“What do you think about the cottage?” she asked. “Can it be moved?”
He offered his arm, and she took it as they continued to stroll toward the house. “No, it’s far too rickety. One more good storm might blow the house down. It’s not safe to live in as it is.”
Disappointment fell like a stone to her gut. “So they’ll have to start completely over somewhere else. It would have been such a comfort to be able to keep their familiar home. I appreciate you looking into it.” She swallowed a swelling knot of frustration and shared what Agnes had told her.
“But if we haven’t found the aviary yet,” she went on, “I’m not sure we ever will. She or someone else could have moved the book after she hid it, and she simply might not have remembered that. It could be long gone.”
“All is not lost.” He covered her hand, and the warmth of his palm spread all the way through her. “I may not be able to recover the medieval manuscript, and the cottage is beyondrepairing. But it’s also small. I could construct a new one exactly like it.”
Elsa stopped walking. “Are you serious?”
“As always.” He winked. “With a crew to help me, we could build it in a matter of days, though they might not all be consecutive days. We’d have to work evenings and weekends. But we could build it in such a way that it could withstand being relocated wherever she and Danielle end up. Or we could wait and build it at their new location.”
“And then we could give it fresh carpet and paper for the walls, but the exact match to what they have now so it still feels like home. Then move all their beloved furniture and knick-knacks right into it. Don’t tease me now, because I am totally getting my hopes up for this.”
“Let ’em soar. I’ll get it done.”
She believed him. Rising on her toes, she threw her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek. Before she could step away, his arm came around her waist, holding her to him for a moment before releasing her.
It wasn’t long enough to be considered a true embrace. But it was long enough to remind her of what it had felt like when he’d carried her to the pool building in the rain. It felt like safety. It felt like all would be well.
“It will mean the world to them, you know,” she said, “even if we can’t solve everything. Sometimes knowing that someone is on your side makes all the difference.”
He nodded. His hand cupped the side of her face. “I hope you know I’m on your side, too.”
She smiled. “I’m beginning to get the picture.”
A lump bobbed in his throat, and he drew her arm through his once more. Together, they crossed the uncut lawn. “I can’t stop thinking about what happened on Coney Island. If anything had—”
Elsa gasped. “There he is!” Heading toward them at a brisk pace was the same man she’d seen Saturday night. He had just unfolded himself from a dark green Model T. “He’s been here before.”
Luke’s arm tensed beneath her hand. His expression hardened into flint. “Stalking you? Here?”
“I wouldn’t say that. A cousin arrived the day other museum staff were transporting artwork out of the mansion. Mr. Spalding argued with him in the drive, telling him he wasn’t welcome in the mansion until the museums had been through it. He left before I could see his face, but that is definitely his auto.”
Luke kept his eyes on the approaching man, shaded from the mansion behind him until he stepped out of the roofline-shaped shadows. As he neared, he doffed his bowler and extended a hand.
She didn’t shake it, and neither did Luke.
“You were following her on Coney Island?” Luke asked.
“I’m sorry about that. I didn’t mean to cause alarm, but...”
When he paused, Elsa finished for him. “You did. Explain yourself, please, and start from the beginning. You seem to already know who I am, but I don’t even know your name.”
“Dr. Hugh Geoffrey. I’m Guy’s second cousin. My father was Linus’s cousin. The two of them went on expeditions together when they were in their prime.” He turned to Luke. “And you are?”
“With her,” Luke said. The steel in his tone hadn’t softened yet.
Dr. Geoffrey straightened the bow tie at his collar. “Clearly.”
Only when Elsa nudged Luke did he offer his name and his role at Elmhurst. Up close like this, Dr. Geoffrey wasn’t nearly as menacing as he’d seemed Saturday night. The tweed suit he wore, complete with elbow patches on the jacket, made him appear quite scholarly.
“Again, I apologize for my first impression. I didn’t want to shout or draw attention, knowing Wesley and Guy were in the vicinity. I’m a professor of European history at the University of Pennsylvania, so my time up here is limited.”
“Did you know I would be there, too?”
“No. I only went there because I’d been to Guy’s home in Cold Spring Harbor, and his wife told me where he’d gone. As I said, my time here is limited before I need to return for the fall term, and Guy has been brushing me off. I went to Coney Island to talk to him about the aviary. While I was there, I spotted Wesley talking to you. I’d heard about your role here, and your friendship with the Petrovics. Forgive me, but I also heard you had a limp. It made you easy to recognize. I understand you have been looking for the aviary.”
