Page 216 of Secrets Along the Shore
He broke into a wide grin, like a kid presented with a lollipop the size of his head. “I just have a feeling that whatever you’re looking for, it’s in there. Scanlon didn’t build a space like that just for the novelty. There’s something he couldn’t leave behind…or couldn’t trust anyone else with. Not even his family. I want to help you find it.”
I smiled, appreciating his acceptance of me here in his town. “I’d like that.” With the tilt of my head, I invited him to follow me.
Back in Scanlon’s room, I pulled out the book and opened the secret door. Cool, stale air rushed upward as I stepped into the darkness. Evan followed behind me. His boots thumping on the wood floorvibrated, sending a shiver through me. I flicked on the lamp on the desk, casting the room in its warm, golden glow.
The space was nearly as he’d seen it last, except for my recent discoveries. Evan crouched near the desk where I’d left a spread of documents and opened yearbooks. He began flipping through one file, carefully lifting the contents as though afraid to tear something fragile.
I let him catch up to where I was at, giving him a few minutes before speaking. “I’ve been wondering about something.”
He looked up. “What’s that?”
“What if he wasn’t hiding these things from the school?” I blurted.
Evan’s eyebrows furrowed. “What do you mean?”
I took a step closer to the bookshelves, scanning the labels again. “I’ve been looking at the students, the experiments, trying to understand what he was doing. But what if these weren’t secrets he kept from the school? What if he was hiding all this from someone else entirely?”
“Who?”
“His family,” I said, and the word hit hard. I turned back toward the center of the room. “He had no children. Clarice told me. But he had a nephew. The attorney who contacted me about the will said everyone assumed the nephew would inherit this place. Except he didn’t. Scanlon left it to me. Why? Perhaps his nephew couldn’t be trusted with all this.”
Evan slowly stood. “You think his family didn’t know what he was doing?”
“I think he wanted to make sure they never found out. When Clarice had an idea that something was up, she ran, not wanting to know the details. Scanlon built this room for a reason. These records, these files, the secrecy…it’s hidden for a reason. Hidden from someone who had access to this house. He wasn’t preserving something. He was protecting it from the people closest to him in his own home.”
Evan crossed his arms, processing. “Okay. So then, who might that be?”
I exhaled slowly. “Maybe there was someone he trusted at first…someone he confided in. Or maybe someone he was afraid of.”
Then something occurred to me. I turned quickly toward Evan. “Clarice said his nephew came up here some summers.”
Evan blinked. “Nathan? The one who thought he’d inherit the lodge?”
I nodded as I wondered if I’d mentioned the nephew’s name and figured I must have at some point. “What if he saw something? What if he was a witness, or worse, involved somehow? Maybe Scanlon didn’t leave the lodge to him for a reason. Maybe he knew something Nathan did—or almost did.”
Evan looked toward the door, then back at me. “That means someone in his family might have a stake in keeping all of this quiet. But first, they have to find this place.”
I nodded, cold settling deep in my chest. “And if Nathan was here the summer Livvie died, he might’ve seen it happen. Or been part of it.” I wondered if he could be the boy Becca had been with.
“Hey, you okay?” Evan asked. “You’re going to chew through that lower lip if you’re not careful.” He touched my chin softly, and I let my lip go. I watched him as he studied my lips, his fingertips still grazing my cheek while his eyes misted over with something more than friendship.
I stepped back, letting his hand fall back to his side and pretending a line between us hadn’t just been tarried with.
I cleared my throat and composed myself. “We should go. I need new tires.”
Evan nodded, not meeting my gaze. “I’m sorry.” A chagrined expression crossed his face. “Can we just forget what just happened? I really want to help you, not put the moves on you. You were just so cute, and I…well, never mind. We need to figure out who slashed your tires. That’s all. They know you’re looking. Come back to town with me. We’ll pick up the new tires, and I’ll change them for you.”
I figured he was trying to cover for his slip, and under other circumstances, I might have enjoyed the flattery, but I also needed to reestablish some boundaries. I decided to give him another chance and take the offer for a ride to town.
“Fine, but you can drop me off at the library first. I want to do a little research.”
“Oh, yeah? Research about what?”
I closed the bookcase door and replaced the book on the shelf. Something inside me had me holding my tongue.
“Just want to learn some history about this place.” I walked ahead of him, effectively ending the conversation.
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