“Jeez, woman, hold your horses.”
“Sorry,” she muttered and returned to her pacing.
Five decades later Sam moseyed down the steps in a pair of shorts. Covering up in that navy blue T-shirt now seemed like a crime. He must’ve trimmed his beard this morning, but his wet hair hung around his face. Somehow the whole effect made the color of his eyes seem wilder.
She gave her head a shake and poised her finger above the Call button. “Ready?”
“Go for it.”
She tapped the button and put the phone on speaker while he meandered into the kitchen and pulled a bottled water from the fridge. He offered it to her.
She shook her head. How could he think about water at a time like—?
“Hello?” a voice said from across the line.
“Mary? This is Sadie Goodwin returning your call. I hopeyou had a lovely cruise.” Maybe the woman would simply admit she’d gotten engaged.
“It was wonderful. That was my first and we’ll definitely be going back.”
“I took one a few years ago. It’s a great way to travel. Well, listen, I have my neighbor Sam with me also, on speaker. We’ve kind of been working together to find the owner of that book I mentioned.”
Mary and Sam greeted one another.
“Okay,” Mary said, “so you were wanting to know where a book came from that was in with my dad’s things? It would’ve belonged to my mother. I cleaned off her bookshelves last week and took them to his church for their library—he thought that’s what Mom would’ve wanted.”
“That was very kind of you. Well, there was a particular book in the bunch that your dad didn’t think belonged to your mother. It eventually found its way into our hands, and we’d like to return it to its original owner. Your dad said you might know something about it. It’s a copy ofChristy, a burgundy hardcover with only the title and author’s name on the cover. Do you remember it?”
“Oh yeah, of course. I actually put that copy and a few others in with my mom’s things. Figured I’d clear off my own shelves while I was at it.”
Sadie frowned at Sam. Mary obviously wasn’t aware of the book’s hidden compartment.
“Sure,” Sam said. “Can we ask how you came to be in possession of the book?”
“Would you mind telling me why you’re so eager to return it? Did you find a hundred-dollar bill in there or something?” Mary chuckled.
Sadie gave Sam a look. “No, but there were some... personal effects inside we felt the owner would want back.”
“Well, that’s nice of you to go to so much trouble. All I can tell you is that my son gave it to me. He found it in his apartment—I think it belonged to the last renter or something. I was visiting over there and he thought I might like to read it. It’s not really my kind of story, but I took it anyway. Didn’t want to be rude, you know. It was sweet of him to think of me.”
Sadie closed her eyes. “Of course. When did he give you the book, do you remember?”
“I guess that’d be a couple weeks ago. I can give you his number.” Mary chuckled. “I will say he’s not real good about returning calls though. Or even answering his phone for that matter. Oh, what the hay, I can give you Aaron’s address. My dad vouched for you guys.”
“That would be great,” Sadie said. “Thank you.”
Mary rattled off the address and phone number. “He works from noon to midnight, so late morning might be the best time to catch him at home.”
“Thank you,” Sadie said. “We can’t tell you how much we appreciate the information.”
“No problem. I hope you find the book’s owner.”
They thanked her again, then Sadie tapped the Disconnect button and threw her hands up. “For heaven’s sake. Who in the world does that ring belong to? It can’t be her son’s. He wouldn’t have given away the book if he knew the ring was in there. And if it belonged to the former renter, why would he have left it behind?”
“I don’t know.”
Sadie huffed, all her frustration and impatience escapingin a single puff of air. “Where in the world did that book come from?”
“We’ll figure it out eventually.”
