Richard was sitting in the room behind a desk, staring at something on his laptop. Trixie was beside him, snoozing the morning away.
When Richard saw them, he looked up and smiled. “Hi, guys. How are you?”
“We’re going to see inside the tunnel!” Oscar said excitedly as he raced across and gave Trixie a big cuddle. When he saw that the hidden door was open, he smiled. “Can Trixie come with us?”
Chloe shook her head. “It’s too small a space for Trixie.”
Richard glanced at Liam. “I’ll keep her with me while you go exploring. When you’ve finished, I’ll be in my new workshop.”
“Thanks for staying here for us,” Chloe told Richard.
“It’s okay. I have a couple of projects I want to finish, so it worked out fine. But don’t leave without telling me. I need to lock the room after you.”
“Thanks. We won’t be too long.” Liam turned on the temporary lights inside the hidden room. “Watch where you’re walking, Oscar. The floor’s a little uneven.”
Chloe crouched low, following Oscar into the room. A set of framed photos were leaning against the wall. She smiled at the image of Eleanor. “Someone’s been busy framing the photos we found.”
Liam looked at the pictures. “Percy and his team have been working out the best way of displaying them. They’re trying not to disturb the walls.”
“I’ll give him a call,” Chloe said. “We used a special system at the Smithsonian that wasn’t too expensive.”
As they made their way down the steps, Oscar ran his hand along the rough stone walls. Just the fact that he wasn’t talking told Chloe he knew what he was about to see was special.
When they reached the room at the end of the tunnel, the items that were sitting on the old wooden shelves intrigued her. The chipped china plates, a gorgeous fob watch, and a pretty bonnet were lovely, but it was a program from a 1922 masquerade ball in Sapphire Bay that caught her attention.
“Did someone find more things from the Prohibition era and bring them here?”
Liam shook his head. “Percy and his team opened the crates that were already here. A couple of the items aren’t on display, but I’ll show you them another day.”
Oscar walked closer to the shelves and studied an old compass and a telescope that looked like they’d come off one of the steamboats crossing Flathead Lake. “Can I touch them?”
Liam took the compass off the shelf and kneeled beside Oscar. “Someone used this to find their way home.”
Oscar’s eyes widened. “Like Mom’s maps on her phone?”
“Sort of. This doesn’t tell you how far away something is, but it does tell you the direction to go.” Liam looked at Chloe and gestured to a wooden box sitting on a shelf. “Percy found this while sorting through some old items. He wanted you to open it in case it’s more fragile than the other things we’ve found.”
Chloe knelt on the floor and studied the box. It was about six inches long and four inches wide. “I should have brought a pair of gloves with me. The box is similar to something you could have found in the 1920s. It looks like it’s made from walnut with some kind of lacquer finish. The patina is gorgeous.” Carefully, she lifted the box off the shelf. It was surprisingly light. “Richard would like this. Someone crafted the box with as much care as he makes his furniture. The finger joints are perfect.”
Oscar bounced on his feet beside her. “Open it, Mom.”
She placed her hand on the front of the box and grinned. “Okay, but we’ll do it slowly in case something falls out.” To be doubly sure, she returned the box to the shelf. “Are you ready?”
Oscar nodded and she slowly lifted the lid. Inside the box, sitting on top of a red velvet interior, was a small leather pouch. She looked at Liam and frowned. “I was expecting something bigger.”
He moved closer. “Open it and see what’s inside.”
Chloe was even more confused. Liam seemed nervous, as if he already knew what she’d find. Slowly, she opened the drawstring and peered inside the pouch. Her eyes widened when she saw what it was. “It’s a ring,” she said softly.
She tipped the delicate antique ring into her palm. A small, single diamond sparkled from the center of an intricately designed setting. “It’s so pretty, Liam. It must have been treasured by someone.”
He took a deep breath, his eyes never leaving hers. “It was my great-grandmother’s. Mom’s been looking after it for me.”
Chloe’s heart pounded. “But why...?”
Liam knelt on one knee, taking her free hand in his. “Chloe, ever since I arrived in Sapphire Bay, you’ve shown me what it means to have a home—a real home. You and Oscar have become my family.”
Oscar frowned as he looked at them.
