AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“She’s going to be the aunt who leads our child into temptation. I’m crossing her off of the approved babysitter list.”
Instead of laughing at my joke, Ellery wrings her hands and avoids my gaze. Time to get to the bottom of whatever’s bothering her. I place a hand on her shoulder and lead her to the porch swing.
“Sit with me while I drink my hot chocolate and have my break?” I ask but I don’t wait for her to reply before gently pushing her down.
“Why do you need a break? You’ve been out here a whole fifteen minutes.”
I shrug. “I can’t let my hot chocolate get cold.”
She clears her throat and I think she’s going to speak, but she sighs and stares at her hands instead.
I bump her shoulder. “What’s going on?”
“I-I-I have my mid-pregnancy ultrasound this week.”
“What day is it?” I ask as I retrieve my phone from my pocket. “I’m free most of the week.”
“Aren’t you going home for Christmas?”
“Nope.”
I don’t tell her why because, when she discovers the reason, she’s going to lose her mind, and I prefer her to lose her mind around her family since she won’t lash out at me in front of them.
“It’s tomorrow.”
“Is there a hospital in town or do we go to the doctor? How does this all work?”
Before she can reply, Ashlyn screams, “Yes!” at the top of her lungs.
I stand and offer my hand to Ellery to help her up. “We better go check on what your sister’s up to before she causes chaos.”
She laughs. “Have you met Ashlyn? She’s going to cause chaos no matter what we do.”
“Yep. Off the approved babysitter list.”
When we reach Ashlyn, she’s jumping up and down. “Yes! Yes! Yes!” She sings and throws her hands in the air in victory.
“What’s going on?” Ellery asks.
Ashlyn indicates the foundation. “It’s here. The loot is here.”
“Shush,” Ellery hisses. “Do you want everyone to hear you?”
“Loot? What are you talking about?”
Ashlyn grabs my hand and drags me to the house where she points at the foundation. “Don’t you see it?”
I kneel closer. “What am I supposed to be seeing?” I’m an architect. To me, this is a solid, stone foundation in an early twentieth century house, but I don’t think Ashlyn’s interested in my answer.
“The date. It’s carved into the stone.”
I study the area she indicates. “1955. What’s exciting about 1955?”
“It’s the year the Black Hat Bandit robbed fifty-thousand smackers from the Hastings National Bank in Nebraska.”
I stand and brush the snow off my pants. “What does a robbery in 1955 have to do with Ellery’s bed and breakfast?”
Before Ashlyn can answer, Ellery growls at her. “I thought we weren’t telling anyone about the Mystery of the Black Hat Bandit’s Missing Loot.” Ashlyn whistles and avoids Ellery’s gaze. “You told Rowan, didn’t you?”
