Chapter 25
After Eric left her in the living room, Charlotte, riddled with guilt, drove home and ran out into the garden, seeking solace among the trees and shrubbery. Everything was a disaster, and it was all her fault.
On her familiar stone bench, she watched the old Victorian farmhouse like she’d done many times. The cows grazed across the hazy fields.
The for sale sign would soon be up. He’d have to sell to be able to pay the debts and taxes due.
“Hello there!”
Jules waved to her from the bushes. “Is it a chilly day? I can’t feel anymore, so seeing you bundled up makes me wish I could feel again.”
“It’s chilly. And also sad.”
Jules nodded toward the farmhouse. “I’ve heard they have to leave next door.”
“Yes. All my planning and hard work backfired. I wanted to do the right thing and it went poorly.”
Jules sat next to her, holding his hands in his lap. “I can relate to that completely.”
She laughed.
“It’s good to hear you laugh. It’s been a while.” He paused. “I just want to let you know that happiness isn’t found in money, but in relationships. I would give anything to go back to that moment and make the hard choice to let my house go rather than to take up rum running. Then maybe I would’ve lived out my days with my sweetheart instead of leaving her a widow.”
“We’ll find out what you need to do to return.”
“I think you already have. For the first time in a long time, I feel peace. Like something finally is going to happen. Thank you Charlotte, for listening, for seeing me, and for caring. Even if I have to stay here the rest of eternity, at least I know I have a friend.”
Charlotte sniffed back a tear. It had been a long day. “I wish I could give you a hug.”
Jules tightened his lips into a smile. “It’s enough to know that my son Paul did a good job raising his son, who raised a son who had such an amazing daughter. I’m proud of you. I’m glad I got to meet you.”
Charlotte smiled. “Thank you. I’m glad I got to meet you, too.” Now she wished she could’ve met all her ancestors. Maybe some day, on the other side, she’d to hang out with them and ask them questions.
The rumble of a car coming up the drive sounded behind her. She turned.
Eric’s truck turned in the brick drive.
“I have to go.” She turned to say goodbye to Jules, but he was already gone.
Standing, she ran down the hill to where Eric was getting out of the truck.
His face was serious, drawn.
“Oh, no!” she whispered under her breath. “What happened?”
She tumbled into his arms, feeling his strength and warmth all around her. She nestled her cold nose into his jacket, smelling of apples and cinnamon.
He pulled something from his pocket. “My mother will be talking to the bankers this afternoon.” He opened his hand. “And I’d like to return this.”
“What do you have?” Her heart constricted. Why did he want to return something? She leaned forward.
There, on his palm was the intricate ring, worn with age, but still beautiful.
She laughed, recognizing the piece. She picked it up. “You could’ve sold it, no doubt to a jeweler, and while it wouldn’t recoup the rest of the fifty grand you need, this vintage piece would’ve fetched a nice price. All the stones are real, I’m sure.”
His voice softened as he brushed back a bit of her hair. “I could never have sold this little token of your affection. For any price. It is much too precious to me.”
She warmed at his words. “Then why give it back?”
“Look inside.”
She turned on her phone light to get a better look. On the insides, she could just make out small lines, engravings. “What’s this?” She straightened to show Eric.
“I couldn’t figure out why someone would put numbers inside of a ring.”
Lightning struck Charlotte. “I do. I know why.” She ran up the brick stairs. “Come on, we have to clean it.”
Eric climbed behind her. “What is going on? What do the numbers mean? Charlotte?”
“You stumbled upon a clue!” She ran into the house without waiting for him to reply. “We may find the gold after all!”
Eric made it to the open door and let himself into the mansion behind Charlotte, into the warmth. He closed the giant door behind him. “Where are you?”
“Upstairs.” Her voice sounded faint up the swirled staircase under a domed glass skylight.
He had never been past the white and black marble in the front entryway. With a certain reverence, he tiptoed up the stairs after hastily removing his shoes.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m getting a bottle of jewelry cleaner.”
“You want to tell me what’s going on?” He tried to follow the sound of her voice through the myriad of doors. A light in one room gave away her location on the second floor.
She poked her head from what looked like a bathroom. Her cheeks were still pink from being outside, and her eyes were bright instead of the dull ache he first saw her with fifteen minutes ago. “Jules said he left a clue for his wife. I bet this is it.” She dunked the ring in some liquid and polished it with a cloth.
