Free Love's Paradise by Celeste O. Norfleet

turned, opened her mouth then quickly closed it and stumbled, catching herself before she fell. “Okay, why are we even speculating about this? It’s a nonissue. It’s not gonna happen. Trust me. The only thing I want from Jordan Hamilton is sitting in the bottom of a hole on his property.”
    They walked through the employee area of the museum as they headed toward the stairs. “So, what are you going to do now?” Genie asked.
    â€œFirst, I’ll call Jack McDonald at the Smithsonian and let him know what’s going on. There’s nothing we can really do until I speak with him. I have a few more things to take care of here at the office. The running of this museum still goes on. My main concerns are the revised budget report and the funding we need to secure. I have to get next year’s budget together as soon as possible,” she said as they went into her office.
    â€œYeah, but what about the site? What do we do about it?”
    â€œNothing right now,” she said.
    Genie’s eyes widened in shock. “Nothing? But there are valuable artifacts there.”
    â€œThat’s why we have to tread lightly and do everything by the book.”
    Genie folded her arms over her chest. It was obvious she wasn’t buying the wait-and-see answer. “I don’t get it. Why even have a museum if people are just going to bulldoze over everything anyway? It’s like we don’t have a say on our own island. How can this even happen?”
    Sheri shook her head. “Unfortunately this happens a lot. Development companies purchase land and begin construction only to find a cemetery or a piece of history long forgotten buried on that land. Regrettably, it’s usually covered up and all the artifacts and finds are discarded without the proper authorities ever knowing about it.”
    â€œBut we do know and we need to move quickly.”
    â€œIt isn’t that easy, Genie.”
    â€œI don’t see why not,” she insisted.
    Sheri smiled. She remembered Genie’s exuberance and impatience well. She was about the same age as her assistant when the Mabella Louisa was discovered off the coast of Crescent Island and the small, almost insignificant museum was added to the Smithsonian Institution because of the find. Maybe, just maybe it would stay whatever change she knew was coming.
    Sheri sat down, put her elbows on the desk and covered her face. A lot of what Genie said was right. She also felt the same outrage and anger Genie did. But she couldn’t lose sight of what was important. Right now Jordan Hamilton held all the cards. She needed to be calm and get this worked out. She also knew she had to do something now.
    Sheri grabbed the cell phone and made her first call, Jack McDonald at the Smithsonian. Although Jack was not a curator or historian, his position as registrar meant he was the supervisor for a number of smaller off-site museums. His voice mail picked up and she left a message. “Jack, hi. It’s Sheri. Please give me a call back as soon as you can. It’s very important. Thank you.”
    As soon as she hung up there was a knock at her door. She smiled when she saw her grandmother’s best friend standing in the doorway. “Mamma Lou, hi.”
    â€œHello, dear, I hope I’m not disturbing you,” Louise said.
    â€œNo, not at all. Come in, have a seat,” she said, standing and walking around to the front of her desk. She gave the spry octogenarian a hug and pulled a chair out for her. Sheri looked back to the office door as Louise sat down. “Where’s Colonel Wheeler?”
    â€œHe’ll be here in a few minutes. He’s downstairs talking with an old friend. I declare, no matterwhere we go Otis always runs into someone he knows. It’s absolutely amazing. It never fails. But actually today it’s a good thing, I told him to take his time, so we can have a few minutes for girl talk.”
    After