Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
“ I swear I didn’t go looking for trouble,” Faye said as Nate set two empty plates on the table and poured their orange juice. Her voice was light, almost teasing, but he could still hear the hint of guilt behind it. “I just thought it was you that opened the doorway.”
He slid into the chair across from her, giving her a pointed look. “I get it,” he said, grabbing a spoon and scooping eggs onto her plate.
“I don’t know how the door got opened.” She tilted her head. “Maybe the wind?” It was the first time that morning she’d sounded fully like herself, and the sound helped ease the knot that had settled in his chest since yesterday. She obviously liked a good mystery.
“You weren’t afraid?” he asked.
“No, but lesson learned.” She motioned to her shoulder. “Exploring ancient secret passageways probably shouldn’t be a solo activity.”
They ate while she filled him in on the tunnel in more detail. Nate had made scrambled eggs using herbs from the little garden beds that sat outside the back door. He had helped Max build the raised beds for his sister so she could plant herbs, tomatoes, and some other basics.
He’d cut thick slices of sourdough and toasted them, then topped each with some of his favorite local honey. He’d also sliced up apples, oranges, and bananas, tossing in a handful of pecans and walnuts for good measure.
Simple yet fulfilling breakfast.
“You’re kind of amazing, you know that?” she murmured between bites, her tone softer now.
He looked up, halfway through a bite of toast. “Is that the head injury talking?”
She smiled. “No. Just gratitude. Two home-cooked meals in a row? Ones that I didn’t have to lift a finger for? I’m not used to that.”
He set the toast down and leaned forward, resting his arms on the table. “I have mentioned how much I like to cook.”
Something shifted in her eyes—just for a second. A flicker of thought, maybe doubt. He saw it, but she buried it quickly behind a smile. “I appreciate it. Really.”
He didn’t press further.
After they finished eating, he leaned back with a satisfied sigh. Before he could even suggest it, Faye pushed her plate away and glanced at him.
“So,” she said slowly, her voice dancing with curiosity, “want to see what I found? I’m excited to show you.”
His brows rose. “Your mystery beach?”
He figured he knew exactly what beach she was talking about.
After all, he’d spent plenty of summer days out on the waters off Pride.
There was a very small patch of beach that no one went to because you could only get to it by boat.
Besides being small, it was under water whenever the tide came in.
He hadn’t heard about caves or tunnels leading to the lighthouse though.
He doubted that anyone in town knew either.
Otherwise he would have heard about it at one point over the years. Right?
She nodded. “And the passage that leads to it.”
“Lead the way, Nancy Drew.”
She laughed, and the sound pulled a grin from him. He took her hand as they stood. “We can do dishes later.”
They climbed the stairs to the second floor, and she led him into her closet. With a steady hand, she pushed open a narrow panel that he hadn’t noticed before. He remembered helping Max paint this bedroom when they’d remodeled the place, but he’d never stepped foot in the closet before.
When the panel was open, a cool draft hit his face.
“Wow,” he murmured, staring into the dark passage. “I can’t believe this was here the whole time.”
“I’ve been meaning to ask Max and Juliette if they knew about it, but I keep forgetting.”
“They never said anything to me,” Nate said, ducking inside after her. “My sister loves hidden passages.” The ceiling dipped low enough that he had to stoop, following her closely as she started down a narrow stairwell. “Spooky ones too.”
“I thought it was just a weird storage nook at first,” she said, stepping carefully. “I didn’t realize there was a second exit until today.”
“Is there an exit here?” he asked when they reached the first landing.
“Oh, yeah, I haven’t figured out how to open the door to this passage from Max’s office yet.”
“There’s an entrance from the office?” he asked as she continued down the stairs.
“Yeah,” she said, but she kept going.
When they reached the bottom, she kept moving through a narrow passage.
He followed and brushed his hand along the rough stone walls as they made their way. No wonder she’d scratched her shoulder. He had to walk sideways in a few places to avoid scraping his. “Watch your step,” she added, pointing to a jagged dip in the stone. “It gets narrow before it opens up again.”
“It’s like a Hardy Boys mystery,” he muttered, ducking beneath the low stone ceiling. “I can’t believe no one has stumbled upon this and mapped it out before.”
