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Abby gritted her teeth. How could he make her feel for him one minute and infuriate her so easily the next?
“Okay, I’ll go along with your little secret hunt if you tell me one thing,” he said.
“What do you want to know?” She eyed him, wary of what he might ask.
“Does what we’re doing have anything to do with the circles under your eyes?” He leaned over her seat and gently touched a fingertip to the sensitive skin below her eye. “Does it have to do with this thing you won’t tell me ab
out?”
He asked a question. She should answer, but she couldn’t think under his probing gaze and the tiny sparks shooting down her spine at his touch. All she could do was nod.
“Then it’s totally worth it.”
She exhaled the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding, glad his fingers were back on his side of the car, and away from her skin.
See? That wasn’t so bad. Toes in, feet wet.
She could totally do this.
BESIDE HER, KADEN WHISTLED.
She slowed the car in front of her grandparents’ house, knowing what he saw when he took in the expansive yard, perfectly manicured lawn, gardens, and the huge three-story colonial. Six of Kaden’s little ranch homes could fit inside, not to mention the huge inground swimming pool out back. The Mercedes parked in the hand-stamped cement driveaway only added to the affluent aesthetic. She had never thought much of it—how they might look to outsiders—but as Kaden leaned forward in his seat, eyes wide as they approached, the scrutiny made her uncomfortable. Her grandparents’ extravagance had never seemed abnormal before, but she could see through Kaden’s eyes how it might come off to others.
“Um, you never mentioned your grandparents lived in a mansion,” Kaden said.
“It’s not a mansion.” Abby hated her defensive tone. Why did she feel guilty?
She slowed in front of the driveaway when something caught her eye. Someone was in the backyard.
Instead of pulling in, she coasted past the house, straining to see better, and came to a stop when she spotted her grandfather, shovel in hand. The blade glinted in the sunlight as he lifted the tool, scooping dirt from what appeared to be a small mound and placed it onto the earth. He worked for several minutes, his frail body heaving with the effort.
The key.
GG’s letter flashed in her head.
Go to my house and find the key to my safety deposit box at the bank. I kept everything hidden there...in a small metal tin, buried in the backyard under my daisies.
Was he burying something or digging it up? Could it be the key?
A lump of dread settled in the pit of her stomach.
This was nothing, she told herself—a coincidence—but she knew better. What were the chances on the very same day she came to find her grandmother’s next clue that her grandfather would beat her to it?
CHAPTER ELEVEN
It couldn’t be the key he was looking for. Right?
But why was her eighty-seven-year-old grandfather out there in the middle of the day, either retrieving something from the ground or hiding it?
“Uh, is everything okay?” Kaden asked.
Abby blinked. Glancing at him, she murmured. “Um, yeah. Sorry.”
Pulling forward, she passed her grandparents’ property and parked in the neighbor’s driveway, a couple whom Abigail knew well, and who she also knew wouldn’t be home for a while since they both worked in the city.
She killed the engine and motioned for Kaden to follow her. “Come on.”
She stepped out of the car and brought a finger up to her lips, signaling his silence before waving him on as she moved quietly over the lawn that separated their yards, grateful for the cover of the huge, old maple trees and pines. The branches blocked her from view, providing her with a safe place to watch.
