A Treasure Worth Keeping (12 page)

E
vie decided two out of three wasn’t so bad.

Still, Sam barely said two words to her on the way home. But he insisted on checking to make sure Beach Glass was still locked up tight and no one had broken into the house.

If his intent was to make her nervous, he was doing a stellar job.

He circled the kitchen and paused next to the telephone. “Looks like you have a message.”

“Maybe it’s Dad.” Evie punched the button and listened impatiently while the prerecorded message went through the standard pleasantries.

“Ah…Miss McBride?” She gulped when she heard Seth Lansky’s familiar voice. And it didn’t sound half as friendly as it had when he’d asked her to help him with the passwords! “I want to talk and I think you know why. I’ll be in touch. Soon.”

The worst part was, Evie
didn’t
know why.

“Change your mind?” Sam growled.

Evie shook her head. Because she couldn’t form a coherent sentence even if she tried.

“I’ll be right back.” He gave her a look that clearly questioned her sanity and finished his rounds. After he rattled the sliding glass doors, Evie stepped in his path.

“If you wait a few minutes, I’ll give you your clothes back. Or I can give them to you tomorrow when I meet with Faith.”

“Tomorrow’s Saturday. Faith and I are going out on the boat for the weekend.”

“Overnight?” Evie’s voice raised a notch.

“I believe the weekend would include an overnight, yes.”

Evie’s back teeth clamped together. She knew he was being difficult because she refused to take his advice and leave.

“I’m sure Faith will enjoy it,” she said sweetly. “She has fifty math problems to finish by Monday and I’d like her to read the next short story in her literature book.”

“I’ll see she gets it done.” Sam pivoted away from her and headed toward the door.

“Sam! Wait a second. I forgot something.” Evie disappeared into her father’s office and returned with a small, leather-bound book. “Here.”

Sam stared down at the book. “What’s that?”

“A Bible. I told Faith I’d lend her one. Remember?” When he made no move to take it, Evie pressed it gently into his hands.

Sam’s thumb grazed the words embossed in gold on the cover. “I suppose it can’t hurt.”

Evie’s heart softened when she saw the shadows skim through his eyes. “Faith was fascinated by the story of the loaves and fishes. Tell her to look up Matthew, the first book of the New Testament, and go to the fifteenth chapter.”
God, what should I say to him? He doesn’t realize he’s holding the power to change his life.
“I read one of the Psalms every morning.”

“Why?”

Was he baiting her? Evie decided it didn’t matter. She wouldn’t pass up an opportunity to share the truth. “The Psalmist, a man named David, didn’t always understand God’s ways but he wanted to know Him. And he wasn’t afraid to ask Him tough questions along the way.”

“Did God answer his questions?” Sam’s voice carried an undercurrent of cynicism now.

“Not always,” Evie said honestly. “But we don’t find peace by having all our questions answered. We find it in God. He loves us and we can trust Him to bring something good out of everything that happens in our lives.”

Pain darkened Sam’s eyes. “Tell that to my brother.”

“Faith? Are you ready to go yet?” Sam rapped his knuckles lightly against the fluorescent yellow Enter At Your Own Risk poster taped to the door.

He’d let Faith sleep away half the morning and then she’d holed up in her cabin again after breakfast. He hadn’t minded being on deck alone to greet the sunrise. For the second restless night in a row, he’d watched the stars fade away one by one. Ordinarily he slept like the dead when they anchored the boat in one of the shallow bays for the night, lulled by the fresh air and the rocking motion of the waves. But not this time.

“You can come in if you want.”

Sam gripped his chest with one hand and pretended to stagger. “Really? To the inner sanctum?”

There was a noisy exhale on the other side of the door. “That’s what I said.”

He chuckled and accepted the invitation before Faith changed her mind. “I’m surprised you aren’t topside barking orders.”

