“Did you put some of your things in Jonas’s luggage?”Knowing Vale…
He smirked. “Just a little. Coffee?”
Vale followed me into the kitchen. I’d gone to my favorite bakery in town earlier that morning to pick up donuts, croissants, and danishes. Vale didn’t hesitate to dive right in.
“Did Jonas say where he was going?” I was sure he hadn’t, but then again, I had no idea how much he’d shared with Vale abouthis Celestial job or how Dash and I fit into things. They were going to get married. Could Jonas keep those truths a secret from his soon-to-be husband?
“He had to drop by the morgue to pick up his phone and check on Dr. Arroyo. Did you know someone tried to break into the morgue the other day and assaulted Joachim? Anyway, I think Jonas just wanted to ride his bike to San Francisco and didn’t want me and my baggage with him. He’s been acting odd over the last few days. He wants me to call my friends, Hanson and Nikki to go on a bachelor party week from December fourteenth to the twentieth. He offered to pay for us to go to Hawaii.”
My mind jumped to the dates he’d cited for his bachelor party. They coincided with the week our baby was due. Obviously, Jonas wanted to get Vale out of town and away from the possible war. Which reminded me that we needed to ensure Mom and Lenny didn’t come to Reardon for the birth. Hell, I didn’t even know if Dash and I would get to be there.
Vale was staring at me, so I snapped out of my thoughts. “You should go! I wish I’d had a bachelor week like that before Dash and I got married. It sounds like so much fun.”
After a moment, he grinned. “You know, you’re right. I might take him up on it. Anyway, I need to use the facilities before we get on the road. Excuse me.”
He left the room just as Dash came into the apartment. “It’s going to rain, so we need to leave soon. I don’t want to be caught in Black Friday shopping traffic in a shitty rainstorm.”
I put my hands in the pockets of my jeans and stared at my husband. “My love, what crawled up your ass? Don’t be pissy about this trip. We’re going to support our dear friends as they get married. Can you try to be happy?”
Dash stepped forward, pulling my arms to wrap around his neck. “I’m happy with you, Dearly. I’ll smile at Trent andAmelie’s wedding, but I’ll be filled with gratitude when we begin our life with Grace. Let’s go do this.”
A soft kiss to my forehead made me smile. Dash had a point. We had a future to prepare for.
Fifty miles outside of Reardon, I got a peck on my shoulder from the back seat. I turned to look over the headrest, seeing Vale blowing on his nails. “You rang?”
“I need something to drink. What’s in the cooler?”
I glanced at his nails to see he’d painted them the same orchid color as the vests we were all wearing for the wedding. It was Amelie’s favorite color, so I agreed to wear the orchid vest, even though it washed me out and made me look as if I should be one of my guests.
“Uh, it’s my sports drinks. You won’t want one of those, trust me. I’ll take the next exit and find a truck stop.” Dash glanced at me with a smirk that I returned. If I wanted to scare the daylights out of Vale, I’d show him the bags of blood, but I was afraid he’d jump out the window of Dash’s SUV.
We exited the highway and found a small grocery store. “You guys want anything?” Dash and I both shook our heads, so Vale hurried inside.
“What are you finding out?” Dash glanced at the tablet on my lap that was logged into the family tree website. I’d been reviewing my father’s research regarding his ancestors, and I was quite impressed. I’d always known my father was a smart man, but the attention to detail I found in his notes was incredible.
“Our family line isn’t the only Dearly or d’Erlie family line. Seems Claude had an older brother with the d’Erlie name. His brother signed on—or was forced to sign on—with the French Royal Navy in 1665. He was on the crew of the Saint Philippe, a 74-gun ship. It was later recommissioned under a different name, but it was burned by the English in 1692. After he went aboard, there’s nothing more on him. He might have had children. You know those sailors—a girl in every port.”
Dash laughed. “Okay, so maybe you’re not the reincarnated Claude who Lorraine has been chasing through the centuries? Did you find anything on Claude?”
“I did. He also joined the French Royal Navy four years after his older brother. His name, though, was listed on the ship’s registry as Bonfils, just like Lorraine said, but the Bonfils name doesn’t cross the d’Erlie line as far as I can find. I’m not sure how it all fits together.” I was more confused than ever.
“Did you find anything on Lorraine?” Dash leaned over the console and looked at the tablet.
I touched the link for Lorraine Joly. “She died by guillotine in the French witch hunts of 1669. Joly was her family name, so she never married after she lost Claude to the Navy. I need to speak with someone more knowledgeable in that era of history. My father was the history buff. It’ll just take me a little more time, I guess.”
In my gut, I knew there was more to the story, but my lack of patience was my downfall. I wanted to know the history before it was too late to do anything about the future.
“Maybe I could go downstairs and see if I can talk to your father? Have you discussed this with Scotty and Jay? Jay might be able to find out something more.”
My sensible husband.
“That’s a good idea. I’ll see if I can get in touch with them over the weekend. Obviously, if they were trailing Lorraine, there must be more to the story. Thanks, love.”
Before we could say anything more, Vale got into the back seat with enough snacks to feed an entire kindergarten class. I glanced at Dash, who laughed before heading back to the highway.
“Wow! This is really fancy.” Vale sat forward and pointed to the large, lighted sign on top. It simply read, “The Palace.”
Dash turned onto New Montgomery Street and stopped in front of the gorgeous Palace Hotel. The entrance was quite ornate and smacked of money, which we knew Amelie’s family was rolling in based on the wedding plans we’d been privy tohearing. I couldn’t guess how many rooms there were under that massive sign.
