by Agatha Ball
Stan and Fred gave us a ride back to town, and they grudgingly gave Hal some water and some food from their emergency supplies.
"Those protein bars are pretty good," commented Fred. And then a guilty look washed over his face. "I mean. Not that I've tried any. They're for emergencies. But that's what everyone tells me."
Carter and Aidan gave a little bit of a struggle as Fred and Stan reached the dock, but from the way our police force acted, telling them to settle down or they'd throw the book at them was the best day of their careers.
Mom was waiting as we sailed in and threw herself into Hal's arms before he even had a chance to get off the boat.
"Don't you ever leave me again!" she said to him, staring into his eyes with a strange intensity.
"I think that might be something I'm willing to agree to," he said, his face crinkling with joy as he then planted a long kiss on her.
We all trooped over to Holly's general store. Wanda, Marnie, Granny, and Richard must have been watching us arrive with binoculars, because they all converged at once.
The electric doorbell rang as we all stepped into the shop. Holly came to attention behind the counter, thinking that she was just going to be greeting some customers. Her owl eyes became wide and blinked with disbelief as she saw who it was.
"You came back from the dead!" she whispered.
"I have. And I come bearing secrets from the other side," joked Hal. "You wouldn't happen to have a crowbar lying around?" he asked.
"I most certainly do," said Holly, reaching beneath the counter. "I picked one up after Marnie's shop was burglarized."
I figured we'd tell her that Hal had been responsible for that after she handed over the sharp, metal object.
Hal walked over to the siding and braced himself. I could see he was preparing to be completely disappointed, but that hope was driving him to believe that there was something more there.
He ripped off the paneling and struck the plaster with the curve of the crowbar. It crumbled like dry frosting. He looked closer, and then his breath shuddered in his chest.
We all gathered around.
There it all was. Tarnished trays and velvet jewelry boxes. Dusty and dirty, but all there. All this time, people had been combing through the island when it had all been right here all along.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Hal made us all promise not to touch a thing as he ran back to the hotel to get his camera. "This is the best ending to this documentary I could have hoped for."
Mom gave him a kiss on the cheek, as if she was scared to let go. "I can think of a better way or two."
He gave her a side-hug. "I think I'll need to have a little discussion with you about this new ending you're proposing."
We all stepped onto the boardwalk to avoid the temptation of digging through the discovered treasure.
"And you said that all of the missing items from the time capsule were in the cave?" Richard asked Johnny and Nate.
"Totally," said Johnny. "We, like, totally flaked on account of having to arrest some bad guys. But we can completely go back! It'll be a party!"
"A search for hidden treasure!" said Richard with a smile, his white mustache twitching with amusement.
But suddenly, the conversation was interrupted as Nate called out. "LOTTIE! What happened to you!"
She stepped out from behind a big planter, and it became abundantly clear. She was wearing a great big boot on her foot, and Trevor was carrying her purse as she hobbled along. There was a big bandage on her forehead and her face was scraped and the color of a bruise."
"Oh my— I am SO SORRY!" she apologized. "I heard you found Hal! I am so glad you found him! I came right away!"
"Lottie! Stop it! What happened?" pressed Nate again with horror.
"Oh, I felt just awful! I was running to tell Johnny and slipped in the mud. I hit my head on the corner of the boardwalk and blacked out." She looked up at Trevor with pure hero worship. "But Trevor found me and took me straight to the clinic. They said I might have a concussion, so Trevor kept me awake for twenty-four hours to make sure I didn't slip into a coma and has just... he's just taken such good care of me."
There was a gentleness in Trevor's smile as he looked at her that I don't know if I had ever seen before.
But suddenly, they were interrupted by Madison's shriek. "TREVOR! There you are! Where have you been?! I've been looking everywhere for you! The bar has been closed and people have been asking me when it would be open and I couldn't get a hold of you—"
I could see Trevor shove all of his feelings down as Madison tore into him.
But I saw Lottie harden. She turned to Madison and said, "He was saving my life, okay?"
Madison was so surprised, she looked like Lottie had slapped her across the face.
