Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
Emma hurried across the parking lot toward the front door of the resort, a swarm of bees taking flight in her abdomen. Gavin? She couldn’t believe it. And of all the places for him to turn up, he’d come here.
She spotted Luke standing just inside the front door. He grinned and pushed it open.
“Hey, come on in. Gavin’s in the dining room. I fixed him some lunch.”
“Oh, that was nice of you. Thanks for letting me know he’s here. I can’t believe it.”
“Yeah, he even helped me figure out what was wrong with the snowmobile. He’s a good guy.”
She shrugged. “As far as we know, right?”
“You can go on in if you want. I’ll sit here and watch the front desk. My parents are out.”
“Got it. Thanks.” She hesitated. Oh, the kindness in his eyes. His willingness to get involved in her mess and help her reconnect with her cousin. “I owe you, Luke. Big time.”
He waved her off. “No, you don’t. Go see your cousin.”
She took a deep breath, then walked toward the dining room, her steps faltering when she spotted Gavin. He sat alone in the middle of a long table, finishing off a sandwich and drinking some pop.
She was stunned by the long red beard, faded flannel button-down, and how his broad shoulders held an unmistakable resemblance to her dad’s.
“Gavin?” Her voice sounded softer than she’d intended. “Hi, I’m Emma.”
“Emma.” He wiped his mouth with his napkin, pushed his chair back and stood, then extended his hand, wincing a little. “Mostly clean. Sorry.”
She shook his outstretched hand. “Thanks for coming to Redemption.”
“Yeah, been a long time.”
“Too long.” She pulled out a chair and sat across from him. “I think it was the Fourth of July, and I was in middle school the last time I saw you.”
“Wow.” He sat back down. “Sorry, I didn’t save any lunch.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll get something later.” She glanced over at Luke, visible through the doorway. He caught her eye and gave her a reassuring nod.
“It’s taken me a little while to find you. I wasn’t sure we’d connect.”
“Me either,” Gavin said, reaching for his drink. “I heard you were looking for me through your radio announcement on the Caribou Clatter. Then I was volunteering with the Iditarod and somebody near Skwentna mentioned that people in Redemption were looking for me.”
“Wow. So where do you live most of the time?”
He stroked the end of his long red beard, and half of his mouth tipped up in a smile. “That’s classified. I still run my dad’s gold mine. Central Alaska.”
“Got it.” She picked at a hangnail on her thumb. “I guess you know I inherited the house.”
His gaze sharpened. “Figured as much. Is that why you need to connect with me? Because you don’t need my permission to sell it, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“I appreciate that. But in case you haven’t seen the video, sea lions have overtaken the house. I don’t know what’s worse, those rascals or the fact that my mom hasn’t paid the property taxes in years.”
His bushy brow furrowed. “That sounds on brand for your mother.”
She winced.
Gavin blushed. “Sorry, that was uncalled for.”
“Maybe not.” She hesitated. “Funny thing, you’re not the first person to say that to me. Gavin, I don’t really want the house. If you want it, we can work something out. But before you say yes or no, I want to tell you the whole truth.”
He sipped his drink slowly, then set the can back down on the table. “All right, go on.”
She leaned forward. “I found gold under the floorboards.”
“Whoa, whoa.” He held his hands up. “Keep that on the down-low, eh?”
She glanced around. “There’s nobody here.”
He craned his neck to see past her. “That guy’s still sitting out at the desk.”
Emma looked over her shoulder at Luke, then faced Gavin again. “That’s Luke, and he already knows. We can trust him.”
He didn’t answer as he peeked inside his empty bag of chips.
“My dad has a reputation around here for being a swindler, and I’m not my father. I want to handle this fair and square, and I thought it was only right to let you know what I found.”
“I thought my dad probably had some things stashed in the house. That might not be the only surprise you find.” He chuckled. “Just saying.”
“What else could be hidden in the floors or the walls?”
Gavin shrugged. “Who knows? That’s the thrill of the hunt.”
“I’d still like to sell it. Unless you want it.”
He leaned back, crossing his arms over his barrel chest. “Have you—did you ever hear from my dad before he passed?”
She shook her head. “And I’m so sorry for your loss.”
“It’s all right. Thank you. I appreciate that.” He paused, a sad smile forming. “He was a real happy guy. He died doing what he loved—helping me mine for gold. We had a great day together. The weather was beautiful. Pulled in a great haul. He passed unexpectedly that night.”
His voice turned thick. “I miss him. Every day.”
“I’m sure you do. Even though mine wasn’t a stellar human, he was a good dad. I miss him too.”
Gavin cleared his throat. “My dad had a terrible speech impediment.”
“Yeah, I remember.”
“But he was a good man, and he loved the Lord. And more than anything, Emma, he wanted you to know how much you were loved too. He talked about you from time to time, and he always believed that someday you might want to come back here. And I didn’t know about the gold, but I suspect he hid that, or maybe your dad did, hoping you’d find it and make a fresh start here. If you wanted to.”
She nodded, her throat tight with emotion.
“I’d like to add that maybe this isn’t just about the gold. Although there’s likely a lot of value in what you discovered. Maybe this is really about what you’ll do with the gift you’ve been given. Sure, you should pay the taxes owed. But what then?”
“I-I don’t know,” she whispered, swiping at the moisture on her cheeks.
Gavin’s eyes filled with empathy. “God doesn’t hide things from us. But sometimes I wonder if maybe He hides things for us. So what is He asking you to do with your story? Your life?”
“Wow, I had no idea you’d come in here and drop these truth bombs. Sure you’re not a pastor?”
“Not a pastor.” He grinned, then popped the last chip into his mouth. “Just had something on my heart that I wanted to share. Now…any gold you’d like me to assess?”
