She slipped past him and went inside. He headed up to his room to work, and she headed to the kitchen.
“You okay?” Gran asked.
“What? Sure. I’m fine.”
“You look a little flushed.”
“It’s getting warm out there.” And that wasn’t a lie. It had been warm out there. Especially next to Brent. “But we got the lights all hung. You’re right, they do look great.”
“Thanks for doing that. Oh, I made some cookies. Want some?”
“Sure do.” She poured herself a glass of cool water and grabbed a cookie. Gran looked at her for a long moment before turning back to washing the cookie sheet.
She never could hide anything from Gran. Not that there was really anything to hide…
Chapter4
The next morning, Felicity was helping Gran serve breakfast when Brent came downstairs, holding one of the old guest books she’d found in the shed. His eyes twinkled with excitement.
“Good morning, Miss Bond, Mrs. Bond,” he said, nodding to each of them. “I started looking through one of these old guest books last night. I found a really interesting entry.”
Gran wiped her hands on her apron and came over to the table where he’d set the book down. “First of all, it’s Felicity and Darlene. No standing on formality here. And tell us what you found.”
“There’s an entry here from a Prince Lawrence of Bardonzia. I looked it up, and Bardonzia is a small territory in the Pacific Ocean. I’d never heard of it before.”
Felicity leaned over to look at the entry. The handwriting was a flowing script, the ink faded with age.Prince Lawrence of Bardonzia. September 3, 1924.“Huh. I wonder what a prince from the Pacific was doing all the way out here on Magnolia Key back then.”
Gran tapped her chin thoughtfully. “You know, I bet Dale would know something about this. He’s kind of the unofficial historian around here. Knows all sorts of things about the island’s history.”
Brent looked up, intrigued. “Dale?”
“He runs the antique shop in town. Second Finds. He’s got an entire section in the back dedicated to the history of Magnolia Key,” Gran explained.
She nodded. “Yeah, if anyone would know about a visiting prince, it would be Dale. We should go talk to him.”
“That’s a great idea,” Brent said, his eyes lighting up at the prospect of a new lead in his research.
Gran smiled. “Why don’t you two head into town after breakfast? I can handle things here.”
She hesitated. She’d been planning to help Gran with some chores around the B&B. But the mystery of the prince from Bardonzia had aroused her curiosity. And spending more time with Brent wasn’t an entirely unappealing idea, either.
“Are you sure, Gran? I don’t want to leave you with all the work.”
Gran waved her off. “Oh, don’t you worry about me. I’ve been running this place for decades. I think I can manage for a few hours. You two go and see what you can find out about our mysterious prince.”
“Thanks, Gran. We won’t be gone too long.”
After breakfast, she and Brent headed out to Second Finds. The bell above the door jingled as they stepped inside, announcing their arrival. Dale looked up from where he was arranging a display of vintage postcards.
“Felicity! Good to see you. I heard you were in town for the summer,” he said, coming over to greet them. “And who’s this?”
“Dale, this is Brent Dunn. He’s a historian staying at the B&B, doing some research on the early development of southern Florida.”
“Oh, you’re here doing that talk in a few weeks, aren’t you?” Dale shook Brent’s hand. “Pleasure to meet you. Always happy to meet a fellow history buff.”
Brent smiled. “Likewise. Actually, we were hoping you might be able to help us with something.”
“Oh?” Dale raised an eyebrow.
