Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
The Axe-Murdering Part (Just Kidding. Calm Down.)
EMILY
I t was strange how completely comfortable I was, sitting here with Archie Kasper—a man who before yesterday had occupied an oversized and very dark place inside my head. I found myself wishing there was some way to capture his true essence for my father, some way I could teleport Dad here invisibly to stand by quietly and absorb the reality of this man.
He wasn’t a villain.
He wasn’t evil.
Archie Kasper—at least the one I’d gotten to know a bit—was unassuming and humble, intelligent and kind. And I wondered if he and Jake might have been friends. Several times during our conversation about the treasure hunt, I’d found myself thinking how much like Jake this man was, and wishing I could introduce them. A part of me still forgot that Jake was gone now and then, and I’d catch myself thinking about something I wanted to tell him or someone he should meet.
But of course, Jake had met Archie Kasper. The fact of Archie’s existence in one exact place at exactly the wrong time had led to my brother’s death. Still, that didn’t make him responsible. Not in my mind, at least. And I was starting to realize what a weight that must be for him to carry. Did that contribute to the haunted look I caught in those indigo blue eyes? Was it the reason he was a little bit guarded, hesitant?
“She’s always been kind of a live wire,” Archie had been telling me about his sister Aubrey as we sat in front of the big picture window, which framed the ski mountain behind us, lit here and there with lights shining up into the towering trees. “Willing to challenge anyone and everyone who gets in her way or who threatens someone she loves. And when she loves you...it’s pretty fierce. I’m just glad she found Wiley. She needs someone to aim all that emotion at in a healthy way.”
“She’s engaged to the bartender, right?”
He nodded. “We knew Wiley and his brother Wade back in high school. My dad was military and for a while he was stationed in Southern Maryland, so we lived out there. I guess Aubrey had a big crush on him back then.”
“A second chance romance!” I blurted this, having spent way too much of my first day of the conference learning about tropes in romance stories.
Archie laughed. “Yeah, I guess so. She was head over heels the second he arrived up here.” The words had a wistful edge to them.
“But you’re happy about it, right?”
Those dark sky eyes met mine. “Yeah, of course. I kind of miss her, that’s all. Aubrey’s always been my shadow.”
“And what about you?”
He held my gaze for a second, seemed about to say something that had me leaning forward, waiting. But then he turned his head and looked back out the window. “I think fate has me cut out to be more of a loner.”
“Fate, huh?” My heart sank a little as he said this, but I didn’t want to let it go that easily. I wanted to know about this man, his life before the accident. And after.
“Admittedly, I haven’t been looking,” he said, looking back to me. “There’ve been a few women here and there, but nothing serious. Not like what Aubrey and Wiley have.”
“Do you wish there was?”
A wistful smile crossed his face as I marveled at my sudden bravery. “Doesn’t everyone?”
“I don’t know. Maybe at different times in life, yes.” I thought of Jake, of the way girls essentially fell at his feet, but he didn’t even notice because he was focused on becoming a pilot, on achieving his dreams. “But sometimes I think we have to focus on our own paths.”
“Like you and writing,” he suggested, and a pang of guilt shot through me. This trip had been about writing, yes. About securing my career and maybe, finally traveling for work. But it had also been about a far more selfish motive.
“Yeah, maybe.” I didn’t want to ruin the evening with darker thoughts or topics. “You’re happy your sister is happy though?” I thought of Jake. Would he be happy for me if I was Aubrey? I knew he would.
“I am,” he said, nodding as his gaze fell down to the old oriental rug beneath our feet.
There was a knock at the door, and Archie sprang up to answer it. Soon, we were back at the table, eating burgers and sipping sodas.
“Tell me about your family,” Archie suggested.
I froze, one hand halfway to my mouth, the fry dangling as my thoughts scrambled. I’d managed to avoid sharing too many details yet, and I should tell him about Jake, I knew. But it was clear how haunted he was about the accident—he wore the guilt in every line of his body. If I brought it up now, I had no doubt it would end one of the best nights I’d had in a long time, and I didn’t think I’d be doing him any favors either. So I kept it to myself. For now.
“My mom was a James Beard nominated chef in La Jolla,” I told him. “And my dad was an architect.”
He stilled, those eyes meeting mine, full of sorrow. “They’re gone?”