Emma let out a shaky breath. Nathan’s photo with Courtney flashed in her mind. She sniffed, then blew her nose on a napkin. They’d probably danced and drunk champagne and mingled with generous philanthropists, while she sat here trying to figure out yet another way to evict sea lions.
Maybe Gavin was right. Maybe finding that gold under the floorboards had a bigger purpose. But how was she supposed to know what to do next when everything she thought she’d wanted felt like it belonged to someone else?
She stared at the napkin, crumpled and damp. Maybe going back to Boston wasn’t what she wanted after all.
“Are you sure you want to do this now?”
Luke set the shoe box in the center of the kitchen table. Out at the front desk, conversation and muffled laughter filtered in as their six guests checked in.
Frowning, Emma tapped her fingernails nervously against the farmhouse table. The refrigerator hummed in the background. “Why did you hide it in a shoe box?”
“Because we left the metal container at your house. Remember?”
“Oh. Right.” Emma glanced over her shoulder. “Gavin offered to look at it for me. I trust his assessment.”
“Okay, sounds good.” Luke smiled and turned toward the doorway as Gavin walked in, wiping his hands on a paper towel.
“Sorry, had to pop into the restroom.” He tossed the paper towel into a trash can, then rubbed his palms together. “All right, let’s see what we’ve got.”
Luke stepped back. Emma hovered next to Gavin. Her shoulders looked tight, and she kept her arms crossed over her chest. Her cheeks were a little bit blotchy, a telltale sign that she’d cried. He hadn’t wanted to press, but from where he’d sat, her conversation with Gavin hadn’t been combative.
His chest pinched. So what was she upset about? Maybe everything that had brought her here—and everything waiting for her back in Boston—was colliding. He couldn’t blame her for coming undone.
Gavin sat down, then slowly raised the lid. He gave a little whistle.
“Whoa, would you look at that?”
Emma shifted closer. “What do you think?”
“Oh, I think whoever hid this was incredibly generous.” He sorted through a few nuggets with practiced hands, placing them gently in his broad palm. “Placer gold—that’s nuggets like these—is solid. Heavy. Excellent quality, of course. Most gold found in Alaska is.”
“Your dad, or maybe mine, or maybe it was a team effort, must have stashed this for a reason.” He took one chunk and weighed it in his other palm. “This is probably five grand right here, give or take.”
Emma sucked in a breath. “Five thousand dollars? In just one nugget?”
Gavin glanced at her, raising his eyebrows. “You’ve likely got somewhere between fifty and eighty thousand dollars’ worth of gold here. Maybe more, depending on the market rate and its purity.”
Emma clutched the back of the chair in front of her. Her gaze slid to Luke.
“Pretty cool, huh?” Luke said. He offered her a bottle of water from the basket Mom kept filled on the side table, but she declined.
“I can’t believe this,” she said, peering into the box. “That’s enough to pay all the taxes and probably finance repairs.”
Gavin patted her on the shoulder.
Was she relieved? Shocked? Did this churn up more grief over her father?
It seemed like she’d been wrestling with her family’s legacy—and questioning her mother’s role in her father’s incarceration. Not to mention that he could tell she was conflicted about whether she should stay in Redemption or go back to Boston. And now she had enough gold to change her life.
“I do feel like it was left for me on purpose,” she said, looking at Gavin. “You’re right. This could be an invitation.”
“Maybe,” Gavin said. “I don’t have all the answers, but I would challenge you to be intentional about what you do next.”
“Do you want any of it? I feel like half of it could be yours.”
Gavin shook his head. “I have more than enough. Besides, this was all meant for you.”
Luke studied them. He should be happy for her. And he was—but his scalp prickled. She could do anything she wanted with her future. There was no reason for her to stay here. Boston was still out there, waiting. The fiancé. The fancy lifestyle.
She might be one step closer to walking away, and now she had the means to do it.
She glanced at him. “Luke.”
He cleared his throat. “Yeah?”
“This wouldn’t have been possible without you.”
The words hit hard. He offered a smile. Rubbed at the tightness in his chest.
“You would have figured it out. You always do.”
Gavin carefully placed the nuggets back in the box. “You’ll want to get this appraised officially if you do plan to sell it. I’ve got a buddy in Fairbanks you can trust. He handles raw gold buys. He’ll give you a better deal than hauling this out of state.”
“Thank you,” Emma said, smiling. “Really.”
“It’s no problem. Happy to help,” Gavin said. “I’ve got to head out, but I’ll send you his contact info.”
Then he hugged her, shook Luke’s hand, and left. But she didn’t move.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.” Luke shrugged. “Anything.”
“If it were you—if you found something like this and suddenly had options—what would you do?”
He hesitated, then circled around the table and came to stand beside her. “Depends. Are we running from something or toward something?”
Her gaze flicked away. “I don’t know.”
“Then I’d pray. And I’d wait until I had clarity.”
For a beat, neither of them spoke. Then she nodded, slow and thoughtful, before closing the lid on the box and sliding it toward him.
“Safekeeping, please? And I need to grab those Easter eggs. I’ve got to take them back to the bed and breakfast so Lainey and I can finish stuffing them.”
“Of course,” Luke said. He put the gold back in the safe, then returned with a laundry basket full of plastic eggs.
She smiled. “Thanks.”
His phone alarm rang, and he quickly silenced it. “I’ve got to run. Hanging out with Brody and Sadie tonight so Ethan and Tisha can go out for dinner. I’ll see you at the Easter egg hunt on Saturday?”
“Absolutely. Thanks again.”
Luke watched her walk out, the basket in her arms and her shoulders a little straighter than before.
The gold had given her options.
Now he just had to find a way to become one of them.