“Yeah, that’s usually how it works. Interesting.”
“So, he came by to tell me that, and of course to ask me to go.”
“What did you tell him?”
“That I’d think about it.”
Mallory watches me for a moment and then stands up. “I need wine.”
“Good call.”
I follow her into my kitchen where she finds a bottle of sweet white already open in the fridge. She pours us each a glass and we sit on stools at the breakfast bar.
“Why didn’t you tell him yes?” Mal asks.
“You remember how he affected me,” I reply and take a long sip of wine. “He just stopped calling me back. I didn’t know what I’d done wrong, I couldn’t apologize for something. He just…left. And it tore me up.”
“I know.”
“I still have scars from it, and it affects my dating life to this day.” Every guy I’ve dated I’ve compared to Mason because not one of them made me feel the way he did. Not one of them made me yearn for something more … something permanent.
“I still say you should go talk to someone,” she replies, but I just keep talking.
“Not to mention, even if I didn’t still have unresolved issues, he doesn’t deserve to just walk back into my life and ask me to help him.”
“It’s not really his fault,” Mallory says. “It’s because of his aunt.”
“Stop siding with him.”
“I’m not. I’m always on your side. Always. Every time.”
“And why does he have to look good? I mean, he’s so damn sexy.”
“Is it me, or did he look like Chris Evans?”
“Don’t ruin Captain America for me,” I reply. “You know how I love him in those movies.”
“Sorry,” she says. “But I still stand by my statement. He’s a dead ringer for Chris Evans, but he has darker hair. Does he still have dark hair?”
“Yeah. And he’s in super good shape. He was in good shape when I knew him years ago, but now? Wowza.”
“Did you just say wowza?”
“There’s no other word for it. His arms are ridiculous with a capital R. Like, they should be illegal in all fifty states.”
“Wowza,” she says with a sigh. “Beau has good arms too. There’s something to be said for good arms.”
“And he still hugs good.”
“He hugged you?”
“Yes. Damn it. He’s a good hugger, and his smile is also ridiculous.”
“So, everything about him is ridiculous. Sounds like you still have a crush on him.”
“I do not.” I stand and set my empty wine glass in the sink, and then decide, fuck it. I pour another glass and lean against the counter opposite of Mallory so I can look her in the face. “He may look great, but he was mean to me, and I’m not one of those women who just says it’s okay and sets herself up to be hurt all over again.”
“Good because I’d have to slap you if you were.” Mal rubs the sweat on the outside of her glass. “Maybe you’re overthinking this.”
“Maybe??”
She laughs and then checks her phone when it beeps with a text.
“Sorry, I’m just going to reply to Beau real quick. He’s asking if I need him to bring anything home for me.”
“He’s still working?”
“No, he met Eli, Declan, and Ben for dinner.” She types out her response and then sets her phone aside. “So, you’re totally overthinking this. He hasn’t asked you to fuck him. He asked you to go to the reading of his aunt’s will, at her request. I mean, that’s not exactly a date. I haven’t been out of the dating pool for long, but I don’t think that’s ever considered a romantic date.”
“No,” I concede and feel foolish. “You’re right. He didn’t ask me out on a date. He didn’t even suggest that he might be interested in one. He hugged me, but he’s grieving and maybe he just needed a hug.”
“Exactly. Maybe he just needed a hug, and he knows that you give great hugs. What does he do, anyway? Is he still teaching archeology?”
“No, he got his Ph.D. and he works on dig sites. Not that I’ve kept track of his career or anything.”
I’ve totally watched his career. But not in a stalkery way. Mal raises an eyebrow and I can’t help but bust up laughing.
“Okay, so I might Google his name about once a year, just to see if there’s anything interesting to see. But, he doesn’t do social media, and there isn’t much to read aside from write ups on some of the archeological digs he’s been on.”
“I would probably do that too.” She grins. “So, the point is, all you have to do is sit next to him in a lawyer’s office while the will is read, and then you leave and never see him again.”
“Yes.”
“It’s a no brainer, Lena. You should go. And then you get back to your fabulous life.”
“Right.” I nod once and pour the last of the wine into my glass. It’s only half of a glass, and that’s probably for the best. I’m a cheap date. “You’re right, and I know I’m going. I’ll just have to give myself a pep talk before I go in there. And I’ll come to your shop right after to fill you in on it all.”
“Well, that goes without saying.” She smiles. “What are you doing this summer with all of your time off, anyway?”
“I guess I’ll be converting my spare room into a closet. The more I think about that, the more I like the idea.”
“You could make it so cool,” she says. “I have a whole board on Pinterest dedicated to cool closets. You should check it out. I’ll totally help you.”
“Okay. That will be fun. I’ll look around and find a whole bunch of stuff that I can’t afford.” I smirk. “But it’ll be fun. Not that I have any clothes to put in it anymore. I just gave them all to you.”
“I’m telling you, set that stuff aside for a couple of days. Well, except those sandals. I want them.”
“You can take them. I’ll think about the rest.”
She nods. “Are you going to travel this summer?”
