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“Ah, got it.” Archie’s shoulders lowered in apparent relief. “You must have gotten some pretty good meals as a kid.”
I grinned. “I guess that’s the irony. As a kid, you don’t really have the patience or the palate to appreciate fine dining. I knew my mom’s meatloaf was good, and I had better mac and cheese at my house than anyone I knew, but it wasn’t like she was really whipping out the fancy stuff at home.”
“Right, that makes sense. But now?”
“I eat with them most Sundays, and yeah—everything Mom makes is astoundingly good.”
I chewed a bite as silence thickened around us, feeling the looming question about siblings and needing to change the subject before it arrived. “How was Marvin related to your parents?”
Archie appeared to think for a moment as he finished chewing and set his burger down. “He was my great uncle. My dad’s father’s brother.”
“Gotcha. And why didn’t he leave all this to your dad?”
“Dad’s been gone a long time now. Uncle Marvin outlived him and my mother. I guess that’s part of why Aubrey and I are so close.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, meaning it. I was thankful to still have my parents, though they hadn’t necessarily made things easier in my life these last few years.
We ate in silence for a bit, and my eyes strayed to the big map, pieced together at my side. I thought about what Archie had told me—they’d found Lola’s Gate and decoded the cipher. “So, these other locations on the map,” I began, my brain working. “There is a cross atop this little building—a church? And what about this door?” It was drawn near the spot where the resort was marked. A couple other markers scattered the map too.
“The door was the one we found, I think,” Archie said. “Kind of a back entrance tunnel leading into the basement.”
“What about the church?”
He shook his head. “I guess I thought it was just a location marker or something. I don’t think it exists anymore.”
I frowned, staring at the map as my mind reversed through our earlier conversation when Archie detailed everything they’d found so far. “Did you say Marvin and Lola were married up here? In Kasper Ridge?”
“Yes, there’s a photo in the album.” He pushed his plate aside and pulled the big album in front of himself, opening it with a thud. He flipped a few pages, and then slid it across the table, open to a photo of a couple smiling at one another under a sign.
“Kasper Ridge Worship.” I read out loud. “There’s a sign, but...” the sign seemed to stand free in front of a few stumps and trees. “There’s no building in sight. Is there actually a church?”
“I have no idea. I’ve never seen one.” Archie frowned at the photo. “There’s a church in town,” he said. “But it’s a modern thing, Lutheran, I think.”
I lifted a shoulder. “Might be worth asking there. Maybe this place doesn’t exist anymore, but they might know somethingabout it.” I was starting to get excited again. Could I actually come up with something they hadn’t thought of? Something that solved the puzzle?
“Maybe,” he agreed.
“See? I’m helping already,” I told him, pointing at him with the last fry I was going to be able to eat that night.
“You’ve practically solved it,” he laughed, pushing his own plate away.
I leaned back in my chair and let my eyes roam the room. An unexpected contentment washed through me as I took in the falling wallpaper, the warm yellow light glowing around me, and the handsome man across the table from me. He was watching me with a vague smile on his lips.
“What are you thinking?” he asked. “Figuring out more things we missed in the hunt?”
I shook my head. “No, I was just thinking that I’m happy.”
The smile grew fuller. “I’m glad.”
I let out a little laugh. “It’s weird. I was happyish at home too. I’m usually pretty cheerful. But I really like it up here. It’s like being surrounded by something bigger, something older...something meaningful. Does that sound odd?”
“Not at all. I feel it too.”
“Plus, the conference,” I said. “I’ve dreamed about living my life immersed in words and stories and books, and this is like getting a taste of that, I guess.”
“Sounds exciting.”
“Yeah, that’s a good word for it.”
