Page 44

Harper

One hour after finding the Blackburn Diamonds and hoping like hell that Eve forgives me

Jensen sat at the trailer’s small kitchen table and dragged a heavy hand down his face. It had taken awhile, but we’d finally gotten him up to speed on all of it—the locket, the pictures, Monty and Eve’s connection to Priscilla.

All of the letters buried in the ground, the incredible defiance, the absolute bravery.

Now he held a copy of the picture of Priscilla and Adeline in New York, swiping his thumb over the center of the image.

“It had always been nothin’ but a rumor in my family,” he grunted.

“A bit of lore, a story my mother claimed had been passed down through the generations. Our family hasn’t always been here in Santa Fe. New York City is where we come from.”

He set the picture down on the table. We were silently watching him, hanging on his every word.

“My mother’s maiden name was Grant,” he continued.

“Adeline was her great-great-great-cousin. The family knew Priscilla and Adeline were close, knew that she’d disappeared on the same exact day.

Can’t remember how they knew, now, it’s mixed in with all the gossip.

Old letters, I think. But honest to god, until now…

” He gulped. “Monty, Ruby…I swear I thought I was chasin’ a ghost story. ”

Monty cleared her throat. “So that’s why you’ve been after this like a dog with a bone.”

“Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?” Ruby said, offering up a tentative smile.

Eve and I stood across from the three of them at the table, our backs propped against the wall.

We were separated by just a few inches, her body heat a scorching distraction.

Neither of us had said much so far. I couldn’t speak for Eve, but I was content to watch whatever was unfolding between Monty, Ruby, and Jensen, a history of grudges and hurt feelings that hung thick in the small space.

Monty scratched the back of her head and shrugged. “Guess that’s true. Eve and I always considered this our legacy. It’s why failing to find it the first time was so painful.”

Jensen’s lips twitched. “Hell, it’s probably why I’ve been a bit of an asshole recently. Felt like it was owed to me.”

As if on cue, all of us focused on the tiny pile of diamonds, glittering in the middle of the table, easily forgotten amidst all the letters.

“Yeah,” Monty said, cracking a slow smile. “You are kind of an asshole.”

He huffed out a laugh, still staring at the pile of photographs. “They had so much fucking courage. Putting their lives at risk. Helping all these people. Makes me feel a little unworthy if I’m being honest.”

His eyes rose to Monty and Ruby. “I owe you both an apology. I have been an asshole, about more than just this. I let the worst parts of myself lash out at you when you never deserved it.”

“You didn’t send those reporters to harass us,” Ruby said. “You protected us as best you could.”

“I was still pissed at you, though, and should have let it go. What you both did, finding that ship, was a goddamn miracle. And I was just jealous, let it get in the way of being a friend when you needed it. I hate admitting it, because it makes me feel so small. But now I’m sittin’ here, surrounded by all these people’s stories… ”

He rubbed his head, his face growing red. “Jesus, there’s more to life than being cruel to each other, chasing each other down for buried treasure that might not even be there.”

Monty was quiet for a moment, studying the man across from her like she was meeting him for the first time. She sent Ruby a quick look then said, “I accept it. Your apology.”

Jensen gave a short nod.

“And…and I get it, I guess. I was just telling Evie something similar, about what happened to us all those years ago. How I let it change me, but not for the better. Let it control me. Almost let it end my marriage.”

Ruby rested her head on Monty’s shoulder. “We found our way back to each other, though. I knew we would.”

Monty kissed the top of her hair. “I haven’t always had a lot of hope, but I had hope in us.”

In the beat of silence that followed, I snuck a glance at Eve. I expected her to be watching her aunts. But she was watching me, wearing an expression I wished with every fiber of my being I could understand.

Monty pulled out her cigar box and passed one to Jensen. “Our relatives struck out on their own. Chose hope over despair as best they could. You and me, we could do the same, you know.”

Jensen coughed into his hand. “I, uh…I’d like that.”

Eve shifted against the wall. “The world deserves to see these letters and photographs. If you want, I can call the Santa Fe museum when we’re back in town and set up a meeting. They might want to feature them in an exhibit.”

Monty and Ruby brightened at that while my heart pulsed with a soft glow.

“Hey now, that’s a smart idea,” Monty said cheerfully.

“It’ll probably put you both back in the spotlight,” I cautioned. “Are you ready for that?”

“I’m ready,” Ruby said. “No more hiding. We’ll get through it together.”