Reluctant as Faith had been to come to Cooper’s Landing, she’d turned into a first-class first mate. She loved being on the water as much as he did. Not that Lake Superior provided an instant cure for the roller coaster of adolescence, but Faith seemed to be smiling a little more. And she’d even forgiven him for interrupting her unauthorized phone call to the care facility the day before.

Maybe it’s Evie you should thank.

Sam shook the thought away even though he knew another one would replace it soon enough. That was the trouble. He couldn’t
stop
thinking about Evie. The way she’d held it together and taken care of Faith when Seth had followed them into the woods. Her stubborn insistence on staying even though worry clouded her eyes.

He was starting to realize he’d underestimated her. Maybe she didn’t laugh in the face of danger but she wasn’t afraid to stare it down, either. And her faith was a wild card he had no clue how to deal with…

There you go again.

Sam yanked his wayward thoughts back in line and focused his attention on his niece, who lay on her back on the bunk bed, Evie’s Bible propped against her knees.

“I wanted to finish reading something.”

“Shouldn’t you be doing homework?” As far as hints went, not so subtle, but the sight of Faith reading her Bible unsettled him. He still wasn’t sure how Dan and Rachel would feel about it. He didn’t know how
he
felt about it.

“I finished my math.” Faith looked up at him. “Did you know Jesus healed people?”

“Uh-huh.” Vague, but the best he could do on short notice.

“It says in here He healed all kinds of people. People who were blind and deaf.” She paused for a second and sucked in her lower lip. “Even people who couldn’t…walk.”

It didn’t take a biblical scholar to know where Faith was going with that. And Sam felt totally, completely out of his element.

He’d been there when Faith had let go of Dan’s fingers and took her first wobbly steps. He’d taught her how to ice skate, slam dunk and do a mean imitation of a Tarzan yell. Although Rachel had never quite forgiven him for the last one.

Faith waited expectantly and Sam’s throat closed. It was like seeing Dan all over again. Looking to him for answers. For comfort. For whatever.

You’re wrong, Dad, Sam thought. You said all I had to do was look inside myself and I’d find everything I need to tackle whatever life throws at me. Well, I’m coming up empty here. I’ve got nothing. Nothing for Dan. Nothing for Faith. Nothing for
me.

“Evie told me the Bible is true.” Faith tested the silence when he didn’t respond right away.

“A lot of people believe that.” People who, according to Jacob, didn’t have the strength and know-how to solve their own problems.

“Do you?”

Sam gave up and sat down at the foot of the bed. “I’ve never thought about it much.” At least not until Dan was hurt. Ever since then he’d been bombarded by the same relentless questions. What happened when a man’s life changed in an instant and he reached the end of his own strength? What took over?

“Evie told me I should pray for Dad. If I do…”

Sam winced, bracing himself.

“Do you think he’ll laugh again?”

The question sucker punched him. He’d expected Faith to say she wanted her dad to walk again. But she hadn’t. She missed hearing him laugh. Easygoing and fun-loving, Dan loved practical jokes. No one was exempt as a target, whether it was the guys who worked his shift at the police department or his immediate family. Sam had lost track of how many times his brother had set him up over the years.

Regret burned through Sam, leaving a bitter taste in his mouth. The last time he’d heard Dan laugh was the day his brother was injured, when he’d called to invite Sam over for the weekend to celebrate Faith’s birthday. The phone call he’d received three hours later had been from a near-hysterical Rachel, telling him Dan had been shot while responding to a call for a domestic disturbance. He and his partner were walking toward the house when a guy, strung out on drugs, aimed a shotgun out the second-story window and opened fire. Diving for cover, Dan had been hit an inch below his Kevlar vest.

Sam tried to think of a way to encourage his niece without getting her hopes up too high. “Your dad is trying to find his way, Faith. And if you want to pray for him, go ahead.”

Maybe God wouldn’t listen to the prayers of a man like him, who’d always relied on himself, but Sam hoped He wouldn’t turn a deaf ear to those of a young girl who wanted to hear her dad laugh again.

