Page 44 of Under an Oklahoma Sky

“Sage.”

Adam stood with her lawyer and Lyle just outside the massive steel door. A grin spread across his face.

“Come on. It’s after five. The clerks have all gone home, and Mr. Dillinger needs to close the bank. Unless you want us to lock you in there overnight so you can get used to the idea that you’re rich.”

Shaking her head, she laughed and finally forced herself to walk away from the treasure. “No. I’m good. Still in shock, but good.”

Lyle handed her several pieces of paper. “Here’s the paperwork and receipt for everything. Just let me know when to expect the appraisers from whichever companies you decide to use.”

“I’ll call you with that information tomorrow,” Mr. Taft told him.

Folding the papers and slipping them into her purse, Sage glanced at the bank manager. “Thank you for staying open for us, Lyle. I guess it goes without saying that I’ll pay my mortgage in full sometime in the very near future.”

She couldn’t resist. After all the sleepless nights she’d spent wondering if the bank would take Heaven’s Pastures away from her and her children, saying those words felt fantastic.

His cheeks reddened. “I imagine it will.”

He shut the vault door and secured it for the night.

Adam took her hand, and they followed Mr. Taft toward the front entrance, where the bank’s security guard stood with two sheriff’s deputies—another precaution the lawyer had arranged to ensure both the treasure and its newly wealthy owner had arrived safely.

When they stepped outside, Sage wasn’t surprised to find a large crowd waiting for them—word definitely spread fast. Questions came at her and Adam from every direction, mixed with plenty of congratulations. It took them a good ten minutes to reach her rented truck, which Adam had moved away from the bank entrance after everything had been unloaded from the covered bed.

She was surprised, though, to find Bart Sherman leaning against the side of the vehicle. But Adam seemed to have expected him. He held out his hand to the older man. “How’d you know it was up there?”

Sherman grinned as he shook Adam's hand.

Confused, Sage glanced between the two men. “What do you mean?”

“I suspect Bart knew the treasure was up there, and that’s why he’s been trying to buy your land for the past few years.”

Her mouth dropped open as she gaped at her neighbor. All those offers. All that persistence. “You knew?”

“Not exactly.” He tucked his hands into his pockets. “I found an old family diary hidden in a wall of my house when we were renovating a few years back. According to it, my great-great-great-granddaddy was with his best friend—Mark’s ancestor—when the man was shot during what was supposed to have been a friendly poker game. Edward Hammond survived the wound long enough for my namesake to get him back to the Hammond ranch. Before he died, Edward told him about a treasure he’d buried somewhere up on the hill and swore him to secrecy. Apparently, the man didn’t trust banks. He asked my ancestor to make sure his widow and children were taken care of.”

Sage stared at him, trying to absorb yet another unbelievable piece of the puzzle.

“The problem was Edward died before telling him exactly where he’d hidden it. My namesake wrote about it in the diary and searched but never found it. Over the years, I’ve gone over my property and the state land beyond it with metal detectors with no luck.”

“And the only place you couldn’t legally search was Sage’s property,” Adam concluded.

“Bingo.”

She planted her hands on her hips. “So all this time you’ve been driving me crazy trying to buy Heaven’s Pastures, you were looking for buried treasure?”

His grin widened. “I may be a bastard sometimes, but I still follow the law.”

She shook her head, torn between wanting to smack him and laugh at the absurdity of it all.

“Congratulations, Sage. Now I have to figure out what to do with all my spare time.” He tipped his hat. “I think I’ll start by selling that damn metal detector.”

Still grinning, he pushed away from the truck and walked off.

Four Months Later…

Shane slapped Adam on the shoulder and then pulled a beer from one of the many coolers on the back porch. “How’s it feel to be a married man?”

“Give me a break. It’s only been…” He glanced at his watch and grinned. “… thirty-six minutes since the reverend said, ‘I now pronounce you man and wife.’”