Rushing In: A Small Town Family Romance

by Claire Kingsley

  “Maybe. Most old stories start with at least a kernel of truth. Maybe the kernel in this story is that Ernest Montgomery hid something. Over time it turned into a story of buried treasure.”

  “Yeah, that’s kind of what I was thinking.”

  “Who runs the historical society?”

  I opened a door, but it was just an empty pantry. “I don’t know, a few volunteers I guess.”

  “It isn’t the Montgomery family, is it?”

  “I don’t think so. That would be conveniently suspicious, wouldn’t it?”

  “Yeah, I was just wondering. Although doesn’t it seem like the Montgomerys would want to find the treasure if it exists? If it belongs in their family anyway, why would they hide things that could point to it?”

  “That’s a good question. I just keep thinking it has something to do with the feud. I don’t know what, but that’s what my gut tells me.”

  Skylar went to the pantry door I’d already tried. It was just big enough for a person, although if it had been in use, with shelves and things stacked on them, there wouldn’t have been room for someone to go inside.

  “What are you doing?” I asked.

  She ran her hands along the back. “It’s weird that there’s nothing in here, not even shelves.”

  “No one’s lived here in decades.”

  “I know, but it just makes me wonder. If I wrote this house into a book, I’d put a secret door in here.” Her fingertips traced the sides as she looked around. She glanced down at her feet, then turned a little. “Oh my god, I think there’s a seam in the floor.”

  A little hit of excitement made my heart speed up. “Seriously?”

  She moved out of the way so we could see. I pulled out my phone and shined the light on the pantry floor.

  Sure enough, there was a square seam.

  “Do you think it opens?” she asked.

  “Only one way to find out.”

  I pulled my Swiss army knife out of my pocket and wedged the tip into the crack. I loosened it carefully until one side popped up enough to get my fingers underneath. Then I pried it loose. The whole thing came off in one piece and I set it beside me.

  The hole revealed a spiral staircase leading into a dark cellar.

  “Oh my god, Gavin,” she whispered. “You were right.”

  “Do you want to come down with me?”

  I expected her to at least hesitate—or maybe say no—but she nodded. “Yeah, let’s go.”

  Fucking awesome.

  I went first so I could make sure the steps would hold. They creaked, but felt sturdy. I climbed to the bottom and Skylar came down after me.

  We found ourselves in a dusty room with dark walls and a wood floor. I shined the light on shapes covered with sheets of fabric, mostly stacked against the walls, like someone had once used this room to store old furniture.

  Skylar got out her phone for more light and turned in a slow circle. “I just got like five new story ideas from this room alone. This would be such a great place for a serial killer to hide his victims.”

  “Right? Creepy basement with a hidden door? It would just need some sound proofing and it’s perfect.”

  “Exactly,” she said, excitement in her voice.

  We peeked beneath the sheets, but it was just old furniture. Skylar found a dresser, but the drawers were all empty. So was the writing desk.

  “Look at this,” Skylar said, lifting another sheet. “It’s an old chest.”

  “Is it locked?”

  She pushed the sheet back and tried the latch. The chest opened with a puff of dust. “I guess not.”

  I watched while she opened the lid. This one wasn’t empty.

  “Holy shit,” I said softly.

  Inside we found old books and leather portfolios filled with yellowed paper stacked on either side of another, smaller chest.

  Sky opened it and we both gasped. It was mostly empty, except for a handful of shiny round coins at the bottom.

  “Are those what I think they are?” I asked.

  She picked one up and I shined the light on it. There was a fancy M stamped into the metal.

  “I think this is a gold coin,” she said, her voice slightly breathless. “Do you think this is it?”

  “The Montgomery treasure? I don’t know, there’s not much in there.”

  She gasped again. “What if it’s a decoy?”

  “Or a clue, like a scavenger hunt.”

  “The M has to be for Montgomery, right?”

  “Must be. What else is in there?”