Faith turned her head away and Sam knew she didn’t want him to see the tear sliding down her face. Too late. Now he’d do anything to see
her
smile.

Since they’d arrived in Cooper’s Landing, he’d handled Faith’s moods by retreating and giving her space because that’s how
he
coped with pain. But Evie had shot that theory all to bits the day she’d brought over that rusty basketball hoop.

Surround Faith with the things she loves and everything else will fall into place.

He’d try it Evie’s way.

“Why don’t we stop by Sophie’s when we get to shore and borrow Rocky for the rest of the day?”

“Really? Can we go now?” Faith sat up and hugged her knees.

“Sure.” And maybe they’d stop by Evie’s afterward. To drop off Faith’s homework.

Sciurus carolinensis.

Evie groaned and yanked a pillow over her head to muffle the chatter of her alarm clock. Which happened to be the gray squirrel perched in the tree outside her window. At six o’clock on Sunday morning.

Fifteen minutes later, she gave up and tossed the covers aside. She peered at the squirrel through the screen. Now he sat on the empty feeder, his tail twitching with indignation. “Fine. You win. I’ll replenish your corn supply.”

Evie staggered to the kitchen in her pajamas, made a pot of coffee and poured herself a cup. Sunlight pooled on the hardwood floor, and in the distance the glittering surface of the lake looked as if it had been sprinkled with gold dust.

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.

The opening verse of Psalm 19 scrolled through her mind as she closed her eyes and said good morning to the Lord.

It’s beautiful, God. You do all things well.

For a brief moment, she wished she could be out on the water. To feel the breeze brush against her skin. Have a front-row view of the towering sandstone bluffs. Watch the seagulls circling overhead in a graceful synchronized choreography. Experience…a severe case of nausea.

Evie decided she didn’t have to be standing on the deck of a boat to enjoy God’s creation. She could just be on a…deck. To prove her point, she took her Bible outside. Bypassing her dad’s hammock, which, she noted critically, probably wasn’t good for his back, she chose a cushioned cedar chair and flopped into it.

Curious black-capped chickadees landed on the railing to take a look at her, and Evie shared her bran muffin with them before closing her eyes and spending time in prayer. Armed with scripture she’d memorized over the years, she aimed a verse at every worry that crowded into her thoughts. She prayed for Patrick and Jacob. Sophie. Faith. Faith’s parents. And for Sam.

Father, I think that Sam wants to talk to You but he doesn’t
know how. Reveal Yourself to him. Show him that he can find hope in You.

Thank You for watching out for me and Faith yesterday. I know You want Your people to be courageous and I fall so short of that. I’m tempted to go home but if You want me to be here for Faith, I’ll stay and I’ll trust You.

Evie kept her eyes closed for a few minutes, softly humming the tune to one of her favorite praise choruses. Within moments, a verse drifted soft as a breeze into her thoughts.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.

Thank you for the reminder, Lord.

That’s what she wanted Sam to understand. If he turned to God even when life didn’t make sense, God wouldn’t let him down.

She glanced at her watch, calculated how much time she’d need to get ready for church and decided she had time to take a short detour.

“I
’m so glad you called.” Sophie smiled as Evie opened the passenger side of the door and waited for her to slide in. “I was just thinking how lonely church would be this morning without your father to keep me company.”

Tyson could go with you.

Evie bit the inside of her lip to prevent her from saying it out loud. When she’d stopped by to pick up Sophie, Tyson had been sound asleep on the couch.

“I didn’t want to go alone, either,” she said instead.

“I made chicken salad and a loaf of banana bread last night,” Sophie said. “Can you stay for lunch?”

“I’d love to.” The older woman’s offer of friendship wrapped around her like a warm blanket. Caitlin and Meghan would love Sophie if they had a chance to meet her. And Evie had a feeling they would.

