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The metal lid loosened easily, and I turned the urn upside down and shook it. A small metal key fell out.
Bingo.
Harley frowned as he examined the key. “It could be for anything. How the fuck are we supposed to figure out what lock it fits?”
He had a point. This small key could fit literally any lock in the Northern Hemisphere. Or beyond, given how far and wide Dad traveled.
It was like looking for a needle in a haystack. But the key had to be important. He knew how much I enjoyed solving puzzles, and over the years, he’d taken a lot of pride in watching me figure out some truly fucking horrific ones.
This was just a puzzle. All I had to do was follow the breadcrumbs he was leaving and eventually, I’d get the answers I was looking for.
“Are there any distinguishing marks or shit on it?”
Sunlight cast shadows through the leaves of the Buckeye tree next to Mom’s grave. High above, a hawk soared on warm air currents.
It was so peaceful here.
I’d often wondered why Mom had been buried in such a remote place, but Dad eventually explained to me she grew up near here. Just a small-town girl with big dreams.
Those dreams had come to fruition when she won a scholarship to Harvard, which was where she met my father.
They’d fallen in love, settled down, and then she fell pregnant just as Dad was getting his business off the ground. They’d been so excited, he told me, so looking forward to making a family.
But it had all gone wrong. It was a struggle not to give in to my pain, but I wasn’t here to throw a pity party.
“There are some numbers engraved on it.”
“OK, then that’s a starting point. We can figure it out when we get back.”
Harley held the key in his hand and snapped photos of both sides.”
“What are you doing?” I asked curiously.
“Sending photos of the key to Quinn. He can start researching it while we travel back to college.”
“And there was me thinking you were just a pretty face,” I teased.
He grinned at me. “Beauty and brains,” he laughed. “I’m the full package, sweetheart.”
I reached up and kissed him lightly. He really was. Maybe my life wasn’t quite so shitty after all. Meeting him was one of the few silver linings I was grateful for.
Chapter 80
Stella
By rights I should have been asleep, yet despite the long ass day of traveling to Ohio and back, my brain refused to shut down. Harley was dead to the world, starfished on the bed like the Adonis he was. Even in sleep he looked like a Greek God, all cut muscles and golden skin. I really ought to post a few photos of him on my Insta, except I’d deleted that shit to prevent people sending me hate messages.
It didn’t stop me from snapping a few images for my own personal library though. I was only human. A girl had needs after all. There might come a time when both of the guys in my life were too busy to take care of my needs. OK, so it was unlikely, but I liked to be prepared.
The clock ticked past 3 AM and I sighed irritably. This was ridiculous. I needed to get up in less than four hours. Trying to get through a boring lecture on balance sheets was going to be impossible if I didn’t get some sleep soon.
Maybe chamomile tea would help soothe my brain. I knew Quinn kept a box of tea bags in one of the kitchen cupboards, so I padded out of the bedroom to go and hunt them down.
To my surprise, Brax was lying on the sofa watching an old black and white movie with the subtitles on. He glanced up as I entered the room. The lights were off so I could barely make out his face bit I didn’t miss the fact he was wearing nothing but a pair of low-slung shorts.
This was a bad idea. I couldn’t be in the same room with him while he was practically naked. I respected the fact he didn’t want anything to do with me as anything other than a friend - he’d made it more than clear - but my self-control only went so far.
I’d make a cup of tea and then head back to Harley’s room. It took me a moment to locate the tea bags and then another five minutes for the kettle to boil.
