Tidewater Inn (39 page)

“You've changed. It's that guy, right?”

Libby shook her head. “It's my dad.” She began to tell her friend about the kind of man Ray had been and all that she'd learned, but Nicole's expression only grew more incredulous.

Explaining a sea change to someone was impossible. Nicole would just have to learn about it by watching her.

Though she should have been exhausted, Libby couldn't sleep. She finally gave up and went up the steps to her father's third-floor retreat at the Tidewater Inn. The light in the room was already on. Brent was sitting on the sofa with their father's Bible in his hand.

Her first impulse was to demand it back, but she restrained herself and smiled and joined him on the sofa. “Couldn't sleep either?”

He shook his head. “I like to come up here. I feel closer to Dad.”

“Me too.” Had he been reading Scripture? She hoped so. “I'm sorry I suspected you of hurting Nicole, Brent. I hope you can forgive me.”

His brows rose. “It was understandable.”

“Will you forgive me?”

“I'm not even sure I know what that means.” He rubbed his forehead. “I quit going to church with Dad when I was fifteen. I thought I was too old and wise to swallow all that stuff.” He stared at her. “But I've been watching you, Libby. You're different, just like he was. Maybe I'll go back to church.”

Her throat closed. If only she could believe she'd had an eternal impact on this brother she longed to love. Her gaze fell on the Bible.
Give it to him
. She resisted the internal nudge. Did she have to give up everything dear to her?

Give it to him
.

Her shoulders sagged. How could she resist God? “Would you like to have Dad's Bible?”

His eyes widened. “I know how much you love it. You come up here and read it all the time.”

“I know. But there are special passages he's marked that might mean even more to you than they do to me.” She leaned toward him and flipped to a highlighted verse in the worn book. “This is my favorite. Psalm 37:25. ‘I have been young, and now am old; Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, Nor his descendants begging bread.' I know I'm not old yet, but I believe we are blessed because our father was a righteous man.”

Brent's Adam's apple bobbed. “I know that's true.” He clutched the Bible to his chest. “Thank you, Libby. I'll never forget this.”

The sun was just coming up, casting a glorious display over the water. Alec sat on the porch railing and inhaled the scent of the sea. The door opened behind him, and he turned to see Libby stepping out dressed in hot-pink sweats with her hair up in a ponytail.

“Couldn't sleep?” he asked. “It's only six.”

She shook her head. “It seems incredible that we found Nicole. Thank you for all you did for us.”

“I'm glad it turned out so well.” He averted his gaze. She was way too pretty this morning. Her eyes shone with excitement. “What's on the agenda for the day?”

“I'm going to go out to the lighthouse ruins with Nicole if she feels up to it. I'm hoping being out there will jog her memory in some way.”

“I'll come with you.”

She smiled and nodded. “We won't be gone long. I want to show her what I've gotten done on the lifesaving station too. We have a business to run, and it's been neglected for almost two weeks.”

She would be leaving soon. He saw it in her expression. “Have you decided what you're going to do about the inn?”

She settled beside him on the rail. “Not yet. I don't want to sell it, but I don't see that I have a choice.”

He wanted to protest again, but it wasn't his call. “Uh, could I take you to dinner tonight at Kill Devil Hills? We could take the boat and go to Port O' Call. They've got great crab legs and she-crab soup.”

Her smile came immediately. “I'd like that.”

The door opened again. Vanessa and Pearl joined them. “I thought we were the only ones up early,” Vanessa said.

“You got in late last night. I heard your door after I'd gone to bed for the second time,” Libby said. “I wanted to talk to you, but I was too sleepy to get up again.”

“Oh?” Vanessa sat on the top step. Pearl pulled a rocker closer.

Libby leaned against the post. “I wanted to ask you about Tina's meeting with Lawrence Rooney. Did she ever tell our dad what he wanted?”

“You knew about that meeting?” Pearl asked Vanessa. Her voice was high and strained.

Vanessa nodded. “We were there with Mom and Mr. Rooney.”

“His first name is Lawrence,” Libby said.

Vanessa gasped and straightened. “They talked outside for a minute, and I heard her tell him to leave her alone. I thought it was because he was pestering her about selling the inn. But do you think . . . ?”

Pearl sighed. “He was engaged to Tina when Ray first met her,” she said.

Vanessa gasped. “Mom was engaged to another man?”