“Oh, sorry no.” I answered him quickly, resurrecting my parents just like that. “No, not at all. I just...they don’t...they’re retired now.”
“Ah, got it.” Archie’s shoulders lowered in apparent relief. “You must have gotten some pretty good meals as a kid.”
I grinned. “I guess that’s the irony. As a kid, you don’t really have the patience or the palate to appreciate fine dining. I knew my mom’s meatloaf was good, and I had better mac and cheese at my house than anyone I knew, but it wasn’t like she was really whipping out the fancy stuff at home.”
“Right, that makes sense. But now?”
“I eat with them most Sundays, and yeah—everything Mom makes is astoundingly good.”
I chewed a bite as silence thickened around us, feeling the looming question about siblings and needing to change the subject before it arrived. “How was Marvin related to your parents?”
Archie appeared to think for a moment as he finished chewing and set his burger down. “He was my great uncle. My dad’s father’s brother.”
“Gotcha. And why didn’t he leave all this to your dad?”
“Dad’s been gone a long time now. Uncle Marvin outlived him and my mother. I guess that’s part of why Aubrey and I are so close.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, meaning it. I was thankful to still have my parents, though they hadn’t necessarily made things easier in my life these last few years.
We ate in silence for a bit, and my eyes strayed to the big map, pieced together at my side. I thought about what Archie had told me—they’d found Lola’s Gate and decoded the cipher. “So, these other locations on the map,” I began, my brain working. “There is a cross atop this little building—a church? And what about this door?” It was drawn near the spot where the resort was marked. A couple other markers scattered the map too.
“The door was the one we found, I think,” Archie said. “Kind of a back entrance tunnel leading into the basement.”
“What about the church?”
He shook his head. “I guess I thought it was just a location marker or something. I don’t think it exists anymore.”
I frowned, staring at the map as my mind reversed through our earlier conversation when Archie detailed everything they’d found so far. “Did you say Marvin and Lola were married up here? In Kasper Ridge?”
“Yes, there’s a photo in the album.” He pushed his plate aside and pulled the big album in front of himself, opening it with a thud. He flipped a few pages, and then slid it across the table, open to a photo of a couple smiling at one another under a sign.
“Kasper Ridge Worship.” I read out loud. “There’s a sign, but...” the sign seemed to stand free in front of a few stumps and trees. “There’s no building in sight. Is there actually a church?”
“I have no idea. I’ve never seen one.” Archie frowned at the photo. “There’s a church in town,” he said. “But it’s a modern thing, Lutheran, I think.”
I lifted a shoulder. “Might be worth asking there. Maybe this place doesn’t exist anymore, but they might know something about it.” I was starting to get excited again. Could I actually come up with something they hadn’t thought of? Something that solved the puzzle?
“Maybe,” he agreed.
“See? I’m helping already,” I told him, pointing at him with the last fry I was going to be able to eat that night.
“You’ve practically solved it,” he laughed, pushing his own plate away.
I leaned back in my chair and let my eyes roam the room. An unexpected contentment washed through me as I took in the falling wallpaper, the warm yellow light glowing around me, and the handsome man across the table from me. He was watching me with a vague smile on his lips.
“What are you thinking?” he asked. “Figuring out more things we missed in the hunt?”
I shook my head. “No, I was just thinking that I’m happy.”
The smile grew fuller. “I’m glad.”
I let out a little laugh. “It’s weird. I was happyish at home too. I’m usually pretty cheerful. But I really like it up here. It’s like being surrounded by something bigger, something older...something meaningful. Does that sound odd?”
“Not at all. I feel it too.”
“Plus, the conference,” I said. “I’ve dreamed about living my life immersed in words and stories and books, and this is like getting a taste of that, I guess.”
“Sounds exciting.”
“Yeah, that’s a good word for it.”
Archie glanced at the old clock hanging on the wall next to the bedroom door. “Should I be getting you back? It’s pretty late. I bet you start early.”
I followed his gaze, shocked to see that it was almost midnight. I’d been enjoying myself and didn’t feel the least bit tired. But it was late. “Oh, yeah. I guess so.”
Just then my phone buzzed in my pocket and I slipped it out to see a text from Christine.
Christine: You’re not back. It’s midnight. Do I need to send the cavalry? Front desk is my next call if you don’t answer.
“My friend is checking on me to see if I was axe-murdered.”
“Oh, I was just getting to that part,” Archie said.
