Even though her instincts were telling her he wouldn’t be home in a hurry, she had to trust that he’d come back to Sapphire Bay as soon as he could.
Chapter 14
On Monday afternoon, Kathleen wiped down the last table in her café and flipped the sign to “Closed.” The afternoon had been busier than usual, filled with locals wanting to discuss every detail of Isabel’s wedding.
Usually, Kathleen enjoyed the post-event buzz that rippled through Sapphire Bay after a special occasion. But today, she’d found it difficult to concentrate on the conversations swirling around her.
The café door chimed, and Lynda poked her head inside. “Ready for our adventure?”
Susan appeared behind her, practically bouncing with excitement. “I’ve been thinking about the hidden room all morning. I’m glad I was shopping because I wouldn’t have been able to concentrate on anything else.”
Despite her melancholy mood, Kathleen smiled at her friends’ enthusiasm. “Let me grab my keys and lock up. Are you driving back to my house with me or Lynda?”
“I’ll go with Lynda,” Susan said quickly. “The gifts I bought for my staff are in the back of her truck. I can have everything unpacked before you get home.”
Kathleen nodded. “Sounds good. Remember to wait for me before you go into the basement.”
“We will,” Susan and Lynda said as they hurried onto the sidewalk.
With their excitement lifting her spirits, Kathleen completed the rest of her closing routine in double-quick time and drove straight home. When she arrived, Lynda was holding three heavy-duty flashlights, and Susan had the strap of her expensive camera around her neck.
Kathleen’s eyebrows rose. “It looks like you’re going to a professional photoshoot instead of into my basement.”
Susan grinned. “Isabel made me promise to take pictures of everything we find. Did you know that she wanted to postpone the honeymoon to be here?”
Lynda stared at her in disbelief. “You’re joking. She’s been looking forward to going to Washington, D.C. with Frank and Tommy for ages.”
“I know. I couldn’t believe it either.” Susan laughed. “Poor Frank looked panic-stricken when she suggested it last night, and Tommy would have been heartbroken. Frank said his grandson has been dreaming about going to the National Air and Space Museum for months.”
Kathleen opened the front door, and they stepped into the entryway. Even with all the renovation work left to do, the house felt like home.
“Where’s Patrick?” Susan asked, glancing around as if she expected him to emerge from the kitchen with his tool belt and ready smile. “I thought he’d want to be here for this.”
Kathleen’s steps faltered. She hadn’t told her friends he’d left. “He’s in New York City. His grandson needs help with a business emergency.”
“New York?” Susan’s eyebrows rose. “When will he be back?”
“I don’t know,” Kathleen said with as little emotion as possible. “It could be weeks. Maybe longer.” She felt Lynda’s concerned gaze but didn’t elaborate. Her friends knew her well enough to recognize when she needed space to process something difficult.
“Well, that’s his loss,” Susan said firmly. “We’ve got a mystery to unravel and no time to waste.”
Kathleen left her keys on the hall table. “Give me five minutes to get changed.”
“You have three,” Lynda said as she hurried down the hallway. “I need to use the bathroom anyway.”
When they eventually made it to the basement, it felt different from the last time Kathleen was here. The wood and benches she’d moved with Patrick were still stacked to one side of the cavernous space. Maybe knowing what she was about to see made the space seem more mysterious and awe-inspiring. Or it could have been imagining what had happened down here that made it more special.
Once inside the hidden room, they spent several minutes examining the room’s contents more carefully. Lynda’s veterinary knowledge came in handy. Even though her medical background was focused on animals, she was fascinated by the medical instruments, while Susan marveled at the tiny handmade garments.
“Look at the stitching on this gown,” Susan said, holding up one of the delicate white dresses Kathleen had seen on her first visit. “Someone spent hours on this embroidery. These aren’t mass-produced items—they were made with love.”
“The medical tools are amazing too,” Lynda observed, carefully examining a set of forceps. “These would have been standard equipment for a midwife in the 1880s. Whoever set up this room knew what they were doing.”
Kathleen knelt beside the scattered papers Patrick had gathered, trying to decipher more of the water-damaged writing.
Susan had been exploring the far corner of the room and suddenly called out, “There’s something back here! Behind this set of shelves.”
They helped Susan push the bookcase along the wall. Behind it was an alcove, and nestled inside was a metal container about the size of a shoe box.
