“She’ll be doing me a favor. We desperately need more room for the businesses who work from the old museum. Even having extra storage areas would make a difference. Finding a new home for some of the furniture would give me one less thing to do.”
“I’ll be sure to let her know. Thanks again, John.”
“You’re welcome.”
As the choir started another song, Aidan felt a growing sense of belonging to this tight-knit community—a feeling he’d never experienced anywhere else. As his thoughts turned to Jackie and her dream of creating a knitting store, he began to wonder if he could make a permanent difference here, too.
* * *
Jackie lookedthrough the window of Aidan’s truck at the old steamboat museum. He’d called her an hour ago, asking if she wanted to go with him to look at some old furniture. After scouring the Internet and leaving messages on the community Facebook page, she’d almost given up on finding any furniture that would give extra character to her store.
Aidan turned off the ignition and released his seatbelt. “Richard said he’d leave the front door open.”
As well as working part time on the tiny homes, Richard owned a furniture making business. He rented space inside the old steamboat museum and created amazing tables and chairs for his clients.
Jackie opened her door and pulled up the zipper on her jacket. “Did you know a letter written by Abraham Lincoln was found in a dresser that was stored here?”
Aidan’s warm hands wrapped around hers. “I know about the dresser, but not where it was stored. We’ll have to make sure we do a thorough search of any furniture you like.”
Jackie grinned. “Imagine if we found some other priceless treasure.”
“I’m sure someone’s already thought the same thing and looked through everything.”
“Maybe, but it’s nice to think there could be a bigger mystery waiting to be solved.” Jackie opened one of the large front doors and peeked inside. She’d driven past the old steamboat museum many times, but never stopped. “This is lovely.”
Aidan followed her into the large foyer. His gaze lifted to the vaulted ceiling, then traveled down the red-brick walls and across the wide reception desk. “Penny told me about a friendly ghost who used to prowl the corridors of this building. Everyone called him Old Man Biggins.”
Instead of being worried, Jackie felt even more at home. “At least he enjoyed this lovely old building when everyone else had given up on it.”
Aidan looked at her strangely. “You aren’t even a little worried?”
“Not about a friendly ghost. There are worse things in life to get stressed about.”
“That’s true.” Aidan took his phone out of his pocket. “Pastor John said Richard’s still here, so we don’t need to worry about locking up after we’ve finished. If we walk straight ahead, then take the second door on our left into another corridor, the storage rooms will be down there.”
Jackie took a flashlight out of her bag. “That sounds pretty straightforward.”
Aidan’s eyes crinkled at the corners when she turned on her handy-dandy flashlight. “There’s electricity in the rooms.”
“Youhopethere’s electricity,” Jackie said. “I’ve visited so many buildings where we were supposed to set up floral arrangements, but someone forgot to tell us where the main power switch is. Especially when it’s a building that’s this big.”
His eyes focused on her large tote bag. “What else do you have in there?”
“Just the usual equipment I take to a client’s venue.” She opened the bag and looked inside. “Spare batteries for the flashlight, a measuring tape, notebook, pencil, ruler, magnifying glass—although that shouldn’t be in here. A pair of florist’s scissors, a coil of florist’s wire, and a face mask.” She pulled out a card and frowned. “And a loyalty card for Starbucks. I don’t know why that’s there.”
Aidan laughed. “At least you have good taste in coffee.”
She walked toward the first door they had to go through. “Andrea’s café is much better than Starbucks.” When Aidan didn’t say anything, she grinned. “Are you still hankering after their grande cappuccinos with cinnamon swirls on top?”
“I might be a little homesick for their coffee.”
Jackie opened the door and stepped into a dim corridor. Feeling rather pleased with herself, she flicked on her flashlight, then turned it off when Aidan found the light switch.
He grinned. “I told you there’d be electricity.”
“We haven’t found the storage rooms yet.” With excitement building inside her, Jackie stopped in front of another door. “How many storage rooms did Pastor John say there were?”
“Four off this corridor,” Aidan replied. “If we don’t find anything in these rooms, he said to ask Richard to show us the others.”