  She put the coin back and closed the lid, then gently shuffled through the rest of the contents. She lifted a small book out of the pile.

  “This one is monogrammed,” she said. “SRM. You don’t happen to know Sarah Montgomery’s middle name, do you?”

  “No, but I bet we could find out.”

  Using just the tips of her fingers, she opened the book and gingerly turned a few pages. The script handwriting was faded and hard to read, and suddenly I wondered if I should have tried harder to learn cursive.

  “Oh my god, Gavin, this is amazing. They’re letters, and they’re all signed by Sarah.”

  “Letters in a journal?”

  “Sometimes people used to write two copies of their letters, one to send and another in a journal so they could keep them. These first ones are addressed to an Aunt Ruth.”

  “What do they say?”

  “This one just talks about having tea with another aunt named Pollyann, and she sends her regards, and stuff about learning to play piano.” She turned the page and I waited while she skimmed the next one. “This one is kind of the same, although she does talk about having a row with cousin Betsy.”

  “A row?”

  “It means an argument.”

  “Oh. Drama.”

  She laughed softly. “Yeah. I wonder if these get better later.” She carefully opened to one of the last pages and gasped.

  “What?”

  “She wrote to Eliza.”

  I crouched down closer. “Seriously?”

  Even I could read the words Dear Eliza at the top of the page.

  “Dear Eliza,” Sky read aloud. “It has been months since I last saw you, my dear friend. I am all too aware that penning this letter is a waste of time and energy. And yet I cannot seem to stop myself from writing to you, as if someday I’ll discover the truth of your whereabouts and I will have means to deliver these letters. Or perhaps it is my way of convincing myself that you are still alive, when no one else seems to believe that could be true.”

  “Holy shit,” I muttered.

  “My dearest Eliza, I hope that things are not as they seem. I hope you did not meet your end in tragedy, although my heart fears the worst. And deep down, I think soon I will have to face the truth of your demise. Yours truly, Sarah.”

  I opened my mouth to say something, but whatever it was died in my throat. Something above us creaked.

  “Is someone up there?” Sky whispered.

  Another creak. It sounded like the floorboards.

  “Maybe. We should go.”

  She nodded.

  For a second, I thought about grabbing the journal. This was fascinating stuff, and I knew Grace and Ginny would die to get their hands on it. But borrowing the key to come in here and snoop around was one thing. Stealing historical artifacts was another.

  Besides, if Gram found out, she’d kill me.

  I went to the stairs and peeked up while Sky covered the chest. It didn’t look like anyone was up there, but it was hard to see much of anything. We’d just have to take our chances and if someone was in the house, hope that I could bullshit my way out of trouble.

  I was pretty sure I could.

  With Sky right behind me, I crept up the spiral staircase. I didn’t see anyone in the kitchen, so I crawled out and helped Skylar. We quickly replaced the floor and pressed it down, hoping no one would be able to tell we’d been in here. Although the seam did look more pronounced. B
ut there wasn’t anything we could do about that now.

  I quietly shut the pantry door and took Sky’s hand. We tip toed our way to the front of the house, peeking into the rooms off the hallway before darting by. We didn’t see anyone, and there weren’t any more creaks. Maybe it had just been the house settling.

  We made it outside and I locked the front door.

  “See? No problem.”

  She tugged on my hand. “Still. Let’s get out of here.”

  I ran with her to my truck, feeling a buzz of excitement. But it wasn’t just from sneaking into the Haven House and getting away with it. Sure, that was fun, and finding actual gold coins hidden in a secret basement was pretty badass.

  But it would have felt awesome to lay on her bed while she sat at her desk writing. Or to hang out with her on my couch watching a movie. Basically doing anything with Sky was great, whether or not we were doing something mildly dangerous. Or taking our clothes off.

  And I found myself wishing, not for the first time, that I could actually date her.