The bathroom was the most amazing bathroom he’d ever been in.
“Come. Let’s find a magnifying glass.” She went downstairs to the study.
He ran after her, barely keeping up.
Just as Eric walked in, she opened the drawer to the desk.
She started to write down the numbers. He studied them over her shoulder. “They can’t be GPS numbers.”
“Of course not.” Through the magnifying glass, she glanced from the ring to her paper. “They didn’t have it back then, but they still used surveying tools to mark out land plots. Since Jules was a surveyor, he would’ve known she would’ve known the tools to find it again. He left her the coordinates. It was brilliant.” She lifted her head. “Jules if you can hear me, you’re brilliant.”
“But we don’t have the surveying tools.”
“No. Preston sold off so many things to keep the house afloat until now. Most of the stuff is gone. But I do know how to search the Internet.”
She scrolled on her phone. He loved seeing her so giddy. “Of course, we don’t know if the gold is even still there. But it’s still exciting.”
“We have the numbers and the directions.” She had written E 30° 05’ 06” E on the paper, copied from the inside of the ring.
Eric had spent some time with surveyors along his property. “I know how to do this. I understand this. We find north, find east, find the degrees off of that from a designated corner point. Great.” Eric threw up his hands.
“What?”
He tucked his hands into his pockets. “We don’t know where the corner point is. Even if we know what it is today, it could’ve changed a hundred times between now and a hundred years ago.”
Charlotte stroked her chin. “And Jules said we swapped land back and forth between our two families.”
“What’s this book?” He picked up a green cloth-bound book on the desk.
“It dropped from the bookshelf. I didn’t have a chance to reshelve it.”
He read the spine. Laurent Mansion Land Surveys. “This is what we need. This has the historical points of the property at that time.” Heart beating rapidly, he flipped open the pages. “Here’s the property boundaries in the 1920s. It even has the center point marked.”
“Let’s go outside and locate all the corner markings of the property.”
“This could take forever.”
“We need the gold now to stop them from selling your property. Text your mom. Tell her not to sign anything yet.”
“But if we don’t find anything or if we’re wrong or even off…”
“Tell her not to sign anything until she hears from us.” She marched out the door with a determined look on her face.
He’d never loved her more.
He stepped out into the cold air, closing the door behind him.
She headed toward the garage. “Let’s get some shovels.”
He flashed her a skeptical look.
“In case we actually do find the spot, we don’t have time to run back and grab shovels. We’re showing our faith.”
“Fine.” He grabbed shovels from the garage, carrying them under his arms.
Rain drizzled from ominous clouds. She returned inside to grab two rain slickers. They quickly slid their arms into the sleeves and pulled them over their heads before the sky produced bigger droplets.
Tucking the book close to keep the moisture running off her hood into the pages, she studied the lines of the road. “The roads could’ve changed over time, too.”
“True. But this is the best we can do.”
Keeping their heads down, they hiked along the perimeter of the property lines, under trees of vibrant colors, slogging through fallen leaves. Over this way, the trees grew thick overhead. The grass was a little longer. “I wonder if that ring belonged to my great-great grandmother Charlotte. No wonder my mom was angry when I took it.”
With his shoulders, he brushed back a few stray branches to allow Charlotte to pass without getting scraped. “I can’t believe I had it the whole time.” For once, he was glad he kept sentimental things.
Charlotte chuckled. “I’m glad you didn’t give it away or lose it.”
“As I said, I would never have lost anything so valuable.” He meant it. Over the patter of the rain hitting his hood, he glanced over to Charlotte. “I’m so glad you didn’t go back with Westley.”
Passing under a large tree, she brushed a wet strand of golden hair from her face. “What renewed my interest were the qualities I’ve always admired about you, even as a ten-year-old. You were kind, compassionate, and hardworking. Still are. I decided to stay because together, we can do anything.”
“And what would you like to do?” Larger droplets falling from the tree branches above added whole notes to the rain’s staccato on his hood.
“I’ve decided to open an adoption agency, here in Sugar Creek.”
Her goal didn’t surprise him. Charlotte’s heart was as wide as the open space. “That sounds like a lovely idea. If we find the gold and save the dairy, that will be the first thing we do.” Holding the book, he stopped. “Corner number one. Found.” He stuck a stick upright, marking the spot. “We can take the measurements from here.” He grabbed her hand, soft and warm, and marched through the bushes.