I eyed Monty, who was rolling a cigar between her palms. After a few seconds, she nodded. “It’s time for me to start telling my story, instead of other people doing it for me.”

Inspiration burst through my brain like a round of multicolored fireworks. An idea was starting to form, so quickly that my stomach went hollow.

“You okay?” Eve whispered.

I nodded, jittery and more than a little nervous.

“Whatever help you need, just ask,” Jensen said.

“My crew will feel the same way, and if anyone says differently, I’ll show ’em the door.

” He tapped his finger on the picture of Priscilla and Adeline.

“I never told you this, Monty, but my parents…” He coughed into his hand again.

“My parents kicked my brother out of the house when he told us he was gay. We were in high school. I, well…I went with him. We took care of each other.”

Monty’s eyes softened. “I’m sure he appreciated that.”

Jensen gave another short nod. “This is gonna mean a lot to him. To him, his husband, my nieces. We’re lucky, to be related to these women.”

I watched Monty’s gaze slide to Eve, watched pure affection wash over her. “I couldn’t have said it better myself,” Monty said.

Eve’s response to this was a smile so bewitching, so charming, so very Eve-like that pure delight swelled my heart. While everyone else went back to reading over the letters, I sidled up next to her and prayed I didn’t look as nervous as I felt.

Hands clasped to keep my fingers from shaking, I said: “Can we go somewhere private to talk?”

...

“So yeah,” Faith said, whistling as she let Eve and me into the vintage trailer, “much as I hate to say it, we are sold out of most everything today in the park.”

The narrow door opened. She ushered us inside with the tired grumpiness I now understood was just her regular personality. With the flip of a switch, the trailer filled with a pinkish glow, courtesy of the heart-shaped twinkle lights dangling from the ceiling.

The pull-down table in the kitchenette was also shaped like a heart. As was the small bed we could glimpse all the way in the back, covered in a blood-red velvet blanket and pink, lips-shaped pillows.

Champagne iced in a bucket. A neon sign above the sink read Just Married with flickering wedding bells.

“But we do have this honeymoon trailer, if you’d like,” Faith grumbled. “Long as that’s not too awkward for you two or anything.”

Eve and I made furtive eye contact. Her cheeks blazed red, and the center of my stomach was one giant, complicated knot.

“Not, uh, awkward at all,” I said to Faith, in the lie of the century. “The scattered rose petals really tie together your romantic vision.”

Faith shrugged. “I like a little romance myself, now and then. That’s why I’ve got two husbands, instead of one.”

She placed the key on the counter and left with a door slam, leaving Eve and me alone in the soft coral light, surrounded by hearts of every shape and size.

My muscles screamed in pain and I was so emotionally overwhelmed I wanted to collapse to the ground and cry.

Mud was caked across Eve’s boots and arms, and she looked hollow-eyed with weariness.

When she’d agreed to come somewhere private with me to talk, Faith’s Paradise RV Park had seemed like the best idea at the time, given I knew it had hot showers and breakfast sandwiches.

I obviously hadn’t prepared for…all of this. Wincing, I touched the magenta banner above me that read Happily Ever After , and it released a shower of golden confetti onto my head.

“So…” Eve mumbled. “Here we are…I guess.”

I chewed anxiously on my bottom lip. “Here we are, indeed.”

For a long moment after that, we just stared at each other in the small space.

A thousand apologies and regrets crowded the back of my throat.

Because I was alone again, finally , with Eve Bardot—who loved the Milky Way and imperfect antiques, her queer friends and the open road.

Who’d been forced to suffer in silence like I had and who seemed to understand, on a gut level, the shame that lived in my body because of it.

“I quit my job yesterday,” I blurted out, my thoughts a chaotic mess. “I handed in my resignation letter, then hopped on the flight here.”

Her eyebrows pinched together. “You…quit your job ?”

I nodded, feeling an unbelievable lightness flood my body.

“I’ll always be a writer, but I’m done being a reporter.

Storytelling’s in my blood, but I don’t have to follow in my dad’s footsteps for it to mean something.

It all just felt so joyless once I got back.

Everything I learned out here, everything we talked about, helped me see how much I’d been lying to myself about my own happiness. ”

“I’m proud of you, Hendrix,” she said hoarsely, looking stunned. “I know how hard this stuff is, how hard it can be to choose yourself.”

I sent her a shy smile. “I had some inspiration.”