"I hurt myself and he saved me. Do you have a problem with that?" Lottie challenged.
If I hadn't been looking at Trevor in that split second, I would have missed it, but I could almost see him fall in love with Lottie in that moment. No one ever stuck up for him, and I think he liked it.
"Oh," said Madison, huffing. She shoved her hand through Trevor's arm. "Well. That was very nice of him." She turned to Trevor. "You can give her purse back now."
"I'm going to walk her up to the Grand Hotel first," Trevor informed her.
Madison looked like she was about to blow a gasket, so Nate stepped forward. "Actually, I can do that, Trevor." I could see that Trevor really wanted to object, but Nate continued. "I have a couple of really important questions I need to ask Lottie."
I'm not sure whose cheeks were redder, Lottie's for knowing she had some explaining to do or Trevor for losing his chance to escort Lottie to the hotel or Madison for the outrage of seeing Trevor wanting to fight for Lottie.
"It's good," Lottie said, turning to Trevor. "Thank you." And then she planted a little kiss on his cheek.
I thought Madison's head was going to explode, and it was great.
Nate took the purse and slowly we helped Lottie to hobble over to the hotel.
"Soooo..." she said awkwardly. "I'm not staying at the hotel."
"I wanted to ask you about that," replied Nate with careful nonchalance. "Want to tell me why there is no cameraman and you didn't try to check-in?"
Lottie cast her eyes to the ground, as if wishing the earth to swallow her whole to avoid this question. "I'm so embarrassed."
"Out with it."
She took a deep breath. "I got laid off. The station was cutting everyone. So, I picked up some freelance work. When I wrote the article about the time capsule, it was just me selling a story. It wasn't that anyone wanted it. So, I figured I could do it again and write a story about the storm. But I was broke. I couldn't afford to stay at the hotel."
"But why were you wandering the alley?" Nate asked. "Why did you pretend like you were lost?"
"I was hoping I could find an open building or someplace I could sleep and you wouldn't know. I was looking for an unlocked door, but you found me."
"You should have just said something," Nate chided, horrified that she would hide this from him. "You know I would have understood. I wouldn't have let you sleep outside."
"I know! I know..." she said. "But...." She gave me an apologetic smile. "This is so awkward, you two being together and then being the crazy ex who shows up, asking for a place to stay. I didn't want to horn in. I was going to just go to Trevor's bar if I couldn't find a spot. But, you found me and I couldn't exactly tell you what was going on."
"You were asking about the buildings, though," I pressed. "You asked about the same buildings that were burgled."
Her eyes got huge. "There were robberies?"
"The night of the storm someone broke into Bitter Beans and the yarn store."
She shook her head. "I have no idea what that's about. I was just following up on a lead that Hal gave me. He said that he thought people were all wrong going around the island looking for treasure. He had asked me if I knew which build
ings were original and which ones weren't." She held up her hands. "I swear. That's all."
"Well," said Nate, shaking his head. "You may not have had a room before, but you most definitely have a room at the inn, now."
"I can't let you do that," she said, pushing back. Pride is an ugly thing.
But Nate was having none of it. "Yes, I can," Nate insisted. "I was thinking some pretty crazy things about your motivations and the least I can do is get you a comfortable place to sleep for the night."
She groaned, but I could see her starting to crumble. She rested her hands on her waist and tilted her head back at the sky and sighed. "The sad thing is that I don't even have a story. I'm going home empty-handed. There was a storm, which I pretty much missed and then I got injured. It was all a bust." She held up her injured foot. "In more ways than one."
Nate smiled, looking at Johnny and me, and then glancing over his shoulder to Hal with his arm over my mom's shoulder. "Oh... I think we might just have a story for you."
Chapter Thirty-Six
We all sat in Bitter Beans, poring through the catalog of design choices Holly had made.
"And to think that there were items in my wall from my grandparents!" she exclaimed. "I mean, what am I going to do with a Revolutionary War era silver platter made by Paul Revere?" She sighed possessively as she stroked a picture of an expensive marble countertop. "But now I'm going to be able to make my general store something really special. The auctioneer said that some people have been searching their whole life for that platter and it should earn me a pretty penny."
