the door, Owen put his hand on her shoulder, trying to reassure her.

I sat up as they walked in the front door.  Owen told Claire to sit down on the couch.  The place wasn't much, especially considering Owen was a bachelor.  The couch we'd found second-hand at the nearest Goodwill fifty miles away.

"Mais, could you make Claire some tea?" Owen suggested.  I nodded and filled the kettle up, glad to have something to do.  I never knew what to do when people were freaking out.  Owen talked in a hushed tone to Claire and she nodded, but rubbed her hand over her face.

The kettle whistled a minute or so later and I poured Claire a big mug.  I carefully walked it over and set it on the coffee table in front of her.

"Thank you, Maisie," she said quietly, not looking at me.  Something had obviously shaken her.

"Why don't you stay here with us tonight," he suggested.  "You can have my bed and I'll sleep on the couch."

She nodded in agreement and picked up the tea, blowing on it.

I stayed scarce the rest of the night, hanging out in my little corner.  I could hear them talking periodically. I'd never seen Claire so rattled.  She was fiercely independent, but seemed to not want to let Owen out of her sight.

The next day, Claire was stuck to Owen's side.  They held hands, which they hadn't done in months.  I wondered how long this might last.  Claire would use him until she no longer needed him, then turn back into her usual annoying self.  I steeled myself for a roller coaster of adult emotions.  They were really exhausting sometimes.

As I settled into Owen's desk chair and opened my laptop, there was a knock at the door.  I looked up to see Jake standing there with two coffees.  He set one on the desk, smiling.

"Another T. Rex Latte for you," he said, then took a sip of his own.  "I've become addicted to them I think."

"They are good," I agreed, picking my own cup up.  Claire would freak if she knew how much coffee I'd been consuming.  Running into Jake was my main objective these days, and the coffee shop was the best place to do it.

"So what are you working on?" he asked me.  I wondered if he was just being nice or if he were truly interested.

"Ugghh," I complained, clicking around on my screen.  "Homeschool stuff," I told him.  "Geometry."

He walked around Owen's messy desk and took a look at what I was working on.  "My old love," he commented as he looked at the proofs I was working on.

"Really?" I asked, surprised.

"Math is kind of my specialty," he confessed, rubbing at the back of his head.  Though he was wearing long sleeves, I could tell he was well-built.  I wondered what he looked like with a shirt off.

"Well maybe you can explain axioms to me," I prompted him, motioning to a problem set I was stuck on.  Jake pulled up the extra chair and launched into an explanation that was much easier to understand than my online teacher.  I loved how animated he was, his eyebrows moving and his hands gesturing. 

Owen walked in, carrying two cups of coffee with him.  "Well hello!" He greeted us, obviously a little surprised to see Jake there in his office.

"Owen," Jake stood up, nodding at him.  "I was just checking in on Maisie and helping with geometry."

"Thank you," he told him.  "I'm never much help myself."

Owen set down another T. Rex Latte on his desk for me, giving me a 'we better cut back' look.

"Maisie introduced me to T. Rex Lattes and I think they might be the end of me," he confessed.  They made small talk for a few more minutes, and then Jake excused himself.

"You two seem to be fast friends," Owen commented as he reached for a cold water in the mini fridge he kept in his office.

"He's the only person my age," I reminded him, hoping to divert attention from my crush on him.

"Mmhmm," he said as he took a sip.  "We're gonna head out a bit early today.  We need to go get some more groceries.  Claire is gonna stay with us for a while."

"Is she really that freaked out?" I asked.

"Someone was in her house," he pointed out.  "I don't blame her for not wanting to be alone."

I sighed a little bit and Owen decided to ignore it.  A couple hours later, we returned home with several bags of groceries.  I began to unload them as Owen and Claire talked in hushed voices again, which they'd been doing a lot more lately.  As they finished, I saw Owen press a kiss to her head.  What the hell?

I pretended not to see it, putting away the last of the groceries.  Gross.