Why did he find neutrality so hard to come by with Finley? She had a way of ripping that source of security from him and leaving him vulnerable.

She released a soft gasp. “Will you look at this,” she breathed. Straightening, she showed him the item she held between her thumb and forefinger. The exterior of the vial was identical to those they’d seen earlier at the gift shop. The inside was different, though. At the shop, he’d been able to see straight through to the nuggets inside. This time, all he could see on the other side of the glass was white paper with black markings.

She unscrewed the cap and tipped nuggets onto the table. Once she’d slid the rolled-up paper free, she smoothed it flat.

Luke stepped closer, eyes narrowing.

“It’s a page from a calendar,” she said.

It looked as though it had been ripped out of a desk calendar. The rectangles for all seven days of the week were empty. How could they know if this had been placed here by Ed? Wasn’t it just as likely that Finley had stuck the page inside the vial when she was younger?

Finley turned the paper over. Words filled the space for Saturday, April 20.

Finley,

Ask Robbie about this day. After you talk to him, take June aside privately and tell her you’d like to see my poem. Don’t mention to either of them that your questions are motivated by your birthday treasure hunt.

I love you, Dad

Finley blinked at him. “This is a clue . . . which means that, by the skin of my teeth, I was right when I speculated that the mine in the Brothers book was of importance. Which totally amazes me, to be frank. In the original book, I’m guessing that Dad had tabbed down a page or underlined something. He might have even left a note for me that would have led me directly to this vial in my keepsake box.”

“Probably. Without access to the original book, we were at a disadvantage.”

“Yet we emerged victorious.”

She’d voiced her doubts about her theories regarding her dad’s clues. But she was smart. Her instincts were often right. “If your dad could see you now, he’d be proud.”

She stared at him, eyes soft. “That’s a very nice thing to say.”

“If I was nice, it was unintentional.”

She made a sound of amusement but didn’t look away. Intensity leapt to life between them.

“In the past,” she’d said to him the day after their last kiss, “you tried to explain why it wouldn’t be wise for us to follow through on physical attraction. At this point, I see the wisdom of that, too.”

Wouldn’t be wise was an understatement. His hunger ran so close to the surface that if he reached for her now, he wouldn’t let go until this whole house turned to ash.