She looked forward to spending a few more hours with Sophie but hoped Tyson wouldn’t be at the house when they returned. Evie made a habit not to judge people by the way they looked, but the unease she felt around Sophie’s son wasn’t due to his hygienically challenged outward appearance. Something in Tyson’s cool, flat stare made her question what was going on on the
inside.

Evie started her car and maneuvered it out of the church parking lot. “I came here for worship services last summer when I stayed a few weeks with Dad, but I don’t remember seeing you.”

“That’s because I didn’t know the Lord last summer,” Sophie said matter-of-factly.

Evie blinked. “I…The way you talked about God and the way you prayed…I assumed you’d been a believer for years.”

Sophie chuckled. “I’m afraid it’s been just the opposite! You can give your father the credit for introducing us. When everyone else brought bestselling novels to read to the patients at the hospital, Patrick brought his Bible.” Her eyes twinkled. “I have to admit there were a few times I wanted to throw it at him, but I didn’t have the strength! He had a captive audience and he knew it. I couldn’t get rid of him, so I started to listen to what he was saying.

“One afternoon he read a story about a woman who’d been sick for years. She risked everything to get close enough to Jesus to touch his robe. She wanted a new life. I could relate to her. The one thing I’d always wished for was the chance to live my life over again. Growing up, my family wasn’t the kind you read about in storybooks. I met Tyson’s father and hoped things would be different, but he walked out on us when Tyson was ten years old. I’d been wallowing in the past, wishing things had been different. The day Patrick read that passage I realized I wanted God to heal me, too. Not physically, but from the pain I’d lived with on the
inside.
” Sophie’s face took on a radiant glow. “Your father prayed with me when I gave my life to Jesus.”

Tears stung Evie’s eyes. Patrick had always had a gift for pointing people to the truth. She wasn’t surprised he’d known exactly what story would touch Sophie’s heart. “I’m glad Dad was there for you.”

“So am I. Me and the Lord, we have a lot of catching up to do. I wasted so many years trying to muddle through life on my own.” A shadow momentarily dimmed the light in Sophie’s eyes. “Like Jacob.”

“Jacob
Cutter?
” Evie asked cautiously.

“I’ve been on my knees for that man so often, I’m going to have to sew patches over the worn spots on my slacks,” Sophie said. “Just about the time Patrick and I sensed him softening, his son was badly injured and he closed up again. When he came back from Chicago last month, he was so bitter. He made both of us promise we wouldn’t talk about God.” Sophie’s smile returned. “But we never promised we wouldn’t talk to God about
him.
”

Evie laughed with her even as her heart ached for the Cutters. When Laura died, Patrick’s unwavering faith had been a light that guided Evie through the dark valleys of grief. From the pain in Sam’s eyes, it was clear he was stumbling through the shadows, looking for something to hold on to.

“Look at that.” Sophie clucked her tongue as Evie turned the car into the driveway. “Tyson is almost thirty years old and he still forgets to shut the door when he leaves. It’s a good thing I locked Sadie and the puppies up in the laundry room or they’d be in the next county by now.”

Evie followed Sophie inside and heard Sadie whining behind a door off the kitchen. The puppies joined her in a chorus of frantic yips.

“Tyson?” Sophie called above the commotion. “Are you here? We have company for lunch.”

The hair on the back of Evie’s neck tingled suddenly. Something wasn’t right. Other than the sound of Sadie’s obvious distress, an eerie silence filled the house. And that open door…

“Sophie, wait.”

“I’ll be right back.” Sophie disappeared into the den and suddenly a sharp cry pierced the air.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” Evie bolted into the room and her vision blurred as she took in the scene in front of her.

The room had been ripped apart. Furniture overturned. Shards of what had once been the porcelain figures in Sophie’s curio cabinet littered the floor like confetti. The rolltop desk had been hacked to pieces.

