The Secret Between Us novel · Chapter 10 of 24

Chapter 10: The Safe

We went in through the kitchen door, because Pierce had told the cook to take an hour off.

The big house was silent around us.

Caleb's father's study smelled of pipe smoke that had been dead for five years.

Pierce locked the door behind us and crossed to the bookshelf behind the desk.

"It's behind the sailing ship," he said, and swung a framed oil painting out on its hinge.

A gray steel door sat in the wall.

He held up a small brass key.

His hand was steady, but his face was pale.

"Dad keeps this in his sock drawer," he said. "He thinks nobody knows."

"Pierce," I said. "You don't have to."

"Yes, I do."

He turned the key, and the safe clicked open.

Caleb leaned past him and pulled out a stack of folders and a flat leather case.

He dumped them on the desk.

The top folder held bank statements.

The second held his father's will, and Caleb set it aside without a word.

Under the will lay a long white envelope.

It had my name on it in black typewriter ink.

Isla Merrick, c/o Wynn Boatworks.

The flap was still sealed.

My knees went weak, and I sat down on the edge of Caleb's father's chair.

"That's not a bill," I said.

Caleb slit the envelope with his thumb.

He pulled out a single sheet with the seal of Hancock County stamped at the top.

It was a certificate.

It said that Isla Marie Merrick and Caleb Wynn had been married at the Ellsworth courthouse.

Keep reading free with an account. Start The Secret Between Us from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.