The sun was making its descent through the sky at a leisurely pace. The birds had all but flown away and the rays were cooling upon her face, signalling that she should probably go inside soon… but Evelyn couldn't tear herself away.

Was she doing the right thing?

She didn't doubt his intentions towards her, but would this be something they could both share together? He didn't hide his aversion to digging up more tombs, disturbing more peace…He didn't seem the breadwinner type, he didn't seem obligated to deny her her own career based upon masculine prejudices.

"Rick?"

Her voice pulled him out of his own thoughts, thoughts of the future. He noticed that they had both been out of character lately, musing on their own futures and their future combined. Her face was hiding something, he knew that much.

Unable to conceal her expression, and unable to contain it any longer she pulled out the letter from the folds of her skirt. Handing it to him with an encouraging nod, he carefully unfolded the envelope and slipped the weighty paper out.

She watched him skim the words, her palms sweaty and her breath held. This was the reaction she cared about most, why Jonathan hadn't been told yet…

"Well, this changes things." Her voice was flat, uninterested.

Her heart skipped a beat until his face lifted and bestowed his crooked smile upon her. "Evie this is incredible! This is the news you've been waiting for!"

She smiled back. "And that is exactly why I am going to politely decline."

His face dropped. "What?"

"I'm going to say no Rick-" She raised a hand to both quieten him and gesture for the letter back. "I don't want what they have to offer. I don't want to be a novelty." She said the word with disgust, wrinkling her nose. "I know what I want from my life and I don't need those stiff collared-"

Her face reddened before she caught sight of Ricks bemused expression. "What I mean to say is, I've been through enough to see things clearly now. Offering me a chance at Bembridge is only going to benefit themselves and not me, not us. I know you will think me a hypocrite but if we sell one or two smaller pieces from the city then we could fund our own dig-"

Rick grasped her forearms and lifted her from the chair until she stood. He kissed her soundly, and only stopped to whisper to her.

"Evelyn, honey whatever the hell makes you happy is what we will do."

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Sorry for this being so short, I hadn't written anything else for this story so this is merely an exercise to see if I still have it in me! Let me know what you think...I could leave it here or progress on towards their wedding etc. I welcome the critique :D