I laughed and texted Christine.
Me: On my way back in a second. Go to sleep.
Christine: I did. I set an alarm to check for you at midnight.
Me: Thank you. I’m fine. Be right there.
“She’s worried?” Archie asked, rising from the table, and collecting our plates.
“She’s a good friend,” I said, standing and stretching my arms over my head as Archie stacked our things back on the room service tray.
I gathered my bag and pulled it to my shoulder, moving slowly in my reluctance to leave the warm cocoon of the evening I’d just spent.
Archie walked me to the door and turned to face me before opening it. “Thanks for all the help,” he said.
“You’re welcome.” I thought of something suddenly and it burst from my mouth. “You’re not planning to go check on the church without me, are you?”
He smiled, “I’ll wait until you have time. I’m supposed to be making sure this conference goes smoothly anyway.”
“Okay. Promise?” I wanted to spend more time with him and this was my excuse.
His eyes found mine and the blue appeared to darken. “Promise.” He pulled open the door. “I’ll walk you back.”
A little thrill buzzed through me. “You really don’t have to. I’m sure I’m safe inside the hotel as long as I avoid the elevators.”
“You are,” he agreed, stepping into the hall at my side and pulling shut his door. “I want to. If you don’t mind.”
His words made me feel warm, taken care of. “I don’t mind.”
We walked the long hallways silently, Archie’s hand brushing mine as we moved side by side. A thrill shot through me at the contact, and I wished for so much more, anticipation making me feel wide awake. The hotel was quiet around us, most of the writers already in bed, preparing for another long day tomorrow. When we arrived at my door in the other wing, I turned to face my host.
“Thanks,” I said.
Archie smiled, and his eyes roved my face, sending my heart rate dancing just a little bit quicker. “You’re welcome.” The words were a murmur and his eyes glanced off my mouth, and then raised again, burning into my own.
I was drawn to him in so many ways. He was handsome, sure, but he was also complex and fascinating, and there was an element of his guardedness, his pain, that made me want to comfort him somehow. I leaned in, and he met me halfway as my hand raised to find his chest.
The plane of muscle beneath my palm was warm and solid, and when his hand found my jaw, his thumb tracing a soft line there, I stopped breathing.
He tipped his head forward, and our foreheads touched. I could feel each of us suspended in that moment, taut with tension and held as if in amber by the uncertainty we both felt.
“I don’t want to make assumptions,” he whispered. “I just?—”
I closed the distance between our mouths, my lips grazing his softly in answer.
Archie’s hand slid to the back of my neck, cupping my head, as his other hand found my waist and rested there lightly.
I pressed up onto my toes, aligning our lips, and Archie leaned in. What began as a feather-light question was answered with certainty, our mouths moving together in a give and take that had my pulse beating furiously as my body demanded more.
My tongue teased at his top lip, and he responded, taking over the kiss and pulling me against him. Everything in me ignited with want, and I tried to listen to the distant voice telling me we’d just met, to take things slow, and that it was more complicated than I was making it seem.
Finally, Archie pulled himself away, his arms extending—holding me still but putting distance between our bodies.
“I—”
“Wow,” I said. I sensed he was on the brink of an apology, and that was the last thing I wanted.
“Yeah.” He met my eyes again, and there was so much smoldering heat there I nearly threw myself at him again. Instead, I stepped back.
“I’ll see you tomorrow?” I asked.
“Yes. When you have time.”
“We’re off in the afternoon for a hike or something.”
He nodded.
“I’d rather check out the church if you’re up for it.”
A tiny smile pulled one side of his mouth up and he shoved his hands into his pockets, an action that made him look shy suddenly. “Yeah. I just need to check on some details for the activities, and then we can go when you’re ready.”
“Of course.” It was easy to forget that he was in charge of all this, of everything here. He was the whole reason I was here, in so many ways. “Should I...?”
“I’ll give you my number?” he said, pulling out his phone.
“Yeah, okay.” We exchanged numbers and a text appeared a moment later with a smiling emoji and the word “hi.”
“Got it,” I told him, suddenly feeling uncertain in his presence, awkward and self-conscious. “Good night.”
“Good night, Emily.” He waited while I let myself in, and then turned and headed back down the hallway, glancing over his shoulder once.
I waved and then pulled the door shut.
Everything had just become much more complicated.