Page 65 of Accidentally Yours
Across the room, his phone waited on the dresser, next to an old tabletop clock—dark walnut wood, Roman numerals, and a brass pendulum. He stood and walked toward his phone, but as he did, the clock caught his eye and pieces of the last riddle started shouting inside his head. And suddenly Ethan’s heart thudded, hard. His grandfather had given that clock to his grandma on their twenty-fifth anniversary. Ethan remembered seeing it on their mantle growing up. Remembered the soft chime that sounded on the hour.
Just as he reached the dresser, the clock struck, and the dainty chime stilled him.
The necklace waits where time comes apart.
“Could it really be here?” he whispered to himself. With a thudding heart, he reached for the clock, slowly lifting it from the dresser. It was heavy, filled with history and time. Ethan turned it over.
On the back, there was a small latch and a barely visible seam. Ethan’s breath caught as he gently opened it. Inside, nestled in a shallow cavity lined with velvet, sat the necklace. It was delicate and brilliant. He pulled it out, the ruby and diamonds catching rays of sunlight, spilling brilliance across the room.
He held the last piece of the adventure. His grandfather had hidden it here . . . with his grandma.Where love still bloomed. Where memories grew. Where love still dares to keep.
Ethan didn’t move for what felt like hours. His vision blurred. He’d gotten what he wanted. He’d solved the puzzle and found the necklace. But it had never been lost. It had always been there with them, just like the wonderful memories of his grandfather.
But one piece of the puzzle was still missing—Paige. Standing here, holding the necklace in his hands, Ethan yearned for the best part of the adventure. The part where he’d discovered a partner. And he wanted Paige there with him, sharing the joy of discovery.
Pouring the necklace back into the velvet compartment, Ethan latched it shut. He set the clock back on the dresser. The necklace was safe. It was where it should be, with his grandma. But Ethan had one more thing to do before he could bring his grandfather’s treasure hunt to a close.
Picking up his phone, Ethan itched to call Paige, but he needed to see her in person, to tell her how he felt as she stood in front of him. He froze when he saw the notifications on the screen.
Paige had made new comments in their manuscript? She was writing? He tapped into the Google Doc and clicked through her notes. And as he stared and scrolled, his chest cracked open wider as he read each of them. When he got to her last comment, he stared at the message for a few beats before a trembling breath left his lungs. A phone call or message wouldn’t do. He had to get to Paige, to talk to her in person.
Ethan had found the necklace. Now, he was going after the real treasure.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Paigeslippedthroughthedoor into the kitchen and grabbed a knife from the counter. “What can I chop?”
Grandma Moon glanced over from the stove, where she was stirring veggies in the wok. She quirked an eyebrow. “You were out there for exactly six minutes.”
“It felt like weeks,” Paige replied, referring to her time mingling with her parents’ friends. Wanting to avoid going back out in the dining room, she sidled up to her cousin Soo-mi at the kitchen island. She pressed her shoulder against Soo-mi’s. “Give me a job, please. Anything.” Paige wanted to stay in the kitchen, with her two favorite family members, and far away from the torturous conversations on the other side of the door. She set her head on Soo-mi’s shoulder. Her cousin patted it.
“We’re almost done.” Soo-mi chuckled good-naturedly. “But if you insist, you can arrange appetizers on that platter.” She pointed. Then her hand gently closed over Paige’s, easing the knife from her grip. “Besides, I don’t think you need this in your hand right now. Especially with Derek out there flapping his gums about how he’s the best character in all of your books.”
For a second, Paige gripped the knife tighter. A low guttural sound escaped her throat.
“Give it to me, cos,” Soo-mi said with a chuckle. “I don’t want to see you go to jail.”
“It’s only murder if they find the body,” Grandma Moon added dryly, as she stirred. “Otherwise, it’s just a missing person case.”
Both Paige and Soo-mi burst into laughter. Grandma replied with a wink over her shoulder. Then she quirked a brow and added, “I wouldn’t cry myself to sleep if Derek went missing.”
Paige huffed a chuckle and let go of the knife, releasing it to Soo-mi. She leaned on the counter, some of the tension unknotting in her chest. “Thanks, Grandma. I needed that.”
Soo-mi slid the knife back into the block. “Seriously, though, why is your ex here? You broke it off forever ago. You killed off the Hans guy. That’s a pretty clear picture that you’re over him.”
Grandma Moon hummed her agreement from the stove.
“I think Mom and Dad are holding on to this dream that I’ll marry a doctor.” Paige sighed. “If I won’t wear the white coat, maybe I can marry appropriately and redeem myself that way?” Paige delivered the information with the same dry sarcasm that her grandma had mentioned murder with.
“No offense,” Soo-mi said, whisking the dipping sauce for the crispy kimchi pancakes. “But that’s bananas. They should support your dreams, not push theirs.”
“Thanks.” Paige smiled, appreciating the support. “It is bananas.” She sighed and reached for a pancake. Soo-mi swatted her hand away.
“Besides, you’re dating a total stud now,” Soo-mi said, with a waggle of her brows as she started whisking again. “Why would you ever even look at stuffy Doctor Derek when you’ve got Ethan-freaking-Cole?”
Paige moved over to the steak-cucumber bites, grabbed a pair of tongs, and started transferring the bite-sized goodies to a platter. “Yeah. Totally.” Her response was quiet, and Soo-mi gave her a confused look, but Paige didn’t expand on her answer. Instead, she hummed along with the radio playing softly in the background.
She’d been dodging questions all afternoon—from her parents’ friends and hospital colleagues, and from nosy neighbors. Everyone was more interested in her relationship with Ethan than in Paige herself. Not to mention, Ethan hadn’t responded yet to her comments in the manuscript. No message. No call. Nothing. But she’d promised herself if he didn’t reply by the end of dinner, she’d go to him. Knock on his door. Say everything.