“Not really.” I tilt my head to the side, considering her. “You rarely ask me what my summer plans are.”
“I’m just curious. You should do something fun. You work hard all year long, and you deserve a break. Travel somewhere.”
“I don’t want to travel alone.”
“Take Miss Sophia.”
“She’s not much of a traveler either. You could go with me.”
“I have the shop.” She shrugs. “You could come work with me at the shop.”
“I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to take orders from my best friend. I want to actually hang out with you outside of work.”
“True. Probably not a great idea.”
“What’s going on with you? You’re antsy.”
“You’re full of fun words today,” she says with a grin. “And there’s nothing up. I really just want you to take some adventures. You’ve always talked about how you’d like to visit places like Paris or Italy. The Boudreauxes have homes almost everywhere. I could hook you up with one.”
“I’m not staying at your husband’s property,” I reply, but then reconsider. “Although, that wouldn’t suck.”
“No, it wouldn’t. And maybe I could come see you for a long weekend or something.”
“Are you actually trying to convince me to go live in France or Italy for the entire summer?”
“Why not? You have a free place to stay, and it would be a great way to recharge your batteries. And maybe I want an excuse to go shopping in Europe.”
“You’d hate Europe. Constant dead people talking to you isn’t really your thing.”
She shrugs. “True, that doesn’t sound great, but coming to visit you does. Think about it.”
“I will.”
Long after Mallory leaves, I’m still thinking about it. Actually, taking some time to myself in a foreign country doesn’t sound bad at all.
So that’s the plan. I’ll go with Mason on Friday to settle his aunt’s estate,
and then I’ll make plans to go spend some time abroad.
This should be easy peasy.
Chapter Three
~Mason~
August 22, 1957
My Dearest Love,
I never would have taken this assignment if I’d known how long it would separate me from you. A six-month dig has turned into two long years, and I long for you. I wish you would reconsider joining me, but I understand that you have family obligations in Louisiana.
The ground here keeps uncovering so many treasures. Bodies, perfectly preserved for centuries, fabrics, pottery, even food still inside the bowls. It’s as if time has been frozen here, and it’s the most amazing find I’ve ever been on. The people here are kind, but they’re nervous about us digging up this sacred ground, worried that we’ll anger the gods and that something horrible will happen. Nothing we tell them eases their minds.
I would love for you to be here so I can show this to you. You’d be so excited. Each day is a new discovery.
Please, Claudia, if circumstances change, please come be with me. It would be the adventure of our lives.
Yours always.
Love,
Charles
There are hundreds of letters, just like this one, in the trunk that sits at the end of my Aunt Claudia’s bed. My whole life, I would ask her what was in here, and she would just redirect me, showing me books full of wonderful things that came out of the ground.
Old things, old people, preserved for thousands of years and tell me stories about how she helped dig them up.
I knew from the time I was a small boy that I wanted to be an archeologist for a living. I wanted to find amazing treasures and show them to the world.
Aunt Claudia was one of the first women in this country to lead archeological expeditions, and she loved it. It consumed her for much of her life.
But I had no idea that she was once in love. I wish she’d told me that story because now all I can think is, where is Charles now? Why did they never marry?
By the time I knew her, Aunt Claudia was a bit of a recluse. She rarely left her big house in New Orleans. She was wealthy, and had a comfortable life here, and I would spend summers with her while my parents were off in Europe. I could have gone with them.
I always chose Aunt Claudia.
I return the letter to its envelope and close the trunk. It feels like a betrayal to go through her things, but she’s gone, and it’s going to have to be done eventually. I have to be back in Chile in three weeks, so the sooner I get started, the better.
My phone rings on the floor next to me.
“Hey.”
“Hi,” My sister, Amelia, says. “How’s it going?”
“It’s going,” I reply and lean back against the bed. The sun went down hours ago. “What time is it?”
“About eleven your time,” she says. “What are you doing?”
“I was going through old letters of Claudia’s.” I rub my hand over my face and realize that I’m hungry. Dinner came and went a long time ago. “I thought I knew her so well, and I’m learning more the longer I’m here.”
“She was amazing,” Amelia says. “I feel guilty. I should have come with you.”
“No, you shouldn’t have.” I sigh. “You weren’t very close to her, and that’s okay.”
“No one was close to her. Except you.”
“We were kindred spirits.”
“That’s one way to put it,” she replies, laughing. “Will it be quick?”
“No.” I sigh again. “It seems Claudia had a plan, even in the event of her death. She didn’t want a funeral, but she did want me to go to the reading of the will with someone I knew a long time ago when I was interning at Tulane years ago.”
“Was this someone you knew also someone you boned?”
I pull the phone away from my ear and scowl at it. “You’re twenty. You’re not supposed to know about these things.”
“Right.” She snorts. “Was she?”
“I dated her,” I admit. “Claudia met her a few times, and she liked her.”
“What’s her name?”
“Lena.” Lena. Her name alone stirs something in me, feelings I’ve spent the past six years pushing to the side. She’s sexy as fuck, just like her name, not that I’ll tell my baby sister that.
