16
Nick stared at the single content. A skeleton key. Was this a sick joke? He glanced at Frances, surprised to find she wasn’t angry. Instead, she looked thoughtful.
“Do you know what it opens?” he asked.
“No, but I think I’ve seen it before.” She rubbed her temple. “I just can’t remember where.”
“So,” Nick asked, “you don’t think this whole safe deposit box thing is a wild-goose chase?”
“Myfather create a wild-goose chase?” Frances shook her head. “He never did anything without a purpose. He obviously suspected Uncle William and put protections in place.”
“Maybe one of your sisters will recognize what it unlocks.”
Frances reached inside the box and picked up the key. “What’s this?” She turned it over and exposed a tiny piece of paper wedged into the intricate bow at the top. When she’d removed and unfolded it, it was only about half an inch wide with a single word on it. Her name.
Frances’s breath hitched, and her shoulders started to shake. Nick realized she was crying. He had no idea why it upset her, but he embraced her again while she sobbed.
When she calmed, he expected her to step back and pretend it hadn’t happened. She didn’t. He wished it could mean something that she stayed in his arms.
“He knew I’d be the one to find it,” she finally said, lifting her head from Nick’s shoulder.
“Your father?” He dropped his arms and stepped back.
“Yes.”
Frances went to the box and picked up the tiny scrap of paper she’d dropped. She put a finger inside her shirt and pulled out a chain. At the end was a locket, he’d never seen. He stepped closer as she opened it. Inside was a tiny picture of what looked like Frances, but the woman was too old to be her.
“Is that your mother?”
Frances nodded as she refolded the paper and put it inside the locket. She snapped it shut, and dropped it inside her shirt again.
“We need to go to my old house,” she said.
“Do you recall what it unlocks?” he asked.
“No, but I know it’s in the house.”
“When we meet up with the others at the bank, we can make arrangements to visit the house.”
“No.” Frances closed the lid to the box. “I need quiet to remember. If we have a bunch of people there, it’ll get in the way. They can come later. We need to go there first, just you and me.”
“All right.” He straightened his coat, still wet with her tears. “Is it a very big house?”
“Big enough, I guess. Not nearly as big as Luke’s, but his is a guest house too.”
As Nick watched her, understanding came to him. He loved Frances, but if she couldn’t love him back—as more than a friend—he couldn’t go back to the way it’d been. If she didn’t wantthem, it was over.
“Frances, about what I said earlier—” he began.
“Don’t,” she hissed. “You signed a contract.”
“You’re right. I did, and I’ll honor it.” Nick’s heart seemed to have grown too heavy, and he turned to the door. “I’ll check with one of the clerks to see how to send a word that we’re going to your old house, so the others won’t wonder what happened to us. You can clear things with Mr. Boyle.”
He left the room, a lump forming in his throat. It’d been a mistake to go along with the sham. Lots of folks still arranged marriages where the couple weren’t in love with each other; he wasn’t one of them.
Nick wanted a forever with Frances, but he knew the truth now. She said she didn’t want to be married to anyone, to give up her freedom. He didn’t believe her. She’d done just fine being married. It washimshe didn’t want. Well, it was almost over anyway. Once he and Frances split, Luke would understand why there couldn’t be a partnership.
It was time to go back to Texas.
