Page 114 of Where I Found You
* * *
This was it.
Noah gripped the book, hope and fear warring for top placement in his heart. His hands trembled. It had all come down to this. If he was right, what would be inside the book—a check? What if the amount wasn’t substantial enough for him and Elisa to split? What if it wasn’t even enough to keep his father from paying off the inn? Russell had mentioned thirty grand. If that number was even close to being the accurate balance on the mortgage, Noah might not stand a chance.
But he’d never know unless he opened it.
With a deep breath, he eased open the front cover, the faint scent of cigars wafting from the pages. How many times had he seen Grandpa nestled in his favorite armchair in the study with this exact book open on his lap?
Nothing was tucked inside the front cover. He flipped to the back. Nothing there either. He gently fanned a few pages. The last quarter of the novel felt different, and he flipped slower.
There. A thin envelope with his name scrawled on the front in familiar script.
Noah.
He swallowed. This would have been one of the last things his grandfather ever wrote. He closed his eyes, then pulled the envelope free and handed the book to Elisa.
She hugged it to her chest, eyes wide and lit with pride as she smiled. “Open it.”
Sadie cleared her throat and took a step back, busying herself with closing up the safe. Giving them privacy. Noah tugged his finger under the envelope flap, opening it as he moved toward the reading nook.
Several handwritten pages, front and back, filled the envelope. He looked inside for a check. Cash. Some kind of bond, maybe.
But there was nothing else.
Noah frowned, then started to read.
My dear boy,
If you’re reading this, that means I’m dead. Ha! I always wanted to start a letter that way. So mysterious, right?
Noah snort-laughed, then swallowed. Man, he missed him.
I might wish I was still there, but probably not. I’m not afraid of death. Not anymore. I grew away from the church, but these last several years, I’ve found my way back to the Lord. I hope you’re doing the same. (If you’re not, you should.)
You’re probably a bit confused why I arranged the hunt the way I did. But you know I’ve never been predictable, and I couldn’t bear to start postmortem. I intend to share with you my greatest treasure.
The first of which is my faith, already mentioned. It had to be first. Do me a big favor, and keep it first in your life, too. I wish I’d done that from the get-go, but better late than never, I suppose.
The second treasure is one I grasped much later in life than I should have. Which is where Elisa comes in.
Noah looked up and motioned for Elisa to join him. “This is for you, too.”
She immediately came to read over his shoulder.
Elisa Bergeron, I owe you an apology. Yes, this old man can still say those words. Better late than never, hopefully. I let my pride and my stubbornness keep a feud alive between our families that should have ended decades prior. Your father should have never been my enemy. The Good Book talks about vengeance being the Lord’s, and like Dantés, I had to learn that the hard way.
Both of our families mistreated the other for years, and it accomplished nothing good. Division, hatred, and envy never bring forth anything beautiful, and those are the rotten fruits I produced and sincerely regret. I invited you into the search because I wanted to right some of these wrongs.
Noah glanced at Elisa. Her lips moved slightly as she continued to read, her cheeks flushed.
Noah, I apologize to you as well. I did something years ago that created more division that I’m not proud of. The summer you were eighteen, I sent those letters to the inn, warning you away from Elisa.
He sucked in his breath. Elisa must have read the same line at the same time, as she jerked her head up. Guilt pricked. “I’m sorry, Elisa. I just assumed it was your father…”
Assumption. Prejudice. All the things his family had been guilty of for years.
The things his grandfather humbly tried to correct.