Richard suddenly cleared his throat to get our attention. He was holding Granny's hand. "Speaking of something you have been looking for your entire life..."
Granny's eyes twinkled. A secret moment was exchanged between them, as if checking to make sure this was the right thing for the other to do, before Granny spoke. "There is something we'd like to tell you," she said. "With everything going on, there just wasn't a right time, but now, maybe..." She then held up her left hand. On the fourth finger, a large diamond ring sparkled.
"Oh, Mom!" my Mom shouted, running up to her and giving her a great big hug.
Hal and Nate shook Richard's hand in congratulations, and Granny's posse squealed with excitement.
"This calls for wine!" shouted Wanda. "I'm breaking out the good box!"
"But there's more," said Richard as things calmed down. He turned to me. His eyes were so soft with joy and love. "Paige, you and I had a conversation about following dreams. And we were talking about how much I wanted to build an historical museum here on the island."
I smiled, remembering the conversation. I had an inkling of what he was going to ask, and I was totally ready to accept his offer and totally help him out at the museum. He was, after all, going to be my grandfather.
He pulled a large envelope from his jacket pocket and held it out to me. Granny squeezed his hand when he said, "Open it."
I laughed. "What is this?" I asked as I took it.
I could feel the tension in the room and jokingly, I took as long as I possibly could to lift the flap.
"Just get it done, girlie!" shouted Wanda. "I want to know what's in there!"
It was a thick legal document, which was weird. My eyes scanned the words, but they became alphabet soup. I looked at Granny, all joking gone. "What... what does this mean?"
"I'm making you the co-owner of Bitter Beans," Granny announced.
All of the breath was knocked out of my lungs. "What?" I replied, needing her to say it again so that I knew it was real.
Granny wrapped her arm around Richard's waist. "He's always wanted to have a museum," Granny explained. "And I thought it might be awfully fun to help him put together a café. This shop takes it out of me, and I don't think I can do both. I'd sign it all over to you completely, but I don't want you to feel saddled to it if you decide to take off somewhere."
I felt Nate step gently beside me and his hand rest tenderly on my back as he read the documents over my shoulder. I didn't want to break the spell. I didn't want to wake up and find out this was only a dream.
"Nate, we figured it was high time you were freed from all those records piling up in your house," Granny told him with a smile.
"Think you'd be okay if we took those off your hands?" asked Richard. "I'm afraid it means you'll be stuck with Paige for...well... for as long as she'll have all of us."
Nate's brown eyes rested gently on mine. Right now, I wanted to be stuck with him forever.
To live here on Seaside permanently.
To own my own shop.
I couldn't believe it. I looked from Granny to Richard to Nate to Johnny. And then I looked at Mom.
She smiled. "I want you to have whatever makes you happy."
Bitter Beans was mine. It was all I ever really wanted, really.
My dreams of taking off were all in the hopes of making something like this happen, but it turned out, I didn't have to go halfway around the globe. Everything I wanted was here, right here where I belonged.
I wrapped myself around Granny's neck in a huge hug. "Yes! Yes, of COURSE I want it!"
Johnny let out a huge whoop of joy, and as soon as I let go of Granny, Nate leaned his lips against my forehead and murmured, "For as long as you will have us."
Richard brushed away some tears that were leaking out of his eyes. "Well, now that that's settled... I'm afraid we have a big day to plan. Have you ever made a wedding cake, Paige?"
Hal leaned forward. "I've always been partial to red velvet."
Find out what happens next in book five, Haunting at High Tide!
Coming Fall 2020
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Books by Agatha Ball
Paige Comber Mysteries
The Secret of Seaside
Murder's a Beach
Mystery Comes in Waves
The Cove Conundrum
Haunting at High Tide (Available for Preorder)
Grey Skyes Adventures
Skye's the Limit
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Legal Stuff
Copyright 2019 Kate Danley
Cover by Damonza
All characters, places, and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. I'm not just saying that to make sure Seaside's affordable and posh rooms at the Grand Hotel are available when I want to visit. TOTALLY made up.
