He held a polished wooden box in his hands. Looked like a jewelry box.
“Ollie-bear? What’s that?”
“I heard Dad and Grayden talking about it in Dad’s hospital room. I didn’t know it was important, I promise.”
“Is that Grandma’s?” Piper asked breathlessly. “Where in the world did you get it?”
Ollie’s eyes filled with tears. “I’m sorry, Momma. I just wanted to pretend it was a treasure box so Maisie and me could play pirates. I took it from Grandma’s house when she was getting really sick, but I didn’t mean to keep it.”
Piper swayed against me. I put my hand on her back. “Let’s all go sit in the living room,” I said, then put my other hand on Ollie’s shoulder, smiling in a way I hoped reassured him.
Seemed like we were about to solve another mystery.
After switching off the stove, we went to the couch with Ollie sitting between us. He handed the box to Piper, and she cradled it in her hands without opening it.
“You’re not in trouble, honey,” she said. “Did you have this in your room the whole time since Grandma died?”
“Maisie and I played with it some. We were always careful to put everything back inside. I kept it in my toy box. Kind of…hidden, I guess. Like pirate treasure. But then I forgot about it. I wasn’t trying to keep it from you. Dad said Grandma wanted you to have it.”
Piper’s gaze locked with mine, full of shock.
“That’s what Danny told me today,” I said. “I was going to share all of it later. Didn’t realize Ollie was listening, not that I mind.” I winked at him.
With shaking hands, Piper opened the lid. A jumble of items lay inside. Some tangled necklaces, a couple pairs of hoop earrings. Odds and ends.
The locket lay tucked into a soft velvet cloth, like it was truly a treasure.
“It was always wrapped up like that,” Ollie said excitedly. “I think Grandma did it. I think this necklace was special to her. Mom, is that the one Dad meant? That Grandma wanted you to have?”
Piper wasn’t saying anything. She seemed overcome with emotion, so I nodded.
“Looks like it, Ollie,” I said. “That’s a locket.”
Piper opened the clasp. There was a tiny photo in the hollow of the pendant. Two blond children. Teller holding Piper.
“Is that you and Uncle Teller?” Ollie asked.
“Yes, that’s us. But I thought…”
Ollie reached to take the locket from her hands. “Here, Mom. Look. There’s another picture inside, underneath. Maisie’s the one who found it.”
With his small fingers, Ollie plucked out the tiny portrait of Piper and Teller. Just as he’d said, there was another photo beneath.
“Is that Grandma? She looks really young.”
Piper stared at it for a long moment. A tear slipped down her cheek.
“That’s my mom. And Mr. Kirby.” She pointed at the faces of the adults. “And I think that’s me.”
“You’re the baby they’re holding?” Ollie asked. “Whoa.”
From the angle, it looked like Kirby had been holding the camera. He and Mrs. Landry both wore bittersweet smiles. Like this was a stolen moment, and they knew it wouldn’t happen again.
Ollie bounced on the cushion. “Because it was a secret, right? That Mr. Kirby was really your dad? That’s why this photo was hidden.”
Piper had tried to explain last night about why Zach Kirby kidnapped her. She’d told Ollie the vague outlines of the drama between the Kirby and Landry families, leaving out some of the darkest parts. Like Zach setting the fire that killed his father and sister, or how he’d meant to kill Piper.
She’d said Zach fell by accident and died. Which was essentially true.
