Read Online Treasure Me by Christine Nolfi - Free Book Online Page A

eyes.
    Taking care not to startle him, she stroked his arm. “Why are you upset?”
    He looked out at the lake. “I’m trying to decide.”
    “Tell me what’s going on. You’re scaring me.”
    He sighed and the long, drawn-out sound tightened her resolve. He didn’t like confrontations and his temper rose from within his agonized silences with stunning unpredictability. There wasn’t a road map for depression, no sign-posts to aid with navigation. He’d be withdrawn for months before something set him off, the least little thing.
    He surprised her when he checked his temper behind a thinly veiled defiance. “I saw her today,” he said. When she merely stared at him, he added, “Don’t try to talk me out of it. When I was in Liberty, I saw her.”
    “Dad—”
    “No. She was there.”
    Did he actually think he’d seen Cat in town? The sorrow nearly swamped her. She’d lost her mother in a mishap on Lake Erie that had been relentlessly televised throughout Ohio. She’d lost her father soon after. The maelstrom of bad publicity had destroyed his career, then hurtled him into despair.
    She let the heartache roll through her, allowed it overtake her for one excruciating moment. Then she tamped it down and clasped his shoulders. “Stop it. She’s been gone for a long time now.” She gave him a shake to impart some of her pain, to make him share the weight of an unnecessary burden. “Your mind is playing games with you.”
    The words fell like thunder. Her father was deaf to them. “You don’t understand.” He pulled away and stumbled to his feet. “I saw her in Liberty. I wasn’t imagining things.” His voice broke. Then he drew himself straight. “She’s come back to me.”
    * * *
    The slip of yellowed parchment—a clue to the location of the hidden treasure—was safely tucked inside Birdie’s bra. Containing her excitement was a struggle. She’d have to wait to read the message until after finishing the late night supper with Hugh.
    Entering the apartment with her plate balanced on one hand, she fought for patience. How easy it would be to hurry off to the bathroom, lock the door, and read the clue.
    Even as she imagined ditching Hugh her attention strayed to his face. To his eyes, which were red-rimmed and framed with faint shadows. When he’d discovered her in the restaurant he’d mentioned waking from an upsetting dream. Actually it was a nightmare, something about a play by play, as if, while he slept, he’d relived some distressing event in his life. Not that it was any of her business.
    If she started asking questions, she’d ramp up the intimacy between them. They were already sharing close quarters. They could bicker all they liked but the sexual attraction between them was nearly thick enough to see. The last thing she needed was a short-lived romance mucking up the works. She’d found a clue in the portrait, hadn’t she?
    She’d wondered her entire life if Lucas Postell had sent untold riches north with his beloved. The clue hidden in the portrait gave the story weight: At the dawn of The Civil War, something of great value was spirited out of the Deep South by the freed woman slave, Justice, who was probably his lover. She kept the treasure for safekeeping in a northern state—Ohio. The slip of parchment found inside the portrait might lead to a bag of Civil War gold bullion hidden somewhere in the restaurant. Or a cache of jewelry waited to be unearthed by a determined thief with a reporter on her tail and a plate of eggs in her hand.
    Skirting around her, Hugh asked, “Where are we dining?”
    “I’d rather eat alone. No offense.”
    “None taken. But I’m joining you.”
    “If there’s no other choice.” Birdie came to an abrupt standstill in the kitchen. “Hold the phone, Parsnip. What happened in here?”
    The kitchen was immaculate. A lemony scent wafted from the linoleum floor. The countertops gleamed. Even the window above the sink looked sparkly and new. Did