“Definitely,” Noah agreed. “They had to keep up the farce of Elijah being his valet on the ship, but at least they were together. Once they arrived in America in 1888, they realized that life was harder and more expensive than they had planned. Eventually, Tave –as Elijah called him – used his naval skills to sail goods and merchandise in and out of America. Although he was referred to as a pirate, he was actually a merchant. They amassed quite a bit of money in a relatively short time and Tave was able to hire someone to build this house in 1890.”
“This house has been here for two hundred years?” Dante looked skeptical as hell. I was starting to really like this kid.
“One hundred and twenty-six years,” Noah replied, “but it’s been upgraded and modernized since that time.”
Dante pondered this for a few seconds and I expected a smart comment, but instead he asked, “Why is Elijah a ghost? Was he killed?”
“Well, Tave left for one last voyage in 1899 and never returned. His ship, Veritas, sunk on his way home. Elijah mourned him for the rest of his life. His spirit has remained in the house that Octavius built for him after his death at age eighty-five in 1943.”
“That’s sad,” Dante said, looking around the room as if maybe he could see Elijah.
“Veritas means truth,” Hunter chimed in. “Did he name the ship that because he chose to live a life of truth with Elijah rather than marry the lady?”
“I assume so,” Noah told him. He looked surprised that Hunter knew the meaning of Veritas. “Although, I’m sure they had to keep their relationship a secret here too.” He sat up straighter in his chair. “You guys want to see something really cool? Maverick and I found it in the attic when were what? Ten, Mav?”
He was referring to the skeleton key. He still had it after all of this time. The memory of that key was burned into my mind and later inked onto my body. “Ten or eleven,” I replied.
“Sure!” The Johnson boys spoke in unison, looking livelier than they had all day. Hell, they probably thought Noah was going to roll out a treasure map on the kitchen table. It’s not like Noah and I didn’t spend hours and hours looking for hidden treasures and maps.
“Here it is,” Noah said returning to the kitchen. On his keychain was an ornate skeleton key with “Veritas” etched into the long metal part of the key. “We believe it went to a trunk that was used to haul cargo on the ship.”
“That’s pretty cool,” Dante said. “A treasure map would’ve been better, but that’s still kind of cool that your family has had that key for so many years.”
“Noah was obsessed with finding a hidden treasure.” I spoke up for the first time. “He had a thing for pirates.” I threw a playful wink at him.
“Still do.”
I felt his smile all the way to my soul and I decided to stop resisting the pull I felt toward him. It was futile. However, it wouldn’t happen with two teenage boys looking on. “Storytime and cookies is over. Back to work, mates,” I announced. Hunter and Dante groaned, but got up and went back to their tasks like they were told. I looked back at the key in Noah’s hand. “You still have the key after all these years.”
“I couldn’t let go.” I could tell by the look in his eyes he was talking about more than the key. He was talking about us.
I leaned over and pulled him to me for a short, but sweet kiss. My crew was all around, as were the Johnson boys, but it was something that felt right and necessary. I pulled back and rested my forehead against his. “Me either.” A dropped hammer somewhere in the house broke our connection, but it stayed with me for the rest of that day and the ones that followed.