  33

  Skylar

  It was my second time sneaking into the Haven’s drive-in movie theater and my body vibrated with nervousness—or excitement. Or maybe both. We’d gotten away with it once, but what were the chances we’d do it again? Gavin had said about seventy-five percent, which didn’t seem so great to me. But he and Logan had been confident, and it was the drive-in’s last night of the season, which meant it was now or never.

  So here I was, hiding near the fence with a view of the back of the concession building, and a walkie talkie in my hand.

  Although after breaking into the Haven House the other day, this didn’t seem like such a big deal. I was getting good at this stuff.

  The truth was, I kind of loved it.

  We’d told Ginny and Grace about what we found in the basement of the Haven House. I wished I’d been able to at least get some photos, but they were just glad nothing bad had happened to us. Grace was going to work on getting permission from the historical society to go down there. I was excited to see what else we could find in that chest. And I really wanted to go through the rest of that journal.

  There were answers down there. I could feel it.

  I stared at the back of the concession building, willing Gavin and Logan to come out. I wasn’t quite sure how they were going to pull this off. They somehow had to get into the projection room—which, to be fair, wasn’t terribly difficult, as Gavin and I had discovered—put in the hard drive with their movie, and get out again without getting caught.

  They’d posted me as a lookout, but I wondered if they should have given this job to someone less jumpy. Every time anyone got within twenty feet of the building, I had the urge to call and warn them.

  From where I was standing, I could just see the big screen. The regularly scheduled movie had already started and it was still playing. So far no one had come out of the building, Baileys or otherwise. My mind conjured up all sorts of things that might be happening in there. Most of them were probably wildly unrealistic. I doubted they’d discovered a serial killer victim or stopped a murder from happening. I imagined them bursting in on the psychopathic drive-in movie operator. The ensuing scuffle would rage on while the innocent movie-goers were none the wiser.

  I wondered if I could work that into a book somehow.

  Asher, Evan, and Levi, along with Grace, Cara, Fiona, and Ginny waited on a little hill just outside the theater where they could see the screen. Gavin, Logan, and I would meet them there once the hard drive was in place.

  I took a deep breath to help slow my racing heart. It was dark and I was in the shadows of the trees. The likelihood of anyone seeing me was very low.

  In fact, if I was being honest, I felt more exhilaration than anxiety.

  This was fun.

  A couple of months ago, I wouldn’t have imagined myself doing something like this. Then again, since meeting Gavin, I’d done a lot of things I wouldn’t have imagined before.

  I really liked this version of me. I’d never be a daredevil, but maybe I had a little more courage than I’d once thought.

  The back door of the concession building opened and Logan, then Gavin walked out. They both tugged on the brims of their baseball caps, then stuffed their hands in their pockets and walked toward me. I marveled at their ability to act so casual. My feet tingled with the desire to turn around and run, and I wasn’t the one out in the open.

  Excitement flared as they got closer. “Did you do it?” I whispered

  Gavin flashed me a wide smile. “Oh yeah. It was touch and go there for a minute, but I think we did everything right.”

  “Of course we did everything right,” Logan said. “Let’s get to the viewing spot.”

  We ducked through a hole in the fence and crept back to Gavin’s truck. The viewing spot was around the other side of the drive-in, up a small hill. Everyone waited for us in camping chairs, bundled up against the chilly fall air.

  “Are we good?” Levi asked.

  “All systems are go,” Gavin said.

  We took our seats. Asher and Grace passed around binoculars. Logan produced a pair of opera glasses, which struck me as rather random, but no one else commented on it.

  Levi and Logan had put something in the hard drive that would allow them to start the movie remotely.

  “Do it, rice-a-broni,” Logan said.

  Levi nodded and tapped his phone screen a few times.

  Holding my breath, I lifted the binoculars to my eyes. The screen went blank and we were just close enough to hear the faint sound of people shouting to turn it back on.

  For a few seconds, nothing. Just a blank screen.

  It lit up again and a cheer rose up from the movie goers. A second later, the opening credits started rolling, and the cheering died.

