6. Chapter 5
Liam
“So, what did she say?” I ask, the second Serena sits in the driver's seat.
“She gave me this.” She puts a book on the console between us and starts the car.
I pick up the book, caressing the frayed golden edges. “Do you know what this is?”
“Yeah, a second edition,” Serena says.
“And she just gave it to you?” There has to be a catch. Never has someone given me a clue to a mystery for free. “What did she want in return?”
“Nothing.” Serena shrugs. “She said she was sick of it and the treasure. Apparently there are journal entries written throughout.”
Hmm. I flip through the pages until I find the first entry, though it’s not dated. It looks like a letter.
“To L.H.” I read it aloud. “May you find assurance in this love, doomed from the start, like ours. But someday the stars will align and we will be together. Until then, hold my words dear. C.M.”
So they are his journal entries. I turn the pages, reading the separate entries from Cillian to Lydia. They are each simple entries, stories or memories of them together. Poetry and love letters.
I read every word of his passionate love notes to Serena while we drive and when we stop at the next destination, my throat is raw and dry.
Serena turns off the car and sniffs.
I glance over at her. “Hold on. Are you emotional?”
“No!” She steels her features. “It’s allergies.”
I give her a look.
She throws a hand in the air. “It was romantic, okay? He was so in love with her, but they couldn’t be together.”
I nod, my jaw clenching. “He was a thief. She wasn’t.”
“It’s more complicated than that. He was on the run. She wanted a stable life.”
I raise a brow. “Is that what all women want?”
Serena looks over at me, seeing right through my little question. “Of course not—only the boring ones.”
“You want a life full of adventure then? Should we make out here too?”
She rolls her eyes. “Come on, scaredy cat. I don’t see any chickens in the jewelry store.”
“Only the men afraid of commitment.” I step out of the car and round it so I can offer her a hand to escort her inside like a real and true gentleman who can commit.
I am already committed to this woman at my side.
Since the moment I found her again, when I didn’t even know she was Seraphina, I was drawn to her like two star-crossed lovers destined to collide.
I pull open the door, holding it for Serena to enter first. The jewelry store must be expensive because the clientele appears to be in their mid-fifties, and there is a waitress serving champagne to the shoppers.
“I feel a little out of place,” Serena hisses, tugging at her t-shirt.
“You belong everywhere, my love. You command every room you walk into.” As if on cue, several shoppers look over at us and I see a few men not so subtly check out my woman.
That simply won’t do. I drag Serena to my side, pressing a kiss to her cheek. “We just got engaged!”
Cheers greet us, a champagne bottle pops, and a young sales associate rushes up to us. “Let me assist you.”
“Yes, please assist him; he’s clearly lost his mind,” Serena says, with a smile that seems to throw the young woman.
“She’s kidding,” I say to comfort the poor girl. “After she stopped trying to kill me, she decided she can’t get enough of me.”
The woman’s ankle tips in her heels, and I reach out to steady her. “A-and you want to look at engagement rings now?” She lowers her voice and looks around. “Are you sure that’s wise?”
Serena bites her bottom lip, and I can’t help but laugh. “Possibly not. But we like to see where life takes us.”
“Maybe just a brooch.” Serena jumps in.
I raise a brow. “A brooch. Really? Like that raccoon one you lost?”
Serena swallows. “Earrings then.”
“No ring?” The woman looks between the two of us like she’s desperately trying to understand the situation. She never will.
“We’ll circle back to that.” I wink.
“Okay.” The woman settles us around the display and turns to get a key.
“Now what?” Serena whispers. “How do we find any clues here?”
“I don’t think there are any clues here,” I whisper.
“Why do you say that?”
“I did some research while you were in the cottage. Thank you again for leaving me behind like that.”
Serena’s lips twitch.
“Anyway, this isn’t the original building. The old building burned down in the fifties.”
“So…why are we here?”
I shrug. “I thought it would be fun. There is one room that survived. It’s the back office. I doubt we’ll find anything, but let’s pretend we’re interested in some jewelry, then I’ll distract everyone here while you sneak a peek.”
“Yellow gold or white gold?” The young woman places two velvet cushions on the case in front of us.
“White,” both of us say, turning our attention to the cushion with the white gold earrings. I know exactly which one Serena’s eyes have narrowed in on—the solitaire studs.
“Do you have these with the December birthstone?” I ask.
I can feel Serena’s gaze on the side of my face, but I don’t move my eyes from the sales associate. Of course I’d remember when her birthday is.
“Yes,” the associate says and digs in the case until she finds the light blue studs and pushes the earrings in front of Serena.
“We’ll take them,” I say to the woman.
“Would you like to see the matching necklace?”
“No. My fiancée doesn't like things that could be used to commit murder.” Serena pinches my thigh so hard I nearly jump. “I mean, yes, we’d love to see it.”
“Why don’t you decide for me, honey?” Serena pinches my leg again before standing up. That spot is going to be sore. “I need to use the restroom. Is it back that way?”
The sales lady nods, and when Serena is gone, I whisper to the lady, “You know what, let's see the matching ring and bracelet too.”