Page 27 of In the Pursuit of Haven
My eyes turned to the last letter on the bed. Only one more. Was that a death announcement? Matthew was heading for his doom. And he’d just told Haven that he was doing this all for her.
Had she blamed herself when he’d died?
My fingers clenched over Haven’s bedspread. His meaningless death was such a waste of this beautiful love story! My mind flew to Jessie. He was wasting our love story too—it might not be for the treasure, but whatever he was involved in, it felt just as empty. And goodness! What I’d do for a simple explanation as to why I wasn’t enough! My fury at what Matthew had done mingled with my disappointment and disbelief over his nephew’s mistakes left me shaking.
A knock on the door made me turn to check out the clock. It was two in the morning! Stu let out a yowl and met my eyes with his orange unblinking ones. Who could possibly be coming this time of night? The unseen fist pounded against the door and didn’t stop. Whoever was there, they were persistent.
Jumping from the bed, I threw the letters down on the quilt.
“Coming!” Rushing down the stairs, I stalked to the door and almost fell over my feet seconds after I saw who stood on the other side of that glass door.
Narrowing my eyes, I unlocked every last lock to let Jessie have it!
Chapter Seven
“Oh good.” Jessie hustled the dog through the door, grabbing the scruff of Finn’s neck when he tried to tackle me. “Glad you’re up. I saw the light was on upstairs.”
“What are you doing here?”
His arm brushed up against mine as he walked inside. His eyes traveled over the cozy little dwelling. “It’s smaller than I imagined.”
For all my begging, Haven had never allowed my husband over when we’d been dating and when we’d married, it just felt awkward to ask.
My eyes went to the pillow stashed under Jessie’s arm, then the bloated gym bag hanging over his shoulder. He clutched to an oversized bag of dog food, too. “You were—you were only coming during—during the days…” I stammered.
“Who said?”
No one.I’d just figured. “I don’t have a place for you.” Of course, that was a lie. There was a guest bedroom next to Haven’s room, but he couldn’t just barge in here uninvited.
“Hey look, there’s a couch.” He made a beeline for the living room. He threw his pillow down, tilting his head at me when I huffed. “What’s the matter? You want to share the bed?”
I stiffened in indignation. “I’ll get you some blankets,” I said.
His lip curled up and he unzipped his bag, pulling out some chips. Of course he’d packed the essentials. “Why are you up so late?” he asked.
“What makes you think you didn’t wake me up?”
His eyes went to my wrinkled dress. I could’ve fallen asleep in it, but he knew me too well. I’d also never been able to sleep with the light on. My arms were still shaking from what I’d read, especially since the same problems in Haven and his uncle’s marriage were seeping through the generations. I threw my hands behind my back before he noticed how upset I was. “How did your Uncle Matthew die?” I asked.
A potato chip stopped midway to his mouth. “Why do you want to know that?”
I took a deep breath, not sure how much I wanted to confide in him. “He was the one whose name was on the deed. Do you know why?”
He put his hands up. “Hey, slow down the questions, Madame Interrogator. He died when his ship went down.”
I was unprepared for the wave of sadness that hit me. “Where?”
“Not Salem.”
“He didn’t think the treasure was here?”
Jessie’s dark eyes narrowed on me. “Is this why you’re up so late? What did you find?”
Hereallyknew me too well. I might as well lay it all out on the table. “I can’t find that Dimond rattle at our place. Where did it go?”
He hesitated a second too long for me not to be suspicious. “How should I know where you put that creepy thing?” he asked. “What happened?” He kept his voice casual, but he wasn’t fooling me a bit. “What brought all this up?”
Tears pricked at my eyes, and why not? I’d been crying all day and now it was two in the morning and I never could handle late nights. “Maybe because I know you’re hiding something from me. It’s been almost half a year when it started, I’m sure of it! You’ve been growing more and more distant from me, keeping secrets.”