Evie couldn’t swallow. Had to consciously remind herself to breathe. “Sophie—”

Sophie knelt in the middle of the destruction, sifting through the papers scattered on the floor. “They’re gone, Evie. The letters. The newspaper articles. Everything.”

“Look! Evie’s here.” Faith squealed in delight at the sight of the familiar vehicle parked in Sophie’s driveway.

Sam barely had the car in Park when she unbuckled her seat belt and launched herself out the door.

Sam followed at a more leisurely pace, the relief of knowing Evie was safe and sound soaking into his subconscious. He hadn’t wanted to admit his concern for her had been part of the reason he’d given up a beautiful day on the open water and come back to shore early.

After her near miss with Seth on Friday and the cryptic phone message he’d left, Sam thought for sure she would agree to leave. Not knowing what Seth wanted or how much of a threat he posed had to make Evie feel vulnerable. She’d said herself that she didn’t like surprises and the structured way she lived her life proved it.

So why couldn’t he convince her to leave?

God brought me to Cooper’s Landing.

Sam remembered the reason Evie had given and he rolled his eyes toward the sky. Billions of people inhabited the world. Sam had serious doubts that God had noticed one twelve-year-old girl who was failing her classes and that He had sent someone to help her. Even if he couldn’t dismiss the fact that Evie, with her unwavering faith and loving concern, had somehow unlocked the key to Faith’s heart.

Like she was trying to do to his.

When Faith wasn’t paying attention, he’d snuck a look at the Psalms, the book Evie said she read from every day. The brutal honesty of the writer surprised him but what shocked him even more was that God hadn’t taken the guy out for hammering Him with questions.

It eased the knot in his chest. He had a lot of questions, too, but he still wasn’t sure how to ask them.

Sam reached out to grab the handle on the front door just as Faith blasted through it, almost toppling him back down the steps.

“Faith, for crying out loud—” The panic in her eyes squeezed the air out of his lungs.

“Sophie,” Faith gasped.

Sam didn’t wait for a longer explanation. He pushed open the door and met Evie on the other side.

“What happened? Is Sophie all right?”

“She’s fine. But someone broke into the house.” Evie’s voice wobbled and Sam took her hand. Ice-cold. Automatically, he rubbed his thumb against her palm to stimulate the circulation.

“Where is she?”

“In here.” Evie led him into the den and Sam exhaled slowly as he took a quick inventory of the damage. Whoever had broken in had had something specific in mind. And, judging from the amount of senseless vandalism, an ax to grind.

Sophie occupied the same chair she’d sat in the night she’d told them about Patrick and Jacob’s search for the
Noble.
A search that had gotten out of control. Maybe it had started out innocently enough, like a trickle of water during a spring thaw, but now it had picked up both strength and speed. And was running roughshod over everything in its path.

“Have you called the police yet?” Sam recognized the shell-shocked look in Sophie’s eyes and directed the question at Evie instead. She stood just inside the room, one arm looped around Faith, who’d wilted against her with Rocky cradled tightly in her arms.

“Not yet. We just got here.”

“Evie and I went to church,” Sophie added. “I don’t know where Tyson is. When we walked in, we found this. Whoever broke in took everything Patrick and I collected about the
Noble.
It was all locked in a desk drawer. I don’t know yet if anything else is missing.”

“I’ll be right back,” Evie murmured. “I’m going to get Sophie a glass of water.”

With a wide-eyed, fearful look at Sophie, Faith followed Evie out the door. After they’d gone, Sam dropped into the chair opposite Sophie and leaned toward her. “Was there any sign of forced entry?”

“No. But we never lock the door. There’s been no need.”

“And you said Tyson was here when you left?”

Sophie nodded. “He came home quite late. He must have been too tired to go upstairs because he was asleep on the couch when I came down this morning. I didn’t want to disturb him.”

Too tired or too drunk? Sam decided not to ask. The break-in was enough for Sophie to handle at the moment.

“I’ll call the police and ask them to send over a deputy. They’ll take photographs, so we can’t clean up the mess yet. Have you checked the rest of the house?”