“Exactly. How do you not know about an entire passageway? I mean, this place has had other owners before Max and Juliette, right?”
“Yeah, it’s over a hundred years old. Maybe this was part of the original design? You know, it was built before the lighthouse?”
He reached for her hand again as they weaved their way through the passages until they stepped into a larger chamber.
It was the size of the guest bedroom they had slept in last night. The walls were almost seven feet high in places. It wasn’t square though, more like an octagon.
Nate paused in the middle, turning slowly to take it all in—jagged walls, faint seams of light streaming through cracks, and the grit of sand underfoot.
“These walls look solid,” Faye said, running her hand along a lighted seam. “But they’re not. It almost feels like there’s glass in the gaps. It allows light to leak through.”
Nate stepped closer, palm flat against one of the glowing cracks. “They could be natural fissures. Or sand could have gotten in the cracks and heated over the years from the sun’s ray, turning it into glass?”
“It’s strange.” She shook her head. Then she pointed toward what appeared to be a solid wall. “There’s the exit that leads to the beach. I wouldn’t have found it, but the sun was hitting it just right earlier I guess. Now it’s hidden again.” She narrowed her eyes and moved closer.
His eyebrows shot up. “I don’t see anything.”
She grinned and stepped forward and, to his amazement, she disappeared directly into the rock face.
He followed her and realized that the way the walls sat parallel to one another created an optical illusion that they were solid, but there was a small gap between them.
They slipped through the narrow split, careful not to bump shoulders. The passage was tighter than he expected, but just when he started wondering how long it would go on, sunlight broke over them in a sudden, golden burst.
Seagulls called out as they flew overhead. Warm air washed over him as he stepped out onto the beach behind Faye. She stood in the sand, arms lifted slightly like she was soaking in the light.
“This is it,” she said, voice raised slightly and filled with awe. “A totally sealed off private beach. There’s no path up anywhere.” She turned back to him. “Our very own private beach.”
“Nice.” Nate glanced around with a smile. “I have to admit, though, that I have seen this beach before, from the water.” He motioned to a passing boat on the horizon. “I’ve passed it a few times on the boat, but it looked smaller from the water.”
He walked farther down the sand and turned to look back up at the cliff. From here, he could barely make out the top of the lighthouse peeking above the rocks.
When he glanced at where they had just come from, there was no sign of the opening that they had just exited. As with the passage inside, the rocks hid the exit spot perfectly.
“It’s hidden from view. If someone used this tunnel a long time ago, they could’ve done it without anyone noticing. Smugglers, maybe. Pirates hiding their treasure,” he added with a playful grin.
Faye gave him a mock-serious nod. “I do like a good treasure hunt.”
His gaze lifted toward the cliffs again. “If the lighthouse was built over this, maybe they knew about the cave and picked this spot on purpose.”
“That tracks, since the tunnel feels older than the house,” she said thoughtfully, crouching near a flat patch of stone at the mouth of the cave. “Look—marks or symbols. Like someone carved something here.”
Nate crouched beside her, brushing the sand away. There were a few symbols. Squiggly lines. Something that looked like a sun. “They don’t look natural,” he agreed.
She tilted her head. “Maybe there’s more inside that we didn’t notice?”
He looked back toward the tunnel entrance. “Could be. I bet anyone who stopped to visit the beach and saw the caves would be too nervous to explore. Most would be worried about flooding during high tide or that the rocks might collapse.”
“I’m not telling anyone about this yet,” she said, placing a hand on his arm. “Not until I talk to Max and Juliette. If word gets out, people might start crawling all over this place, breaking into the house or, worse, getting hurt or lost in the tunnels.”
“Fair,” Nate agreed. “I wouldn’t want anyone stomping around, looking for the lost lighthouse diamond.”
She gasped slightly. “Right, I almost forgot about the lost diamond. What was it called again?”
“The Ocean’s Heart. Juliette and I used to sneak up here with flashlights and peanut butter sandwiches at night to look for it when we were teenagers.
When we were younger and our family was enjoying the beach, we’d make a beeline up there to look.
We searched for it like it was our job. We were both sure that we were going to be the ones to find it someday. ”
Faye laughed and sat down in the sand, tossing her braid over her shoulder. “Now that I want to hear more about.”