Page 69 of Mess With Me
“She told me stuff sometimes. I think it was because I was so quiet sitting there at the kitchen table long after everyone else was done eating.”
“You were always so slow.” He pushed down the stab of jealousy. Peggy had never confided in Ethan.
“I was usually thinking,” Zach said. “Some people talk more because the silence makes them uncomfortable. She probably would’ve told you stuff if you’d sat there long enough.” He held up a small white envelope. “Sealed.”
“Maybe it’s from her husband.”
Zach handed it to him. “No address. You open it.”
Ethan’s stomach rolled. “It’s private. Just put it back.”
“We’re her kin. No one else is ever going to see this stuff. We have to decide what to do with it. Maybe this will tell us what she wants.”
“Then you open it.”
“I did the pictures. You think that was easy?”
He studied Zach for a moment. His face was pinched, tight with tension. “You sounded normal.”
“I was looking at it intellectually like an anthropologist. Letter is more personal. Please, Eth. Can you take this one?” Zach walked over to the bed and sat down.
“Fine,” he grumbled. Zach had that luxury, hiding in his head because he was an academic. Ethan didn’t work that way, he felt everything in his body. He carefully opened it and pulled out a neatly folded piece of lined paper. He unfolded it and began to read, her neat handwriting at once bringing back memories. She would leave little notes for them sometimes, like if they got home too late for dinner, just simple stuff like “meatloaf in the fridge.”
“Read it out loud,” Zach said.
Ethan swallowed hard. “Dear Ethan and Zach, you are my greatest success story. I’m so proud of how you became like brothers and helped each other to be the best you could be. It was my—” Ethan’s voice choked and he looked to the ceiling for a moment, fighting back tears. He cleared his throat and continued. “It was my privilege to watch you turn into the great men you are today. Ethan with your outstanding service as a police officer, and Zach out there teaching people about people.”
Zach’s voice held a note of amusement. “She never did understand my job as an anthropologist.”
“Can you blame her? It’s not like a lot of people around here do what you do.”
“Guess not. Keep going.”
Ethan took a deep breath. “You’re my family now, so I’m leaving you the house and everything in it. Joe has all the legal particulars. I was glad to be a safe place for you to land if only for a short portion of your life. I have one thing of value hidden in the oatmeal container in the back of the kitchen cabinet. It’s my engagement ring, an antique twin marquis diamond ring from my husband’s mother. Maybe one of you would like to carry on the tradition and give it to a woman one day, or maybe you’d each like a diamond to set in a new ring. I’ll leave it to you to work out the details. Love, Peggy.”
Ethan stared at the letter for a moment before lifting his head to an empty room. He set the letter down on the dresser and headed over to the kitchen, where Zach was digging through some of the high cabinets. Ethan thought for a moment. Where would Peggy hide her only treasure?
He squatted down and opened the largest lower cabinet Peggy used like a small pantry for items she used infrequently. And there it was—behind the flour, sugar, Bisquick, and a Ziplocked bag of raisin bran. He retrieved the oatmeal container and opened it. Oatmeal.Dig deeper.He shoved his hand in, and there at the bottom was a plastic bag. He pulled it out. A Ziploc sandwich bag with a diamond ring inside.
He straightened and took out the ring, holding it up and looking at it from all angles. It was unusual—two marquis-cut diamonds sat at an angle nestled by smaller chips of diamonds on a gold band.
“Found it,” he muttered.
Zach shut a cabinet and crossed to him. “Wow. They don’t make them like this anymore.”
Ethan offered it to him. “Here. You’re into old stuff.”
“I already gave Carrie an engagement ring. It’s your turn.”
“I’m not getting married.”
“You will.”
“How do you know?”
“I’ve seen the way you look at Ally.”
Ethan clenched his jaw. He’d already screwed things up permanently with Ally. Now she was leaving.
