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The next day, I bring my laptop over to the cottages because we just got our first official applicants for the veteran-doggy love connection and week-long retreat, and I want to see Maiti and Rebel again.
As I tell Magnus the good news, he seems far away, staring at the wooden box that was in the safe deposit box. Then he jumps to his feet and wavers.
Likely, he’s still regaining his strength. “I realized something during those long hours.”
I look at him expectantly, wondering if this is it. He’s going to ask me...
“The box. The knife.” He pulls the blade from his pocket, opens it, and then slides it into the slot at the top of the box. Something clicks and where we didn’t see any seams or openings, the four wooden sides fall away. In the center is another smaller box.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” I repeat.
The small box inside has a sliding lid inlaid with mother-of-pearl and abalone.
“It matches the knife handle,” I whisper.
Magnus gently nudges the top with his thumb and it opens to reveal a silk purse with strings almost too small for his massive fingers. He fiddles with it but can’t get it open.
“Want me to try?”
He passes it to me and where I expect our hands to brush, casting electrical sparks or at the very least sending a warm rush through me as we make this discovery together, he slides his hands into his pockets. Cold.
I loosen the strings of the little pouch. Instead of peering inside, I pass it back to him.
His eyes widen when he sees the contents. “I have to go show my brothers.”
Slouching, I call, “See you tonight.”
He stops by the door. “What’s tonight?”
“Your birthday present.”
He looks startled or like I’ve gone dumb because it’s days after his birthday.
“I got us tickets to go kayaking.”
“At night?”
“It’s bioluminescent kayaking. I’ve heard it’s beautiful.”
But the look that I got used to, the one that tells me I’m beautiful, isn’t there.
Magnus
CHAPTER 20
I have to give CJ credit because he was right about the diamond in our grandmother’s ring having a sister, one shaped like a teardrop. Excitement at the discovery rushes through me until I reach the Driftwood.
My memory of the early hours that I fought against the black widow venom is hazy, but I am certain I told Lally that I love her. That I want to marry her.
But in the days since, I’ve been questioning everything. I shouldn’t have retired. All this is uncharted territory. I don’t know how to navigate without a clear assignment.
I belonged in the military. End of story.
After looking for Royal in all the likely places, and not finding him, CJ, or Ryan, I send them a text and realize I’m standing outside the Brig, the building where Chip lived at the end of his life. In my mind, I imagine him at the Frigate, but there’s a lot I don’t know about my grandfather. Too bad it’s not as easy as assembling an intelligence package.
I think about the will and what Chip wanted from me.
There will be no softening. Lally saw me down and I can’t afford that. Can’t let her witness me weak. I’m not going to be the second man who takes a fall in her life.
