“Don’t panic.” But she was. He heard it in her voice. “It can’t have gone far.”
Seth scanned the top of the dresser. Earrings, check. Necklace, right where she left it. Engagement ring? Gone.
“Huh…” How the hell had that happened?
“Where did it go?” Her voice pitched higher, edging toward panic.
Seth pulled her against his side. “Easy, angel. It’s got to be here. Maybe it fell last night when I bumped the dresser on my way to the bathroom.”
“I don’t remember you doing that.”
Seth chuckled. “You wouldn’t. You and Beck were…busy.”
“Oh.” Her cheeks turned pink.
“Oh.” He smiled, tapping her nose. “Why don’t you jump in the shower? I’ll look for it.”
“I’ll help.”
Seth shook his head, almost grateful to have something to focus on besides his low-level panic over this baby and the white-hot terror of coming clean with his mother.
“You have to start getting ready or we’ll run out of time. Trust me, angel. I’ll find your ring. It didn’t grow legs, and I’m a detective. This won’t be a hard case to crack. Go.”
Heavenly wasn’t thrilled, but she nodded and made her way to the bathroom down the hall. A moment later, he heard the door close behind her and water rushing through the pipes as she turned on the shower.
In the blessed quiet, Seth devoted himself to the task, opening the blinds to let in more light. Then he gripped the edge of the dresser and scanned the area with a scowl. Nothing.
Maybe the ring had fallen under it? Behind it?
Careful not to scuff his mom’s hardwoods, he carefully lifted it away from the wall and crouched, peering into the sliver of space he’d created between the back of the dresser and the wall.
And he found Heavenly’s ring—pristine and sparkling in the morning light. But it hadn’t fallen to the floor, and it wasn’t alone.
Instead, the ring had snagged on the edge of dusty, yellowing paper, which looked as if someone had affixed it to the back of the dresser.
“What the hell?” he murmured as he retrieved the ring and placed the shimmering diamond on top of the dresser.
Then he leaned in to study the mysterious piece of paper he’d never noticed. Hell, never even seen.
It wasn’t a page, but an envelope. It had been duct-taped to the back of the dresser.
Why?
Had someone deliberately hidden it?
That was Seth’s guess.
His pulse kicked up as he picked at the tape. It lifted slowly, so brittle with age it mostly flaked away. Coupled with the yellowing envelope, Seth had to wonder… How long had this been affixed to the back of his dresser? Years? A decade? More?
And who would have put this here? One of his brothers? Someone else?
How had he not seen it?
Seth hadn’t lived here since he was eighteen, so why would anyone bother hiding something in his room after he’d gone?
Questions with no good answers swirled in Seth’s head as he leaned closer still and wiped away a thick layer of dust.
He caught sight of faint writing on the front of the envelope.
