“I owe him that, I think.”
“I think you owe him a dad who is modeling a full life. Showing him what it looks like to live your fullest, best version of yourself.”
“I think this is probably the best version of myself I can manage right now.”
Addie frowned at me, and I felt her disapproval. “Michael,” she said, her voice low and soft, stirring a deep longing inside me. “You deserve to be happy. And Dan wants that for you too.”
I felt the flush hit my cheeks again, and dropped my eyes as something washed through me—an emotion so overwhelming I worried for a moment I was going to actually break down and cry.
Fuck, get a grip, Tucker.
I swallowed hard and sought a reason why her words were having this effect on me. And then it hit me. No one had cared whether I was happy in years. Not since my parents had died. Dan might care—but he was a kid. His job was to be selfish. It was his right for another year or two at least. But Addie’s words made me feel like she actually cared, and I’d felt so alone for so long, it actually had me choked up.
I covered with another sip of wine and a big bite of pork, and by the time I swallowed, I felt in control of my emotions again.
We talked about other things then, about the way the weather had begun to turn colder, about trying out some of the fireplaces in the cooling house. About the windows we were having replaced over the next week. And as we cleared the dishes and poured ourselves another glass of wine each, I had an idea.
“Want to go on a little treasure hunt?” I asked Addie.
Her eyes lit up and she laughed lightly. “What do you mean?”
“We have the key I found upstairs,” I reminded her. “And we have no idea what it fits. Let’s hunt.”
Her lips formed a line and her chin dipped down a little. “Are you going to make a whole bunch more jokes about it being ‘door-key’?”
I shook my head. “No, I think it was just the one.”
Addie looked around then, and I thought maybe she was wondering if it might be too spooky to go hunting through the house at night. But already the place had come a long way from the frightening decrepit pit it had been when we’d first come inside. Now it glowed merrily under the warmer bulbs I’d put in, and the floors gleamed underfoot. The dusty smell had been replaced slowly by odors of food and life, and cleaning products. I found myself wanting her to say yes, almost desperate to spend more time together, laughing and enjoying each other’s company.
“Okay,” she said. “Let’s hunt.”
We set off through the house, wine glasses in hand as we went through each room, searching for something we weren’t sure even existed.
We prowled around the rooms on the first level, stopping to investigate areas we hadn’t paid much attention to before—atop dusty mantles, along window casings and in dark corners, searching even in silly places where there was no chance of a keyhole.
“I’ve got nothing,” Addie said, shaking her head and grinning at me as we met in the center of the parlor.
“Me either.” I gazed toward the stairway. “Upstairs?”
“Let’s go,” she said, striding confidently ahead of me. I tried to keep my gaze from the sway of her hips as she ascended ahead of me, but that was an exercise in futility. Addie was beautiful, head to toe, and her backside was no exception.
At the landing, we looked around us, seeking anything that might have a keyhole.
“What if it was like, a safe?” Addie asked. “In the movies, that would be behind a painting or something.”
“The only thing still hanging on the walls is that mirror in your room,” I said, and we both turned toward the master bedroom.
There was a large mirror on one wall, in surprisingly good condition, considering the likely age of the thing.
“It looks heavy,” Addie said doubtfully, putting her wine glass down on the windowsill and then approaching the mirror.
I followed suit, and wrapped my fingers around the sides of the huge mirror, preparing to lift it off the wall.
“Be careful,” Addie said.
“Thanks for that. I was going to be very negligent, but you’ve changed my mind.”
“Funny.”
I lifted the mirror and felt it detach from the wall. It was every bit as heavy as it looked. And then some. As I lowered it to the floor, Addie sucked in a breath. “Michael, look!”
There, hidden behind the old mirror, was a little safe, stuck into the wall. And the keyhole looked like it matched the key I’d found perfectly. I let out a victorious whoop.
“You do it,” I said, handing Addie the key.
Her eyes lit up and she took it from me, fitting it carefully into the lock and then turning it, eliciting a satisfying ‘click’ from the mechanism.
“Yay!” She cried, and if I hadn’t already thought she was cute, I’d be a goner now.
She pulled the little door open, and looked inside. I stepped up close behind her, peering into the dark little space. A wad of folded papers rested within, along with a small box and an envelope.
“Shall we?” I reached in and retrieved the items.
“Let’s look at it in the kitchen,” Addie said, and I reluctantly stepped away from her, the scent of her still in my nose.
Back at the table with our glasses of wine forgotten in front of us, we spread the items before us.
“Where should we start?” I asked.
“The box.” Addie’s eyes glowed with excitement.
“Shouldn’t we save that for last?”
“Oh no. You’re one of those?”
“One of what?”
“I bet you open presents super slow, saving the wrapping paper and everything.”
“I do not.” I didn’t know why this suggestion made me feel slightly indignant. “I just like to savor things a bit. Take my time with things I know I’ll enjoy.”
Addie’s expression changed then, and it occurred to me I could have been talking about any number of things. Addie was clearly thinking the same thing. “Oh,” she said, swallowing. And then her hand shot out and she popped open the lid of the box. “Oh wow.”
She turned the box so I could see what lay inside, and the overhead lights glinted off the facets of a small but perfect diamond set in a complex silver setting.
“That’s beautiful,” I said. “A wedding ring, you think?”
She nodded. “Must have been. I wonder whose?”
I shrugged. “No telling how long it’s been in that little wall safe. We don’t know if even Filene knew about that.”
Addie looked skeptical. “I’m starting to feel like she planned all this for us somehow. Like she knew exactly what she was doing.”
I grinned. I’d had that feeling too. “Do you ever think that there’s a chance we’ll get to the end of all this, and she’ll pop out and be like, ‘I wasn’t dead after all!’”
Addie’s smile dropped and she stared at me for a second. “Um. No. That’s a little morbid.”
“No, it would be morbid if I thought she was dead when she wasn’t. Thinking someone might not be dead when they are is the opposite of morbid.”
“So it’s less-bid.”