She blushed. “I meant you, me, Oscar, and Trixie.”
“Got it,” he said with a relieved grin. “I’d like that.”
“Me too.” Chloe checked the time. “I have to pick Oscar up in twenty minutes. Do you want to walk to Richard’s house with me? The weather is about as good as it’s going to get.”
“I’d love to.” The earlier tension Liam had felt disappeared. Perhaps things weren’t as uncertain as he feared.
Chloe grinned. “I’ll grab my jacket and boots, and be back in a couple of minutes. Help yourself to a gingerbread man. They’re delicious.”
Liam reached across the counter and took one off the cooling rack. Life didn’t get much better than crunchy Christmas cookies and knowing Chloe wanted to be part of his life.
CHAPTER 18
The bellabove the door jingled softly as another customer entered the Lakeside Café. Chloe glanced at the clock. It was fifteen minutes until her lunch break and the much-anticipated call from a woman she’d never met.
She wiped down the counter, trying to keep herself busy to pass the time.
“Order up!” Kathleen called from the kitchen window, sliding a plate of sandwiches onto the pickup shelf.
“Got it,” Chloe replied, grabbing the plate and delivering it to a table of regulars by the window. The café was bustling today, the warmth inside a welcome refuge from the chilly December air outside. She spotted Liam entering through the front door, a gust of cold air following him.
“Hey,” he said, his eyes lighting up when he saw her. “I got your message. Is everything all right?”
She greeted him with a smile. “It’s more than all right. Remember my friend Polly at the Smithsonian?”
“The person who’s helping with the research about Eleanor?”
Chloe nodded. “She called me this morning with some incredible news.” She leaned toward him, her voice loweringwith excitement. “Her team tracked down some of Eleanor’s relatives.”
“That’s amazing!” Liam exclaimed, his eyes widening. “Who did they find?”
“They reached out to a family in upstate New York. They had some information about Eleanor, but not a lot. But they gave Polly the phone number of Eleanor’s great-great-granddaughter, Sacha.”
Liam shook his head in disbelief. “Eleanor’s direct descendant? That’s incredible.”
“I know.” Chloe couldn’t believe it either. “She’s calling me at two o’clock during my break.”
Liam glanced at his watch. “That’s in ten minutes.”
“Exactly. I wanted you to be here when she calls. This could fill in so many gaps in Eleanor’s story.”
Liam frowned. “Did Polly give you any hints about what Sacha might say?”
“A little,” Chloe admitted. “Apparently, Sacha’s mother has some letters that Eleanor wrote to her sister. Letters that mention Samuel.”
Kathleen came to see them. “Hi, Liam. Chloe, why don’t you take the call from Eleanor’s relative in the kitchen? It’ll be a lot quieter in there.”
Chloe checked her watch. Two minutes to go. “That sounds like a good idea.”
Kathleen looked at the time. “You’d better go now before she calls. Let me know what she says.”
“We will.” Chloe held Liam’s hand and pulled him toward the kitchen. A few seconds later, her phone vibrated with a call from an unfamiliar number. She took a deep breath and answered. “Hello, this is Chloe.”
“Hi, Chloe. This is Sacha. Polly gave me your number.”
“Hi, Sacha! Thank you so much for calling. I’m going to put you on speakerphone. I’m here with Liam. We’ve both been looking for information about Eleanor.”
“That’s fine,” Sacha replied, her voice warm and friendly. “Polly told Mom and I about all the social media posts and newspaper articles that have been written about Eleanor. I’m afraid her life wasn’t nearly as exciting as some of the stories we’ve seen.”