“Lena what?”
“You’re nosy. It doesn’t matter. She just has to go with me to the appointment with the attorney on Friday. I have no idea why Claudia wanted it that way, but I’m sure I’ll find out then.”
“Interesting. Did you love her?”
“You know I loved Aunt Claudia.”
“Don’t be dumb.” I can hear her eyes roll through the phone and it makes me smile. “Lena. Did you love Lena?”
I pause, considering the question. “I was very taken with her. She’s beautiful and smart, and I enjoyed her.”
“Just like a man to not want to admit that he was in love.”
“I think I was beginning to fall in love with her,” I reply. “But it didn’t work out, and that’s for the best. Now, stop asking me nosy questions.”
“Never. I’m your baby sister. That’s what I do.”
I grin, suddenly missing her. “Come to Chile with me next month. I’ll put you to work.”
“Ugh. No. It’s hot there, and there are bugs. You crawl around in the dirt for a living.”
“You used to like it.”
“I just wanted to be where you were. I’ll think about it.”
I grin and decide to go find something to eat. “Do that. I’ll call you after this is all wrapped up.”
“Okay. Love you.”
“Love you more.” I hang up and walk out of Aunt Claudia’s room and downstairs to the kitchen. Everything in this old house needs to be updated. I don’t think it’s been done once in the forty years she lived here.
And, of course, there are no groceries here. It’s too late to have something delivered.
Fuck it.
I go out on the front porch and sit on the swing, listening to the night birds. I always loved New Orleans. I should visit more often.
Lena’s here.
I frown and watch lightning bugs fly about among the heavy branches of the old oak trees. I still think of Lena often, and wonder how she is. I visited Aunt Claudia plenty of times over the years, but never looked her up.
I knew I wouldn’t be welcome, not after the way I ended it.
I wonder if she’ll show up on Friday. I hope so. I don’t need Aunt Claudia’s money or her estate, but I do want it all to be resolved properly. And it seems Lena is the key to that.
***
“Thanks for coming, Dr. Coulter,” Alan Tucker, my aunt’s attorney, says as he meets me in the lobby of his firm. He shakes my hand and leads me to his office, and I’m stunned to see that Lena’s already sitting there. “You know Ms. Turner.”
“Of course.” I sit next to her and lean over to whisper, “Thank you.”
She smiles and shrugs one shoulder before Alan begins to talk.
“Thank you both for coming in today,” he says. “You aunt was very specific about how she wanted this to go, and I’m honoring her wishes.”
“As it should be,” I reply with a nod.
“Okay, let’s get started then.” He shuffles some papers aside and pulls a stapled document out of a file folder. “It’s actually quite straightforward. I’ll read it aloud, and when I’ve finished, ask any questions you might have.”
“Understood.”
“I, Claudia Coulter, declare this as my last will and testament. I revoke all prior wills, and on this 17th Day of June in 2016 declare that I have no spouse and no children. I will all of my real estate, life insurance, monies, jewelry, investment accounts, and any other real property to my nephew, Dr. Mason Coulter.”
Alan looks up at me with a small smile, and I shift in my chair uncomfortably. I’m sure some people in this position would be excited about becoming an instant millionaire several times ove
r, but I already have wealth.
He clears his throat and keeps reading.
“There is one condition to this inheritance. Mason and Ms. Lena Turner must immediately embark on a journey, following clues that I’ve left in places of archeological interest in North America. They must travel together, and must complete the journey together. If they fail to do this, my estate in its entirety will be donated to the City of New Orleans.”
Lena’s head whips over to stare at me, her jaw dropped in surprise.
“Why me?” she asks.
“Ms. Coulter said that would all be revealed during the journey. She also asked me to give you this letter, but you’re not to read it until later, when you’re alone.”
He passes Lena a sealed envelope and crosses his hands over the document on his desk.
“So, we have to go on a scavenger hunt?” Lena demands.
“A treasure hunt,” I say quietly, not exactly surprised by this turn of events. “She wants me to hunt for her treasure.”
Alan smiles softly. “She does.”
“Why do I have to go with him?” Lena asks. Her fingers are shaking. She’s upset. I take her hand in mine and give it a squeeze.
“I believe that letter will explain it,” Alan replies. “You’re due to leave in the morning. The whole trip is already paid for; all you have to do is show up and follow the clues.”
“I have to travel with Indiana Jones here, all over North America, hunting for his late aunt’s fortune?” She’s laughing now, her hand over her face. “This doesn’t happen in real life.”
“It seems it does,” I reply and smile at her when she looks up at me again. Her blue eyes are full of tears from laughter. “But you can choose not to go.”
She takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. “How long will this take?”
“About a week,” Alan replies. “You may be able to do it faster, but I suggest you have fun with it. Take your time. Not many people get to go on an adventure like this one.”
“Do you already know the details?” I ask him, and he nods happily.
“Your aunt was special, Dr. Coulter.”
“I know.” My stomach is in knots, my chest tight. I’m so fucking excited to go on this adventure I can hardly stay in my chair. I want to leap up and go right now.