Evelyn’s eyes flew open seeing the pile. “My God, I forgot all about these,” she said as she hurried over to the boxes. Without thinking, she opened the one on top and immediately regretted her decision when a plume of dust rose in the air. Coughing as she waved her hands to disperse the cloud, she said, “Remind me not to do that again.”

“I will,” Joanna said, waiting until the dust had settled before joining Evelyn near the cartons. “So, what’s in the boxes?”

“Things belonging to Xavier.”

“Who’s Xavier?”

“He was Oliver’s father. Addison’s grandfather.”

“Oh,” Joanna said, looking at the cartons again. “So why are his things stored in here?”

“I hid them,” Evelyn said, her memories once again rushing back as she turned to Joanna. “There was no love lost between Oliver and his father, so when Xavier died, Oliver sold everything the man owned. His house, his car, his clothes…it all went in a matter of weeks, but one afternoon a few of Xavier’s most-trusted staff brought these over. I didn’t think twice about telling Oliver, assuming he would want them, but instead he ordered me to throw it all out, but I just couldn’t do it. So, knowing that this room had all but been forgotten by everyone except for me, and Addison was no longer using it as a playroom, I had them put in here.”

“So...” Joanna said, eyeing the cartons again. “Don’t keep me in suspense. What’s in them?”

“Family documents,” Evelyn said. “Bibles, ledgers, and histories in one form or another. Basically everything there is to know about the lineage of the Kanes over the past few centuries.”

Joanna’s mouth went slack. “And he wanted to throw it all out?”

“Oh, the depth of that man’s hatred was only equaled by his stupidity,” Evelyn said as she reached into the box. Carefully pulling out a Bible bound in red goatskin, she ran her fingers over the “Kane” name impressed into the surface in gold. “Thank God, I didn’t listen to him.”

Joanna eyed the volume in Evelyn’s hands. Excessive handling had worn the binding at the edges and rounded the corners disproportionately, but the detail of the embossing was still clear and rich. “That looks very old.”

Evelyn nodded as she carefully opened the Bible to the ribbon in the middle. “Yes…1814, by the date.”

“Date?”

Evelyn turned the Bible around and showed Joanna the page marked by the ribbon. Inscribed on the parchment in quill pen was Cedric and Lavinia Kane 1814.

“Wow!”

“Yes, it’s marvelous, isn’t it?” Evelyn said. “And that bastard wanted to toss it out.”

“I’m glad you didn’t listen to him,” Joanna said as she stood on tip-toes to peer into the box. “Does Addison know about these?”