“No.” Sophie closed her eyes. “I can replace the newspaper articles but not Dorothea’s letters and my great-grandmother’s journal. I can’t believe someone would do this.”

Sam could.

“The
Noble
would be quite a feather in a treasure hunter’s cap,” he said quietly. “Not only because it’s a new find but because there might be something valuable on board.” And Sam was more convinced than ever that whoever wanted to find the
Noble
wasn’t going to bother obeying the salvage laws.

“I know Patrick and Jacob didn’t say a word to anyone about the treasure. And according to Jacob, he and Bruce Mullins were like brothers when they served together in the Marines. You know your father doesn’t confide in people easily—he wouldn’t be meeting with Bruce about the ship if he wasn’t sure he could trust him.”

Evie returned and Sophie accepted the glass of water she gently pressed into her hand. “Do you think that man, Seth Lansky, did this?”

Before Sam had a chance to comment, a strangled sound came from the doorway.

“Mom?” Tyson hurried into the room, fear etched in his face as he dropped to his knees in front of his mother and took her hands. “Are you all right?”

“I’ve had better mornings, honey,” Sophie said, a faint glimmer of humor returning to her eyes.

“What happened?” Tyson’s gaze swept the den and his lips went slack as he saw the extent of the damage.

Sam speared Tyson with a look. Sophie might want to downplay the seriousness of the situation for her son but that didn’t mean Sam had to make it all touchy-feely for him. “How long were you gone?”

He hadn’t meant for it to sound like an accusation, but Tyson scowled, immediately on the defensive.

“Not more than half an hour. I went into Cooper’s Landing to get a newspaper to check the classifieds for jobs.”

Which meant someone had been hanging around, watching and waiting for an opportunity to get inside the house. Sam’s fists clenched at his sides. Lansky must have decided breaking and entering was a quicker way to get what he wanted than lying his way in, like he’d tried to do with Evie.

“Tyson, after I call the police, why don’t we check out the upstairs to make sure nothing else is missing,” Sam suggested. “Your mom will need a list when she makes a claim to the insurance company.”

Resentment simmered in Tyson’s eyes but he pushed to his feet. “What did they take, Mom? The computer? The DVD player?”

Yeah, because life just wouldn’t be the same without that stuff, Sam thought in disgust. The molecule of respect that had formed when he’d witnessed Tyson’s initial concern for his mother evaporated like a drop of water on a hot skillet.

“I’m not sure yet,” Sophie said vaguely. “But Sam’s right. You go with him and see if anything is missing upstairs.”

Tyson’s gaze lingered on the demolished rolltop desk. “Did you have anything valuable in there?”

Sophie smiled sadly. “Valuable, no. Irreplaceable, yes.”

Sam saw the confusion that skimmed across Tyson’s face. Apparently the guy didn’t realize there was a difference.

By the time the deputies from the sheriff’s department left, Evie felt as if she’d been put through the spin cycle of a washing machine. One deputy snapped photographs of the den while another took statements from her and Sophie.

Sophie listed the missing items but didn’t offer any reason as to why she thought they’d been taken. Some old coins locked in the desk were stolen, too, and Sophie didn’t correct the deputy’s assumption they must have been what the perpetrator had wanted.

Something about Sophie’s reticence caused Evie to resist the temptation to tell the deputy about Seth Lansky. When it came right down to it, what did she know about him? He hadn’t broken in and stolen her dad’s computer. He hadn’t even threatened her that day in the woods or on the message he’d left on the answering machine. Suspicions were the only evidence they had.

Sam and Tyson escorted the deputies to the squad car, and Evie shooed Faith and the puppies outside so she could tackle the mess in the den. She found a broom and began to sweep up shattered glass while Sophie collected the pieces of desk that littered the floor.

They worked in silence until Evie happened to glance at Sophie and saw tears tracking her cheeks.