He’d found my design and built it. The one I did after I lost my heart for the other gazebo and just forced the finish, instead of doing it right.
Hopping off the railing, he dipped down, picked something up, and tossed it over the side, into my arms.
I caught the coffee can, recognizing the mustard yellow container.
“We found it when we were digging the new foundation,” he told me.
I opened it up, finding what I knew I’d find. A plastic bag with the necktie, the Ride All Night bracelet, and the empty box of Milk Duds from Will’s and my first date.
My throat swelled with a lump. “Thanks.”
He descended the stairs and walked up next to me, both of us looking up at the beautiful work he’d done.
“Thank you for this. It’s better than I imagined it.”
“Well, let’s face it,” he replied. “That other gazebo was a freshman effort.”
I chuckled. Yeah, thanks.
A smile played on his lips as he studied his work. “This is the one you had your heart in. I liked the idea for the chandeliers.”
I wanted to ask him why he did it. Why he put in the time and effort, but I knew he’d only respond with a flippant remark. Maybe he felt he owed me something after I helped him that night in the cemetery, or maybe he felt guilty about the fire.
“I tried to stop him,” he told me, looking down at me. “Kind of, anyway. Sorry.”
Honestly, it was the least of the pain Will and I had caused each other. I loved the new gazebo.
I recapped the container, too afraid to raise my eyes as I said, “You gave me the key to The Carfax Room, didn’t you?”
The BMW we left the cemetery in was the same one outside my house that night I received the key. That was where I left the blueprints for the new gazebo. He’d found them there.
Finally, he nodded. “As someone gave it to me once.”
“How did you know I’d figure it out?”
He could’ve left a note directing me to the cathedral.
But he just shrugged. “I was in the church every Wednesday. I saw you hang out sometimes.” He looked over at me. “After I saw the bruises in the shower, I figured fate was trying to tell me something.”
So he passed it on when he no longer needed it. As I should’ve done. Nine years later, and I still had the key in my possession.
Being privy to that one mystery in Thunder Bay kept me a part of this town long after I’d left. I couldn’t give it up.
Maybe now I could.
“It helped those last couple of years at home,” I murmured. “Thank you.”
I might not have survived if I didn’t have that one place where I knew I’d be safe. Even if I rarely used it.
He started to walk away, but I stopped him. “I have to tell Will about that night,” I said. “I just wanted to warn you.”
His back went rigid, and he didn’t turn to look at me, but he knew what I was talking about. I couldn’t keep the fact that I’d helped conceal a body from Will.
Damon sighed. “I appreciate the heads-up. I’ll be waiting for the beating.”
I laughed. “Just keep Winter close. He won’t hit you with a pregnant woman nearby.”
He shook his head and kept walking. “He’ll just get her to hit me for him,” he grumbled.