Page 60 of Where I Found You
Noah scanned a few more pages as he thought. The Bible had to be old, if Grandma was referenced. That declaration of love would have obviously been written sometime before they’d divorced, when Noah was a child. He flipped back to the title page, where Grandpa’s hand-written name rested on the line underThis Bible belongs to. Then he squinted, his heart racing as he read the next line. But no matter how long he stared, the numbers didn’t change.
The year printed in the “purchased on” field was within the past decade.
* * *
“So what do you think the next clue is talking about? ‘The origin of that fateful command’?” Elisa tried to steady her voice as she tucked one knee up under her on the wooden park bench. The last thing she needed was for Noah to realize she wasn’t doing great. It wasn’t like she could talk about her dad with him. In fact, she’d talk to the mailman before discussing her family’s dirty laundry with Noah.
So why the burning need to unload her thoughts?
“I’m not sure.” Noah stared toward the playground, where two young redheaded boys tripped over each other trying to climb up the slide. A mother on a nearby bench gently pushed a stroller back and forth with her foot as she talked on her phone, while Pastor Dubois and a small group in matching shirts passed out bottles of water and church invitations over by the partially repaired gazebo. A handful of spotted clouds dotted the otherwise clear sky, allowing for plenty of heat.
Noah had suggested the park as their meeting place this afternoon, away from the distraction—and the prying eyes—at Chug a Mug. Which was fine with Elisa. She could use the Vitamin D streaming onto her arms. They’d settled onto the bench in Lagniappe Park a half hour ago, but so far they’d made little progress on figuring out the next clue.
Of course, that might be because pulling words out of Noah today felt a little like trying to pull a rain boot from the muddy bottom of Pelican Bayou.
“I’m guessing the command has something to do with the Paul Revere poem, but I don’t see the link yet.” Elisa rubbed her finger over the dirty water stain she’d acquired on her thigh at the Blossom.
Though to be fair, she wasn’t talking as much as usual, either. She hated that even after cleaning up at the Blossom for several hours after she left her dad’s office, his words still lingered in her head. She’d been looking forward to moving along with the next clue, but that slap-in-the-face mention of Aunt Rhonda…
She pulled her other leg up to her chest and hugged her knees, surveying the copse of pines across the park. Most were intact, but several stumps remained in the ground from trees that hadn’t survived the hurricane. Blemishes in an otherwise pristine setting.
She felt like one of those stumps right about now. Faking it while trying to blend in, to pretend everything was fine and she didn’t feel cut off in the middle.
“What’s wrong?” Noah twisted on the bench to face her, draping one arm along the back. He’d changed out of his dress shirt since that morning when he’d charged into the coffee house, looking casual now in jeans, an athletic tee, and a ball cap. Hard to determine which look suited him best.
“What do you mean?” Elisa blinked up at him, but it was evident in the thin set of his lips he wasn’t falling for it.
“Usually when we discuss the treasure hunt, you light up like a Christmas tree on Village Lane.”
She bristled a little under his sudden evaluation. “I could ask you the same question, sugar. Not that you’re normally chipper.”
He seemed to ignore that logic, dipping his chin to meet her gaze. “You’ve made eye contact with me twice since we’ve been sitting here.”
“Oh yeah? Well you barely even noticed when that giant Golden Doodle chased a ball right up to our bench. Got drool all over your shoe.”
Noah held her gaze in challenge, and she refused to look away. Then he broke contact to check his watch. “Is it the inspection? Are you worried about the results?”
That sure would be an easy out, but it’d also be a lie. Elisa let out a slow sigh and shook her head. “No, they came by before I met you here. We’re clear to reopen tomorrow—thanks to Lucius. He’s been relentless in his efforts.”
“Guilt can be a strong motivator.” Noah’s voice deepened an octave before he cleared his throat. “Truth or dare?”
Her stomach fluttered. Noah being vulnerable again made her simultaneously want to stand on the bench and break into song…and sprint hard after the Golden Doodle’s ball rolling into the woods. She controlled her features to remain passive. “Truth.”
“Okay…what are you upset about?”
“Cheater.” She elbowed him, his side rock-hard under her nudge. She attempted to ignore the electric current pulsing up her arm. “If you must know—I had a fight with my dad this morning. He said some pretty rough things.”
Noah’s expression softened. “I’m sorry.” He hesitated. “Was it about this?” He waved the clue card between them. “I know the hunt is getting complicated.”
That was one way to put it. “He definitely doesn’t like us working together, let’s put it that way.”
Noah snorted. “Yeah, that impression was clear.”
“He’s a man of many strong opinions.” Many of which were wrong, if you asked Elisa. But no one ever did. She lifted her chin. “But I told him we were working on a project together, and he was going to have to get over it.”
“You told your dad to get over it?” Noah’s brows shot into his hat.
She paused. “Not in those exact words.” To that point, she wasn’t sure if leaving the office in a sudden flood of tears counted as words at all. But she’d had plenty of them in her head.
