Her Secret Hope by Lorraine Beatty

Author:Lorraine Beatty
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2021-01-12T13:55:52+00:00

Chapter Eight

Melody knew something was different as soon as she pulled up at the cottage, but it took a moment to see the new addition to her porch. A lovely old rocker had been placed there with a small table beside. She touched it, impressed at the smooth wood. She lowered herself into the chair and reveled at how it fit her body perfectly—as if it had been made for her. The rocking motion was smooth and soothing, and she closed her eyes enjoying the movement.

Who had put it here? Dave? Clay? Doubtful. The old Clay would have done something this thoughtful, but the man she’d known here in Blessing probably wouldn’t have done this.

“Hey, Miss Melody.”

She opened her eyes to see Eli racing toward her on his bike.

“Do you like your rocking chair? It was in the shed and me and Dad got it out for you.”

Her heart swelled. Of course. “Oh, Eli. I love it so much. I’ll be out here all the time now. I might not get any work done.” He giggled and hopped off his bike. She stood and went to him, giving him a big hug. “You are such a nice young man. Thank you for thinking about me.”

He blushed and smiled. “You’re welcome.”

Eli’s thoughtfulness buoyed her through the next day and gave her a welcome respite from the tedious research about Sergeant Croft. Clay had called a short while ago and told her he was coming over. Hopefully, he had good news.

Melody answered the door before Clay stopped knocking. “Hi. How did it go today?”

Clay shook his head. “Not much to report. I spoke with Jeffrey. He remembers hearing a story his grandma told about a mysterious article that was supposed to have been printed but never was.”

“About the soldier?”

“He wasn’t sure. He’s going to do some digging and get back to me. How about you?”

“I met with Deborah, but she’d never heard anything about a claim that the soldier wasn’t really a hero. We’ve agreed to keep this to ourselves for now. I need to go through the rest of the items in that box. There might an answer there.”

“I’m free this evening. It’ll go faster with the two of us.”

“Good idea. Oh, and thank you for the rocker. I’ve enjoyed it very much.”

Clay smiled. “I’m glad, but it was all Eli’s idea. I just helped him drag it out of the shed.”

“It’s the most comfortable rocker I’ve ever used.”

“It was made by a local man. Rockers are his specialty. He made one for the governor last year.”

Melody brought one of the boxes from her office and placed it on the coffee table. “Have you eaten? I was going to put a pizza in the oven.”

“Mmm, that sounds good. We can eat and research at the same time.”

She wagged a finger at him. “As long as you don’t get any cheese on the papers.”

The boxes proved to be a treasure trove of information perfect for the book, but nothing turned up to explain the news article.

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