Page 66 of Unspoken Love

Nate passed the flashlight back to her and examined the groove. Then he took hold of the entire dark area and twisted. He grunted slightly as he shifted his weight, and suddenly the stone wall moved with a soft grinding sound. He gasped as the entire dark stone fell into his hand in one circular piece.

Faye gasped as her flashlight hit where the narrow slab of stone had been, revealing a small alcove carved into the wall. The space was almost like an altar. Someone had carved a circular space in the solid rock and then etched a cover for it that would twist into place so that only they could find what was hidden.

If they hadn’t been looking for it, and hadn’t found those letters, they would have never known it was there.

Inside, resting on faded silk that might have once been white or pale blue, sat a delicate carved wooden box with a small velvet pouch atop it.

Neither of them spoke for a long moment.

Finally, Nate broke the silence. “Do you think that’s it?”

Her heart was hammering in her chest.

He stepped forward carefully and lifted the velvet pouch, holding it as if it were made of delicate glass. When he slowly opened it, they both gasped.

A silver necklace with a large heart-shaped diamond lay within the folds of the fabric.

“The Ocean’s Heart,” she whispered, unable to blink or tear her eyes away from its beauty.

She reached out and ran a fingertip gently over the perfect stone.

Then she ran the light over the box still inside the alcove. “Look.” She brushed the dirt from the box’s lid. “There’s an inscription.”

Nate shifted his flashlight and angled it toward the box.

The carved letters on top, though worn, were still legible:

“For my love, I will always wait.”

He gently lifted the lid and revealed more than two dozen aged letters bundled together with a blue silk ribbon.

Her throat tightened. “More love letters.”

Nate stared down at the pouch in his hand. “And now we know where her heart was hidden.”

Faye rose slowly, brushing her hands on her jeans. “We should take pictures,” she said suddenly. “You know, as proof we found it.”

Nate nodded, still holding the pouch with reverence. “Yeah. This belongs to all of us, in a way.”

“Here,” she said, pulling out her phone. “Hold it up near the altar.”

She took more than two dozen photos and then they headed back, taking the box and the pouch with them. They took the easier passage this time and used the circular iron stairway to head up, then exited into Max’s office space.

When they emerged into daylight again, her phone chimed that she now had internet access. They had been so far under the rocks that neither of their cellphones had gotten signals. Now, they decided, was a perfect time to video-call her brother and Juliette.

Max picked up on the third ring.

“Hey,” he said, rubbing his eyes.

“Oh, we woke you.” Faye smiled.

“No, we were just going to bed. What’s up?” Max asked, sitting up and turning on a light.

“Is Juliette there?” Nate asked.

“Yeah.” Off screen, they heard Max say, “Babe? It’s our siblings waking us up for some reason.”

“Is everything alright?” Juliette asked when she came onto the screen, leaning against Max’s shoulder.