“Oh, my God…” Lainie breathed as she opened the lid of the chest.
Lainie’s mouth hung open. The old wooden chest had hidden treasure. Not just any treasure: the legendary Eaves jewels.
Lainie sifted through rotten velvet bags and cases, pulling out glittering handfuls of gemstones. Some were set into necklaces, and earrings, and even a tiara, but many were just loose stones: clear diamonds, sapphires, emeralds, and rubies.
Harrison’s arm tightened around her. She looked up at him, speechless.
“This is incredible,” she breathed at last.
“It’s yours.”
“It—but…” Lainie shook her head. “Grandmother’s will mentioned jewels, but I never thought… this is way more than in any of the records the lawyers found. Some of these I recognize from the portrait, but most of them…”
Harrison chuckled. “Magpies.”
“What?”
He laughed and kissed her. “Magpies,” he said again. “I never met your grandparents, but Tessa said they were magpies. Collectors of shiny baubles.”
Lainie stared at him. “Really? I had no idea…” She ran her hands through the sparkling jewels again. “Someone from the town emptied my grandparents’ house after my Gran went into care, and put everything in storage. The jewels were never found. And that cupboard was in front of the passage down to the beach, but I don’t remember it being there when I was a kid.” She frowned. “I wonder…”
“What is going on here?”
Lainie felt Harrison’s arms tighten protectively around her as Mrs. Sweets’ voice cut through the air. Lainie frowned.
I wonder if my grandmother wanted to keep the jewels safe from someone in particular.
The old woman was stalking along the cliff path, looking completely out of place in her twinset and pearls. Her husband was following her, and behind him were a few other faces Lainie recognized from the surprise meeting.
“Do they always walk in a crocodile behind her?” Lainie muttered to Harrison. He laughed, but didn’t move from where he was kneeling protectively beside her.
Lainie was glad. She was angry at Mrs. Sweets for the way she’d treated her, but anger alone wouldn’t get her through this. She needed support, as well. The knowledge that someone was on her side.
She grabbed Harrison’s hand and squeezed it as Mrs. Sweets walked up to them. She had to clench her other hand in her lap to stop herself from sweeping up the jewels to keep them out of the old woman’s sight. They’re yours, she reminded herself. There’s nothing she can do to take them away from you. Even if she’s already taken so much.
And who are her cronies, anyway? Lainie looked behind Mrs. Sweets, for the first time getting a really good look at the men and women who tagged along behind her like ducklings.
There was Mr. Sweets, of course, somehow looking like he was asleep even when he was standing up. Two older women, one thin and one chubby, with matching lavender rinses, peered down at Lainie and Harrison through matching spectacles.
And behind them, to Lainie’s surprise, was another woman, who must have been at least fifty years younger than anyone else in the group. Unlike the others, whose faces all held expressions of mingled glee and curiosity, she looked miserable.
“Did you not hear me, Ms. Eaves? I asked what you were doing.” Mrs. Sweets’ smile had too many teeth in it for Lainie’s liking.
“I heard you,” Lainie replied, her voice cool. She swept her hair back off her face as she looked up at the old woman. “I was just too busy wondering what you were doing on my land to answer straight away.”
Two red spots appeared on Mrs. Sweet
s’ cheeks. “Young lady—” she began, and then stopped. Her eyes narrowed, and she let her breath out slowly through her nose. By the time she opened her mouth again, there was no trace of rage on her face. “I came to offer my condolences about your family home. How terrible, for you to see it destroyed only one day into your visit.”
Lainie’s confidence wavered. Something about Mrs. Sweets’ swift mood change unnerved her. “That place hasn’t been my family home in a long time,” she said quietly.
“But you know all about that, don’t you?” Harrison curled his hand protectively over Lainie’s shoulder, his gentle touch in stark contrast to the growl in his voice.
Mrs. Sweets’ lips narrowed. “I’m sure I don’t know what you mean,” she sniffed.
“You destroyed my family!” Lainie cried out. Murmurs broke out around her, and her breath caught in her throat. Don’t listen to them. Don’t pay any attention to what they’re saying. “You forced my grandparents to send my mother and me away from Hideaway, because I didn’t turn out to be a shifter. I’m surprised you didn’t come down on my father when he married Mom in the first place!”
Mrs. Sweets looked down her nose at Lainie. “You really don’t know much of your family history, do you? Your father was always flighty. He met your mother while he was travelling. By the time he introduced her to his parents, it was too late. If it had happened here, the town would have had something to say about it, believe me.”