Chapter 14 #2
He sat beside her, legs stretched out, and started telling her the story—how he and Juliette had spent hours digging around the property, convinced the diamond was buried under the lighthouse steps. How they even tried to pry up one of the old floorboards in the well house one summer.
They stayed there for a while, trading stories and theories, the salt air swirling around them. Nate didn’t remember the last time he’d felt this relaxed, this completely content.
Eventually, he dusted off his hands and stood. “New plan,” he said. “After your appointment in Portland on Monday, how about we come back with real supplies—flashlights, notebooks, the works—and map out the whole tunnel?”
Faye grinned, eyes bright again. “Sounds like an adventure.”
“Something tells me you like adventures.” He took her hand and led them back toward the entrance.
“I live for them,” she joked.
When they stepped back into the cool rock passageway, sun-warmed and wind-kissed, they both took a moment for their eyes to adjust.
“One thing worries me,” she said once they were sliding through the narrow pathway.
“What’s that?” he asked, after dodging a low part of the passage.
“If you weren’t the one to open the passage earlier, how did it open? I mean, it could have been the wind, right?”
He thought for a moment. He’d been thinking the same thing but didn’t want to freak her out.
“Yeah, it was probably the wind.” He raised his hand. Sure enough, a gust of wind hit them as he mentioned it.
“Right.” She seemed to relax as they entered the larger room area. “It’s a really cool place. Do you think it floods for real?”
He glanced around and then pointed out water marks on the walls. “Promise me that you won’t come down here alone again. This is where the water hits during high tide.”
She shivered and nodded. “It’s not that high, but it’s enough that, if it was dark, you could panic and get lost, miss your exit, and drown.” She motioned toward another section of the tunnel behind the staircase.
He followed her up the stairs. She stopped halfway up and ran her hands over what he thought was a solid wall. Then he remembered the opening she’d mentioned before. The one that led to the office.
She pushed on it solidly and stepped out into her brother’s office. He followed her out and was impressed to see that the hidden opening was in the built-in bookcases on the side of the fireplace.
“Okay, I’m positive Max didn’t know about this.
” He dusted off his shorts and shirt as she did the same.
She looked tired again. Her skin was almost see-through and there were small dark spots under her eyes.
“Why don’t you head in and rest for a while.
I’ll take care of the dishes and go check on the horses. ”
She stifled a yawn and nodded. “I need to call my mom too and see if I can stay at her place on Sunday night for my early appointment the next morning.”
He kissed her and, when she had disappeared down the hallway, he lingered just a moment longer in Max’s office.
He stepped back to the bookcase, eyeing the frame around the panel she’d pushed open.
The craftsmanship was old but clever—nearly seamless.
If she hadn’t found it, he would’ve walked past it a hundred times without suspecting a thing.
He crouched, running his fingers along the floor molding, then stood and gently ran his hands over the top panel and tried to nudge the hidden door open. It wouldn’t budge. It was solid. As solid as the bookcase on the other side of the fireplace.
Was there a hidden latch? A pressure point? He didn’t try too hard to force it. Instead, he stared at the space behind the fireplace with a quiet, unsettled awe.
Then he ran his hand along the top, just above the tallest shelf and found a small notch. When he pushed it, the wall opened smoothly.
Who the hell had built this? And why?
The panel upstairs in the closet didn’t have a notch like this so maybe the wind could explain it opening on its own—maybe.
He shut the hidden doorway and brushed the last of the dust from his shirt as he exited the room.
When he passed by the living room, Faye was sitting on the sofa, a blanket over her legs, texting on her phone.
In the kitchen, the dishes still waited from breakfast. He got to work without thinking—rinsing, loading the dishwasher, wiping down the countertops. As he worked, he thought about how he couldn’t wait to get his place back in working order.
He was thinking of the design as he worked around his sister’s kitchen. He liked where they had placed their microwave and was thinking of adding one to the large island in his place. He could have the dishwasher on one side of the sink and the microwave on the other.
The window above the sink looked out over the fields, and sunlight poured over the yard and the trees beyond. The view of the Pacific filled most of his vision, with its deep blue disappearing into the horizon.
His eyes drifted to the back corner of the property, toward the stables. The horses would need water, maybe some fresh hay. If Faye was resting, maybe he could take them out on a short ride.
But still, his mind kept drifting back to the passage. To that hidden door. To the markings carved into the rocks. The way the air moved through the tunnel—not stale or suffocating, but alive, almost like it was breathing.
And then there was Faye. She was a bit of a mystery herself.
He’d heard what had happened to her as a baby from Max. Hated that she’d gone through something like that and had had a lifetime of suffering because of it.
He dried his hands and walked quietly into the living room, pausing at the entrance.
She was curled on the sofa, one arm draped over a pillow, her breathing deep and even. Fast asleep.
Good, he thought. She needed the rest.
Grabbing his boots, he stepped out the back door into the warmth of the day and made his way toward the stables.