  I stifled a giggle at the credits. A Bailey Brothers Production. Bailey Dancing—they’d even used a font that looked like the original movie poster. Starring Logan Bailey, Gavin Bailey, Asher Bailey, and Evan Bailey. Produced and Directed by Levi Bailey.

  A chorus of boos rang up from the movie-goers below.

  Gavin and his brothers flew to their feet, fists in the air. They whooped and hollered and high-fived each other.

  “Is it still going?” Logan asked, lifting his opera glasses to his eyes. “We jammed the door shut, but I don’t know how long it’ll take them to get in and turn it off.”

  “It’s playing,” Grace said. “Did you guys do the whole movie?”

  “Nah, it’s only about ten minutes long. More like a highlight reel.”

  “Oh my god, Gavin, did you play Baby?” Fiona asked.

  “Yep. No one puts me in a corner either,” he said.

  I watched through the binoculars, laughing so hard it was difficult to stay focused on the screen. They’d filmed a series of scenes that roughly told the story of Dirty Dancing, with Gavin and his brothers playing all the characters. Logan sauntered around in a leather jacket, his hair slicked back, doing an exaggerated impression of Patrick Swayze as Johnny Castle. Gavin absolutely nailed the dancing on the stairs scene. He’d even worn a peach tank top and jean shorts.

  Some of it had been filmed where Gavin had set up the murder cabin. Evan, playing Baby’s father, glared a lot. Asher, playing Baby’s mother—complete with a bouffant wig—made me laugh so hard I almost fell out of my chair.

  It got to the scene where Johnny and Baby practice the lift in the water. Logan made a few attempts to lift Gavin. He finally got him up, and for a second, he held Gavin overhead—until his arms buckled and Gavin crashed down on top of him. They both came up sputtering and spitting out water.

  “I can’t believe it’s still going,” Levi said.

  “We jammed the door pretty good,” Gavin said.

  “I can’t believe the people down there are staying,” Grace said. “I thought for sure the cars would all start leaving.”

  “We dumped a bunch of hay bales to block the entrance bef
ore we came up here,” Evan said, his tone nonchalant.

  “Nice,” Gavin said, and reached over to fist bump his brother.

  “Here it is,” Logan said. “The big finale.”

  Everyone aimed their binoculars at the screen.

  Gavin sat at a table with Evan and Asher. Logan approached and pointed dramatically.

  “No one puts Gavin in a corner,” we all shouted in unison.

  They started the dance, and although they were pretty terrible, it was so funny the lack of choreographic accuracy didn’t matter in the least. The boos from below were louder now. I aimed my binoculars at the cars. Some people had gotten out and stood yelling at the projection booth. Others tossed popcorn toward the screen. There was a jam of people trying to leave, the cars backing up around the turnaround. It was mayhem down there.

  The movie cut off, the screen going blank. We all surged to our feet again, laughing and cheering.

  Gavin grabbed me, lifting me off my feet, and spun me around. I threw my arms around his neck and suddenly he was kissing me. Right here, in front of everyone.

  And in that moment, I had a terrible realization. I was madly in love with Gavin Bailey.

  34

  Gavin

  The day of Evan and Fiona’s wedding brought out a rare sight. My brother smiling.

  Evan didn’t just smile. He smiled more than he scowled, and that was saying something. He’d been a lot happier since Fiona, but today he’d achieved a new happiness level. One I hadn’t seen on him since we were kids.

  It was pretty fucking awesome.

  They’d set up a tent in Gram’s backyard, decorated with twinkle lights and outfitted with heaters against the cold. Despite the fact that Evan and Fiona had both insisted they’d have a small wedding, Fiona’s habit of making friends with everyone was evident. There was a great turnout.

  I stood up front with my brothers and my eyes kept straying to Skylar, sitting with her parents and Ginny. She looked so pretty in her dark blue dress with her hair pulled back. Our gazes caught and I gave her a quick wink. The way it made her smile at me did weird things to my insides.