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Description
Ruthie and Jacob continued their grueling daily routine throughout August. Ruthie drove both herself and her companion mercilessly, obsessed with her notion that the Cascabel Mesa shale layers would be the most significant discovery in decades and would re-write the history of the K-Pg extinction event. However, if she could not find a "land vertebrate", the administration at the DSU Department of Geology would never recognize the importance of that trove. She was not driven by any personal desire for wealth or fame. What she wanted was for the Mesa to tell its own truth, for whatever information it hid to be shared with the world. There was an important story in those rock layers, one that she was desperate to uncover.

The unending grind of hard labor at high altitude started to take its toll on Ruthie's body. She lost weight, becoming scrawny and more muscular. Her joints ached and hands were calloused. Her problems with constipation never went away. But there were no breaks, no days off. The closest thing to ever taking a break were the days Jacob needed to go to Longbow Crossing to pick up food and supplies. She always went with him, not because she wanted to, but because she controlled the DSU credit card and needed to use it to pay for gas and other vehicle expenses, such as filter changes and replacing ruined tires. In spite of her impatience with spending a day in the passenger seat, which she viewed as wasted time, the trips gave her muscles a welcome respite from struggling with her pick, or shovel, or lifting heavy rocks. That was the only break she allowed herself.

Jacob's feelings towards his mentor became more intense and more confused as August progressed. He simultaneously admired and resented her obsessive drive to tear up those shale layers in her desperate search for fossils. It was obvious she was looking for something in particular. However he didn't know what that "something" was, given that she had not shared with him the details of her email exchanges with Dickerson.

He was not really aware of it, but the biggest issue he was facing was his loneliness. He had resolved to follow Ruthie's advice to quit texting Katie and leave her alone, but that didn't stop him from longing for her. It was just as well that he'd be spending the fall semester away from Davenport and not have to run the risk of seeing her. He deeply regretting not having treated his one of high school girlfriends more seriously, on the mistaken assumption he'd "find someone better" in college. He realized, too late, that high school was probably his best opportunity in life to find a partner. At the university, something that he assumed would be very easy turned out to be very difficult.

That brought him back to the woman he was with continuously. Yes, she was almost twice his age and had a ton of personality quirks. However, she was still physically attractive, much more than she led herself to believe. Her small stature and the fact she was the only woman currently in his life triggered an unconscious instinct to "protect" her, even though in theory she was his supervisor.

Description
Ruthie and Jacob continued their grueling daily routine throughout August. Ruthie drove both herself and her companion mercilessly, obsessed with her notion that the Cascabel Mesa shale layers would be the most significant discovery in decades and would re-write the history of the K-Pg extinction event. However, if she could not find a "land vertebrate", the administration at the DSU Department of Geology would never recognize the importance of that trove. She was not driven by any personal desire for wealth or fame. What she wanted was for the Mesa to tell its own truth, for whatever information it hid to be shared with the world. There was an important story in those rock layers, one that she was desperate to uncover.

The unending grind of hard labor at high altitude started to take its toll on Ruthie's body. She lost weight, becoming scrawny and more muscular. Her joints ached and hands were calloused. Her problems with constipation never went away. But there were no breaks, no days off. The closest thing to ever taking a break were the days Jacob needed to go to Longbow Crossing to pick up food and supplies. She always went with him, not because she wanted to, but because she controlled the DSU credit card and needed to use it to pay for gas and other vehicle expenses, such as filter changes and replacing ruined tires. In spite of her impatience with spending a day in the passenger seat, which she viewed as wasted time, the trips gave her muscles a welcome respite from struggling with her pick, or shovel, or lifting heavy rocks. That was the only break she allowed herself.

Jacob's feelings towards his mentor became more intense and more confused as August progressed. He simultaneously admired and resented her obsessive drive to tear up those shale layers in her desperate search for fossils. It was obvious she was looking for something in particular. However he didn't know what that "something" was, given that she had not shared with him the details of her email exchanges with Dickerson.

He was not really aware of it, but the biggest issue he was facing was his loneliness. He had resolved to follow Ruthie's advice to quit texting Katie and leave her alone, but that didn't stop him from longing for her. It was just as well that he'd be spending the fall semester away from Davenport and not have to run the risk of seeing her. He deeply regretting not having treated his one of high school girlfriends more seriously, on the mistaken assumption he'd "find someone better" in college. He realized, too late, that high school was probably his best opportunity in life to find a partner. At the university, something that he assumed would be very easy turned out to be very difficult.

That brought him back to the woman he was with continuously. Yes, she was almost twice his age and had a ton of personality quirks. However, she was still physically attractive, much more than she led herself to believe. Her small stature and the fact she was the only woman currently in his life triggered an unconscious instinct to "protect" her, even though in theory she was his supervisor.