Pearl nodded. “It was quite the scandal for a while. Tina came to town for a two-week visit with her grandmother and met Ray. It was love at first sight for them both. She broke off her engagement to Lawrence and was married to Ray three months later.”

“I imagine Rooney didn't take that very well,” Libby said.

“I think Tina was actually a little afraid of him. He threatened to ruin Ray.”

Libby leaned forward. “He wrote that note I found in your closet!”

“Who can say for sure, Libby? But yes. It was likely his doing. He's always been powerful, even back then. His family owns a lot of properties. Ray tried to meet with him about Tina, but Lawrence refused. Over the years he's been a thorn in Ray's side on occasion. He's wanted the Tidewater Inn for all this time. I wouldn't be surprised if he thought he could get Tina back too, at some point along the way. He was an annoyance, of course. But I never thought he would harm your mother.”

“I bet he wrote those notes we found in Tina's jewelry box,” Libby said to her sister.

Alec shifted on his perch. “Tom needs to know about this. I bet he's going to want to talk to Nicole about Rooney. I'll run into town and talk to him. I'll meet you out at the ruins later, Libby.”

Libby flopped on the sand beside her friend and drew in a deep breath. The long run to the lighthouse had tuckered her out. She turned her head and smiled at Nicole. Her heart overflowed with thankfulness. Nicole was alive! What a wonderful miracle and blessing from God. Nicole had begun to remember what happened to her too, but the men who kidnapped her weren't familiar.

She sat up and inhaled the clear air. “What happened here?”

Nicole stood, dusting the sand from her palms. “I came here the morning before I was kidnapped. Vanessa was going to bring me to see the ruins, but I was too eager to wait on her. I figured I'd let her show me around like I hadn't seen it. There's more here than you know though.”

“The cave?”

Nicole nodded. “You know about it?”

Libby pointed toward the cellar opening. “We found it after we saw the cellar.”

“Then you know about the treasure?”

“Treasure? All we found was poor Tina.”

Nicole smiled. “Want to see? You're going to be excited.”

“You're being very mysterious,” Libby said, following her friend. “Where is it?”

“In the caves. Just outside the entrance to the cellar. You're going to love this.”

“You know about the cellar?” Libby asked.

Nicole nodded. “I found a map in your dad's Bible.”

Libby followed Nicole back into the water. They waded through a shallow pool to the base of the rocks.

“You have to dive here to see the opening,” Nicole said. She took off her shorts and top to reveal her bikini. “I was snorkeling here and just happened to find it. It's not hard though. Follow me.” She held her breath and ducked under the water.

Libby stripped to her one-piece suit and followed. The opening was barely big enough to wiggle through. Nicole disappeared through the hole and Libby went right behind her, determined not to let her friend out of sight. They surfaced in a cave about twenty feet in diameter. The ceiling was ten feet from the surface of the water. Several holes in the rocks illuminated the space, though Libby had to squint to see.

“Bet it gets tight in here during high tide,” Libby said.

Nicole nodded. “I wouldn't want to be here then.” She swam to the other side and hefted herself onto a flat rock. “This way.”

“I can't believe you came in here.”

“I had a flashlight with me that day,” Nicole said. “Wait until you see this though.” She rose and went to the curving wall. “Someone put everything we need right here.”

Libby heard a rasp, then light flared from a match. Moments later a light was flickering. “What on earth?” She heaved herself out of the water and went to where Nicole stood. “Someone has put candles and matches in here?”

“Look how old the candlesticks are,” Nicole said.

Libby examined it. “It's bronze. Looks late sixteen hundreds maybe.”

“It goes with the other things I found. Follow me.”

Nicole led her down a long narrow passageway. The sound of dripping became stronger. The floor was damp and slippery under Libby's feet. At one juncture her inclination was to go right, but Nicole led her left.

“Where are we going?”

“The other room is this way. Almost there.”

The candle cast flickering shadows onto the wall. Libby wanted to be back in the sunlight instead of this dark, dank place.

Nicole dropped to her knees. “Now we have to crawl.”

“How on earth did you find this?”

“I dropped something right here. It rolled under this ledge and I found the opening.” Nicole and the light disappeared under the rocky ledge.

Panicked at being left in the dark, Libby hurried after her and emerged into a larger cave. The candle did little to illuminate what felt like a vast space. A moment later another candle flared to life.