Seaside Heartbeats: A Sweet Romance (The Seaside Hunters Book 2) (8 page)

"Our town was discovered by entrepreneurial pioneers."

Lana raised an eyebrow.

Brayden laughed. "Gold hunters."

"Ah." She gave a knowing nod. "Did they find any?"

"Billy Kittle had grown rich from the gold he found in the mountains, but soon word spread about how plentiful the hills were and people crowded him out. With his family's wagons loaded down with gold, he moved on, stopping here in hopes of finding more. He only found flecks in the ocean, but rumor has it he found the mother lode in nearby caves. But it's all speculation. No one has ever found the caves, or Billy Kittle."

Lana's eyes widened. "Are you pulling my leg?"

"Not at all. It's all true, at least according to legend. He and his family settled here. They built the town from nothing, but despite how well it thrived, and how much money it brought in, Billy never lost his itch to search for gold. One day, he just disappeared."

"I wonder what happened," Lana said, looking lost in thought. "Did someone kill him for his gold?"

"Or did he find more than anyone has ever seen, and take off somewhere else, changing his identity?"

"Maybe he was injured in a cave trying to get gold."

"No one will ever know," Brayden said, "but it's fun to speculate."

Lana looked around, appearing to take everything in with new eyes. "Now I want to know what happened."

"Don't we all?" Brayden asked. "When I was a kid, I took two of my brothers out into the woods, hoping to find answers." He chuckled. "If grown men over the years haven't been able to find anything, I don't know why I thought we could."

She looked at him, raising an eyebrow. "Why not? Fresh eyes can find things others missed."

"I suppose, but we were just kids."

"Do you still have a sense of adventure?" she asked, looking like she had something in mind.

"Yeah, though it's buried a bit underneath all my medical knowledge at this point."

Her lips curved. "Yeah, I can relate to that. Do you want to go out sometime and search the woods? I'd love to see what we could find."

"You want to try and find old man Kittle's caves? The ones that probably killed him?"

"I think someone killed him and hid the body because he wouldn't talk."

"Really? You haven't even heard any of the stories. Just the brief overview I gave you."

"We don't have to go crazy. Just explore through the woods a little and then have a picnic lunch. It'll be a story to tell our families."

Brayden tightened his grip around her hand. "Are you asking me on a date?"

"Maybe I am."

"That sounds good to me. I'll need to reassign you to a different doctor, though. It's one of those ethical lines I don't want to cross."

Lana looked at his hand wrapped around hers. "Really? You could have fooled me."

The corners of his lips twitched. "I might have already planned on switching you over."

"I can live with that. So, when are we going exploring?"

"It sounds like an all-day adventure, so I'll need to have the day off, including not being on call." He checked his schedule on the phone. "Monday looks good."

"It's a date."

They both smiled. He looked over at her, again overcome by her beauty. More than anything, he wanted to run his hands through her long, blonde hair. It looked so soft, and he loved the way it swayed with the light breeze.

He took a deep breath, restraining himself. "You know, I'm sorry for your SVT, but I'm really glad you came into my office."

She ran her thumb over his palm, the trail of her touch tickling slightly. "Me, too. It was definitely worth it."

They walked in a comfortable silence before she asked where they were headed.

"If you want, we could go to the Kittle house. It's a museum now."

"Oh, that sounds really interesting. Maybe we can find a clue." Her eyes lit up.

Brayden loved her sense of adventure, but he didn't want her to be disappointed. "If no one else has found any there, we probably won't. That's the first place anyone would look for clues to what happened to him."

"Maybe they missed something. Nobody's perfect, and we have fresh eyes. I'm just a visitor, and you've been away for a while from the sounds of it."

"I've been in Dallas for a few years."

"See? Fresh eyes, and besides, I bet you weren't looking for clues to Kittle's disappearance the last time you lived here. Am I right?"

"You've got me. I haven't even thought about any of this in years."

"Then we're just the ones to solve the mystery. We're both smart, well-educated people. If we put our heads together, we can do this."

"Or at least have fun trying."

Lana squeezed his hand. They discussed every conspiracy theory Brayden could recall ever hearing, no matter how wild or crazy. Then Lana thought up a few of her own, convinced he'd been killed.

"You definitely have an understanding of gold fever," Brayden said. "The hills are said to have made many a man lose his mind over the gold."

"Let's hope we don't." She winked. "So, how much farther until the museum?"

"Not too much longer. We're nearly there." He looked down the road, hoping he remembered correctly. It should only be a few blocks away, and then up the hill. If it hadn't changed as much as the touristy part of town, then the walk up the hill would be nice and shaded. "You're not too tired, are you? Maybe we shouldn't have walked." He, of all people, knew about her recent SVT episode. It had been stupid to expect her to walk all the way. He'd only been thinking about how nice a walk through town would be.

"Honestly, I'm fine. The doctor I saw gave me some great advice, and I feel as good as new now."

"That's good to hear, but don't be afraid to say if—"

"Nope." She let go of his hand and ran on ahead.

