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The sound of a hammer hitting nails echoed through the air and Nyla gasped, her eyes transfixed toward the back of the house.
“Is thathim?”
Rolling my eyes, I couldn’t help but laugh. “Yes. Let’s get your stuff inside, and then you can talk to him all you want.”
I grabbed her suitcase while she picked up her flowery Vera Bradley bag. The second Jensen saw us walking up the stairs, he put the hammer down and started toward us.
“I’ll get those,” he offered.
I held up a hand as Nyla and I trudged up the stairs. “It’s okay, I got it. We’ll be out in a minute.”
He went back to working on the walkway, and I could hear Nyla snickering behind me. Finally, we made it up to the back deck and I opened the door.
“What are you laughing at?”
Nyla walked past me into the house. She set her bag on the floor and peered out the door at Jensen, playfully fanning her face. “He is so hot. How are things between you two?”
I rolled her suitcase down the hall and into my bedroom and she followed me. “No progress, really. Every time we start to talk, or things get a little flirty, something interrupts us.”
Nyla laughed. “And I bet that happened when I arrived, didn’t it?”
Grinning, I turned to face her. “I love you and all, and seeing you is the best thing ever, but you honestly had bad timing today.”
She held up her hands. “Hey, don’t worry. I plan on giving you plenty of space. I’m rooting for you and Jensen. The last thing I want to do is come between your time with him.” Her smile faded slightly. “I know you only have a few weeks.”
I didn’t want to think about that. I wanted to concentrate on the here and now. Once all her things were in the bedroom, I waved for her to come with me to my grandmother’s room. I grabbed the box of letters and motioned for her to sit on the bed. She sat down and I handed it to her, her face filled with curiosity.
“I might need your help while you’re here,” I said as she opened the lid.
Nyla pulled out one of the letters and read it. “What is all of this?” she asked, brows furrowed with confusion.
“These,” I stated, pointing toward the box, “are letters from my grandmother’s secret lover. I found those underneath the floorboards here.”
I tapped my foot on the floor in the exact spot I had discovered and watched Nyla’s mouth drop open in shock.
“Seriously?”
“And that’s not all,” I said excitedly, walking over to the old jewelry box on the nightstand. I fetched the delicate heart-shaped locket from inside and let it dangle from my fingers in front of her. “I came across this just a few minutes ago, hidden in a secret compartment on the armoire.”
I moved to the antique dresser and showed her how I got into the secret drawers, revealing my grandmother’s perfume recipes. I knew Nyla would find it fascinating; she loved a good mystery.
She carefully took the locket from me and opened it. “‘Yours always’.” She read the inscription and a laugh escaped her lips. “This is interesting.” She gave me the locket and I put it back in the jewelry box. “Was your grandmother cheating?”
“No,” I answered quickly, turning to face her. “The dates on the letters were all before she met my grandfather.”
Nyla cocked her head to the side. “So, it’s a mystery? Are you going to see if you can find out who this T guy is?”
I snorted. “I would love to, but I’m not having any luck. My mom wants me to keep searching the room. She’ll be surprised when I tell her I found the perfume recipes and the locket.”
Nyla peered around the room, intrigue clear on her face. “I will be happy to help you search this place. I’m good at finding things.”
Taking the box from her, I closed it and set it on the nightstand. “Perfect. Hopefully, we’ll get to the bottom of it before returning to Boston.” I held out my hands and when she took them, I pulled her off the bed. “Let me introduce you to Jensen, and then we can take a quick walk on the beach. Sound good?”
She beamed. “I’m ready.”
* * *
Jensen was hammering awayon the walkway but stopped when we made it down to him. “Jensen, I’d like you to meet Nyla Clark. She’s a good friend of mine and an ER doctor at my hospital.”
