“I wondered if you knew about that.”
“Obviously not, since I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Apparently during Prohibition, the owners of Stormhaven installed a hidden door behind the fireplace in the dining room that leads to a small room. Inside, they set up a bar where they could entertain guests with booze they smuggled down the coast.”
He gaped at her. “You’re joking.”
“I’m not. I swear. Why would I joke about something you can prove yourself in five seconds?”
“Are you seriously telling me this house has a secret room that no one has bothered to tell me about? My real estate agents never mentioned it and neither has Bryce.”
Her smile widened. “I’m not sure anybody else knows about it, to tell you the truth. I only stumbled upon it by accident after we bought the house, when I was walking through making initial plans for our renovation. For all I know, some of the old Prohibition bottles might still be there.”
“You have to show it to me. Right now.”
She laughed at his burgeoning excitement, the sound ringing through the empty house like a melody, soft and musical, brightening the room.
“Come with me.”
She led him into a room they had already walked through, the formal dining room with its marble fireplace and Tiffany-style chandelier. The room was lovely and elegant, though he expected it would have little use while he was here. He wasn’t exactly the kind of guy who threw elaborate dinner parties.
A secret Prohibition bar, though, might change his mind about entertaining.
She went to the fireplace, feeling around the carved embellishments. “If I’m not mistaken, the button is right... about... here.”
She pushed something on the fireplace mantel and a gap suddenly appeared as a door swung open.
His younger self would have adored discovering a door like this, a secret portal to untold adventures.
Hell, his current self thought it was pretty spectacular.
“We have to go check it out.”
“After you,” she said, turning on the flashlight of her phone. He did the same and, with anticipation bubbling through him, he led the way past cobwebs through a small hallway and into what was little more than a walk-in closet, possibly six feet by six feet.
He aimed his phone light around the room, taking in the huge dust-covered mirror against one wall and an old polished wood bar that must have been assembled in this room, since it certainly wouldn’t have fit through the doorway.
No more than three or four people could squeeze in here. Even he and Rosie were a tight fit. Andrew was suddenly intensely aware of her. She smelled of sunshine and lemons and he suddenly wanted to press his face to her hair and inhale.
That wouldn’t be weird, would it?
“I can’t believe I never knew this was here.”
“I am not surprised. The previous owners you purchased it from were only interested in demolishing the home. I doubt they visited more than once or twice and they probably completely forgot about it, if they even knew.”
“The kids are going to love this. I can’t wait to show them.”
“Emma was really excited about it. We were going to make this our secret reading room. My plan had been to take out the bar and add bookshelves around the whole space as well as a couple of big, plump chairs.”
He loved that idea and was always down for anything he could do to foster a love of reading in his children.
On the other hand, a secret Prohibition-era bar was next-level sick.
“I’ll have to give it some thought before I figure out what I want to do in the space. In the meantime, show me how you open the door again.”
They went back out, with him resolving to clear out the cobwebs and dust as soon as humanly possible.
“The button is right there, in the middle of that flower. It releases the handle for the door. When you pull the door closed again the button slides back into place.”
