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The pent-up air rushed from her lungs in a squeal of delight. At last, she would find out what was behind this solid wood door. She paused for just a moment, realizing that the answers she might find could quite possibly not be the ones she wanted. And yet she was willing to take that risk. The answers about her past were that important to her.

As she pulled the door open, the hinges emitted a high-pitched squeak. She wondered when the last time was it had been opened. She peered into the darkness. There was no light whatsoever.

She felt inside the doorway for a light switch. She couldn’t find one. She reached into her back pocket and pulled out her phone. Using the flashlight app, she illuminated a set of rustic wood steps.

As she climbed them, she noticed a distinct drop in the temperature. She should have grabbed a coat. But she was too curious to stop now.

At the top of the stairs, she was greeted with boxes, boxes, and more boxes. As she looked closer at the boxes, she found scrawled out in black marker the words: Christmas decorations. That certainly made it easier for her.

She stepped past the cardboard boxes to see if there was anything else up there. To her amazement, she found there was a whole lot up there.

Someone had put down plywood floors. In addition, there were high ceilings. She could stand fully upright and still not touch the ceiling. If someone wanted, they could probably turn this floor into living space. Of course, it would take some insulation and a lot of heat.

As she walked around and took in the vast amount of stuff in the attic, something tapped her in the forehead. She stopped. Her heart launched. Please don’t let it be a bat.

She turned the light this way and that way trying to figure out what had touched her. It took her a moment, but then she discovered a string hanging down with a little metal clasp at the end. She ran her light up the string until it led to a bare light bulb.

She released a pent-up breath. Thank goodness. If there had been bats, she never would have gone up there again. She’d never know the contents of these dusty old boxes.

She reached up and pulled the string. Light filtered through part of the attic. Seriously, the space was so big that one light bulb wasn’t enough to illuminate the whole area.

She continued her exploration, looking up and down. She didn’t want to run into anything, and she didn’t want to fall through the floor. Just the thought made her shudder. But it appeared whoever had put in the subflooring had done a good job.

After finding a couple more lights to turn on, she looked around. There was a rack of clothes. There was about an inch of the dust on the clothes, so she moved them ever so carefully so as not to create a dust cloud.

The clothes weren’t fancy, and they were most definitely dated. If she had to guess, she’d say the early nineteen hundreds. Wow! If there were clothes from that era, what else might be up here?

She walked around, taking in steamer trunks, foot lockers, and a cedar chest. It was like there was something up there from each generation that had lived in this historic house.

“Leah?” Shaun’s voice drew her from her musings.

“I’m over here.” She’d found a footlocker with stickers all over it. She continued to stare at it. She had no question that it had belonged to her mother. But would it have any answers in it?

Shaun stepped up next to her. His gaze scanned the area. “There’s a lot of stuff up here. Do you know what all of it is?”

“I have no idea what any of it is. This is my first time up here. I just found the key to the lock.”

Shaun nodded. “It looks like a lot of history.”

It was. Her history—the information that her mother had kept from her. She just hoped she wasn’t disappointed with the answers.

“I saw the boxes marked Christmas decorations near the stairs. When we get home from dinner, I could carry those down for you.”

She nodded. “I would appreciate it. After being in town today, I feel as though I’m way behind on my decorating.” She checked the time on her phone. “I didn’t realize it was so late. We should get going.”

He stepped aside. “Lead the way.”

She turned off the lights on their way out of the attic. When they reached the door, she decided to leave it unlocked. They still had to get out the decorations.

And something told her when they got home, she’d be back up there, looking through her mother’s footlocker. She really hoped there was a clue to the identity of her father. Please let me find the answers.

Chapter Thirteen

It was an almost-date.

Shaun had changed into his nicest pair of jeans and a new charcoal-gray sweater. He assured himself this dinner wasn’t a date. So, then why was his stomach knotted up with nerves?

As he waited in the living room for Leah, he looked at Mochi. “You have to be good this evening. Okay?”