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“It’s too quiet,” Andrei murmured.
Ian smirked and started to make a snarky comment when Noah threw open the door. “Hey! Hollis found something in the kitchen wall!”
“Something?” Andrei asked, following after Noah as he headed back down the hall toward the kitchen.
Ian winced at the dust from Snow’s sanding as he hurried after both men. “Something like what? A body?” He said it only half joking.
Andrei glanced at Ian over his shoulder. “What? Like that Poe story where the guy walls up his friend.”
Ian smiled back. He’d forgotten that the bodyguard was particularly well read. “Or the Poe story where the man walls up his dead wife and their black cat,” Ian added as they walked into the kitchen. The room looked as if it had exploded. Several of the cabinets had been wrecked, only the backs still on the wall, the pieces heaped in the center of the room. The cabinet next to the sink had been pulled out, revealing an opening in the wall near the floor. Plaster dust hung in the air, tickling Ian’s nose.
“What the hell?” Hollis demanded. “When did you two get so morbid?”
“It’s Rowe’s fault. He’s always trying to shoot things,” Ian countered.
Rowe noisily gasped, pressing a filthy hand to the center of his chest. “I would never!”
Hollis rolled his eyes as he moved to the center of the room with an old box wrapped in twine. Ian quickly moved to his side as he set it down on top of one of the cabinets.
“You found this in the wall?” Ian asked, looking it over for any markings, but there was nothing. The box was dusty and had a little water damage, but that was about it.
“Yep. We got the cabinets from the wall but created a hole. That’s when Jude spotted it.” Pulling a folding knife out of his pocket, he easily cut the twine and brushed it aside before lifting the lid to reveal a pair of Woodford Reserve Kentucky bourbon bottles.
“Oh nice,” Jude murmured, standing opposite Hollis. “Those would have aged perfectly in that dark box.”
“We should test them,” Noah said.
Hollis scooped up both bottles instantly and hugged them to his chest as he stepped back away from the group. “No way. We start drinking now and we won’t get shit done for the rest of the day.”
“Come on, Dad,” Rowe teased, leaning against Noah. “Just a little sip and then I swear we’ll get back to work.”
Hollis freed up one hand enough to flip off the pair. Ian shook his head, glancing back down at the box only to catch sight of what looked like a folded piece of paper. He carefully plucked it out of the box and unfolded it, the paper softly crackling as it was likely moved for the first time in decades.
“Holy crap,” Ian breathed, his eyes skimming over the faded writing. “Listen to this:To my darling,
We’ve been together for four wonderful years already, and I look forward to many amazing years ahead of us. I may never be able to slide a ring on your finger or claim you as mine before all of our family and friends, but I know that you are. I know that you love me and we will be together for the rest of our days.
I’m hiding away two bottles of Woodford Reserve—one to celebrate that first night we met when you bought me a drink with a wink. The other is to toast all the other couples of the world lucky enough to have found a love as great as ours.
Your cherished dear,
W.S.
March 21, 1961Ian looked up from the letter to find Hollis watching him closely, a tender smile playing on his lips. Maybe it was fate that they uncovered the bourbon.
“That’s perfect,” Hollis said, his voice low and rough.
“It’d be even more perfect, Banner, if you’d give us a drink,” Rowe grumbled and Hollis rolled his eyes.
“Later.” He looked at Ian. “Can you put the letter back in the box? I want to keep it.”
“Sure.”
Hollis then marched out of the room, moving toward the garage. Ian knew he was going to hide the alcohol so Noah and Rowe couldn’t find it before they finished their work on the bathroom. The two sledgehammer boys grumbled under their breath as they shuffled back to their respective bathrooms where they resumed their demolition work. Ian carefully placed the letter back in the original box and put the lid on top.
“I’ll go put this out in Hollis’s car,” Jude offered.
“Let Hollis do it when he gets back. Did you catch the view as he walked away?” Snow fiddled with the dust mask dangling around his neck. “We can both enjoy that walk this time.”
Jude’s mouth curled in an indulgent, sexy grin. “Why do you think that wall accident happened? Wasn’t expecting that view when he bent over to drop the cabinet pieces.”
