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She glanced at Lucas, who raised a brow before he gave a slight nod. At least he’d be with her and ready to intercept any attempt at theft. They walked inside, and the rush of AC cooled her cheeks. After showing her documentation, Carly and the bank employee went back to get the box while Lucas took Taylor to a private viewing room.
Her pulse elevated as she carried the box into the room. She couldn’t wait to see the egg again. Every minute with it out of her hands had been an eternity. She set the box on the table between the two men and lifted the lid to reveal the contents. The opalescent egg gleamed in the overhead lights, and Taylor gasped.
He reached toward the egg, then drew his hands back. “May I?”
“Of course.”
He pulled on white gloves and lifted the egg out reverently.“Extraordinary,” he whispered. “Exactly how I imagined it.” He turned it around and looked at it from all angles, then pulled out a loupe to look at the details more closely.
The wait was excruciating as he took his time with every detail of the egg. He opened it and examined the inside as well as all the markings before he finally put it gently on the table and exhaled. “There is no doubt in my mind it’s genuine. I can’t imagine how much it will fetch at auction, but I suspect it will be close to forty million dollars.”
Carly inhaled. It wasn’t the money—it was knowing the egg held so much value. What might men do to possess it? No wonder there seemed to be two camps after the egg.
“I’m prepared to arrange secure transport for the piece to the auction house and to begin informing the public of its upcoming sale,” Taylor said.
Carly found herself shaking her head. “I’m not ready to sell it. Not yet.” How did she explain such an irrational answer? If the egg without the surprise was worth so much, what might it bring if they could find the surprise? Again, it wasn’t the money, but as she thought about it, she realized she didn’t want to give it up. She wanted to see it whole and complete.
Yet she had to relinquish it. She didn’t have the means to protect it from thieves. What good would it do anyone stuck in a dark safety-deposit box where no one enjoyed its beauty? It had been in an attic for decades, and it deserved to be seen and admired.
But she’d lost so much this past year, and the thought of the egg being gone made her heart hurt.
The light in Taylor’s eyes faded, and his mouth flattened in a grim line. “I see. You don’t wish to sell it?”
“I will, just not yet.” She glanced at Lucas for support and found him looking as puzzled as Taylor. “What if we had the surprise?” she blurted out. When she saw the shock in Lucas’s eyes, she knew she shouldn’t have mentioned the possibility. “I mean, the surprise might show up.”
“Once the public knows of the egg’s existence, someone might realize they have the surprise,” Taylor said. “But short of that news hitting the world, I doubt you’ll find it by looking. Unless you have some sort of information about its location?”
She knew better than to admit to that. “Let me think about it.” The egg felt cool in her fingers as she placed it back in the box and rose to lock it back up. “Thank you for coming. I’ll be in touch.”
She rushed out to put the egg back in its safe spot so she didn’t have to deal with the disappointment he showed. Her sisters would be furious when they learned what she’d done.
***
Lucas wasn’t sure he’d ever understand women. Hadn’t selling the egg been the whole point of getting it appraised? They hadn’t talked about it on the way back to the house, and he’d suggested they take Noah to the Chambers Waterfront Park. The baby was too little to enjoy the playground, but it was a serene spot to walk in the shade of the live oaks with their hanging moss and to watch the boats glide in and out. The river flowed into open water, and the marina was always busy.
The salty scent of the Beaufort River mingled with the flowers blooming in the gardens. The squeals of children playing and the wind in the palms were a soothing backdrop ashe pushed the stroller toward the patio’s tables and chairs. Major’s nails clicked beside him on the brick path, and Carly, silent with a faraway expression, moved woodenly beside him. She carried the lunch they’d stopped to pick up at Lowcountry Café.
He found an open table near a palm tree overlooking the water and set the stroller’s brake. Noah kicked his feet and squealed at the fronds rippling in the wind above his head. “The little guy likes it here.”
“He loves to be outside.” She opened the bag of food and pulled out the items. “Ooey Gooey Burger and fries. Those are yours. I got a crab cake sandwich, but I’m not very hungry.” She set her lunch on the table before she plopped onto a chair and put her face in her hands. “I’m an idiot. Why on earth didn’t I let Taylor take the egg?” She lifted her head and caught his gaze. “I love that egg, Lucas. Isn’t that stupid? I can’t protect it. It would be hidden away in the bank forever. And Ihaveto sell it—my sisters will want their cut.”
“I thought the contents of that chest belonged to you.”
“They do, but it’s hardly fair to hog it all to myself when the egg is so valuable.”
She was the most selfless person he’d ever met. Her concerns were all based around her family and not on things she could buy with that money. It was life-changing wealth for her entire family, but she wasn’t focusing on her own circumstances.
Something stirred in his heart—a warmth that was almost painful. Since his engagement ended seven years ago, he’d guarded against feeling anything for another woman. He didn’t want to go through that kind of rejection again, but Carly wasn’t Frani. She’d already been married to a cop andhad managed the worry just fine. It had been Eric who had failed her—not the other way around.
He saw Noah, and the heat in his chest intensified. The baby had wound his fingers around his heart even faster than Carly. It made the stakes of a relationship higher, but he might be too far gone to pull away now. Ryan had been right all along. Lucas had been fooling himself about his feelings.
Now that he knew, what was he going to do about it?
There would be time to think about that later. Right now he needed to help Carly get clarity on what she was going to do about the egg. “It’s not a bad idea to wait until we see if we can find the surprise.”
Noah let out a squawk, and she leaned over to hand him his plastic keys. “That’s another thing—I shouldn’t have said anything about trying to find the surprise. What if he talks about it?”
“It might have been best to keep it to yourself, but we can’t worry about that now. Let’s see what we can find out about Mary’s sister, Elizabeth. At least we have a name, and I’m looking for her in the database. I should get a report back later today.”