"Hey! You don't even know where we're going."

Lana stopped, and Brayden nearly crashed into her. "Good point. Lead the way."

"I see where Nolan and Ryder get their energy."

"Right. Those two are crazy. I love them, but it's true."

"They're just boys." He took her hand again. "We take a left the next block up."

"I can't wait to see the house that started the whole town. The answer to the mystery has to be there, don't you think?"

"If the answer isn't long gone. Maybe some things are better left unknown."

"Nonsense. I've heard of centuries-old mysteries being solved. Archaeologists recently discovered how one of the pharaohs was killed. Some random artifact led them to another, and then another, until they had their answer. If the mighty Egyptians can't hide their secrets, then neither can some greedy pioneer."

Brayden couldn't deny that she had a point. He loved her optimism and determination—he needed more of that in his life.

He had a feeling she was going to lead him into trouble, but he didn't care.

Ten

Lana pulled Brayden into another room of the museum. "Come on. I bet this will be the one. We're going to find the clue we need." She looked around the dining room, filled with articles from a time long gone. "Where do you think it is?"

"Let's look around. Want to make it interesting?"

She stopped. "How?"

"Whoever doesn't find it has to pack lunch when we go on our expedition."

"Aren't you competitive? That's good, because so am I. You're on." Lana darted to a different part of the room, paying close attention to anything that could possibly hold a clue. She didn't know what, but with any luck, she'd know when she saw it. So far, they had only seen interesting artifacts from a rich family of another era.

Many things had piqued her interest. She had always had a love and curiosity for history, but it was something she hadn't thought about in ages. In fact, Lana couldn't even remember the last time she went to a museum—at least not for enjoyment. They had gone to several to look at the building structure for school, but there had been no time to stop and ponder the history held within the walls.

Lana crept along, getting lost in the silverware behind glass when she bumped into someone. "I'm so sorry." She stepped back to see a wax figure of a servant. She looked around, hoping no one had seen her, but Brayden stared at her, obviously trying to hold in a laugh.

"Are you amused?" Lana asked, pretending not to be embarrassed. She wanted to crawl under the table and stay there forever. Instead, she said, "You know what? Politeness is a lost art, and besides, I'm sure this nice lady hasn't had someone to talk to in years. I did a good deed."

He laughed and Lana's face burned. "You should be grateful you're so lucky to be on a date with someone with such good manners." Ugh. That was the most awkward sentence ever. She was not helping anything. "You keep laughing. I'm going to look for my clue. Maybe the servant will even help me."

Brayden looked up, rubbing tears from his eyes. "I'm sorry. I don't want to laugh at you, but you're hilarious. I don't think any less of you—you're adorable."

Adorable? She liked the sounds of that. "Thanks, but I'm not going to let you win."

He shook his head. "I wouldn't expect that." Brayden turned around, but Lana could still hear him trying to catch his breath.

She continued looking at the artifacts, careful to avoid people—real and fake—but she wished she knew what exactly she was looking for. People had probably already scoured the house-turned-museum for clues if the history was as interesting as Brayden made it sound.

"Find anything?" she asked, standing next to him.

He jumped, and then looked at her. "I didn't even hear you sneak up on me."

"I'm naturally a very quiet—I mean stealthy—person. I don't even have to try."

"That's probably why the wax figure didn't have time to move out of your way." His lips curled, and then twitched. Finally, he broke out into laughter again. "I'm sorry. I can't help myself."

"Clearly." Lana nearly started laughing herself, but faked a scowl instead.

Brayden shook his head again. "Faker. You want to laugh."

She shoved him playfully. "Can't get anything by you, can I?"

"Nope. I'm trained to pay attention to details. But growing up with a lot of younger siblings helped me to naturally read people."

"I'm sure it did. Onto the next room?" And topic.

He nodded, took her hand, and led her toward the door. "Have a nice day," he said, looking at someone.

Lana looked over to see who he was talking to. It was the wax figure. "Someone has a sense of humor."

"She sure does. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been happy about you bumping into her."

"Making fun of me isn't going to help you discover any clues."

"You're right, but it's fun. Has anyone ever told you that you're fun to tease?"

"Just wait. I'll get you back."

Brayden looked at her with a straight face. "But I don't make mistakes."

"Oh, of course not."

They entered a living room.

"How many living rooms can one house have?" Lana asked.

"Asks the architect."

"For your information, today's mansions have Wii or Xbox rooms and home theaters. There isn't room for more than a typical living room and family room most of the time. And by the way, I can definitely tell you're an oldest."

"Hey. What's that supposed to mean?"

"You don't miss a beat to tease." She faked a hurt expression.

He looked worried. "Did I go too far?"

"As if. Did you already forget I have an older sister? I can take anything you dish out."

"Oh? Is that a challenge?"

Lana laughed. "Maybe. But first, we need to find a clue that everyone else missed."

"Don't you think it would be in one of the bedrooms, or maybe his study?"

"That's where everyone would look. We're looking for something hidden in plain sight."

"If you say so."

She let go of his hand and wandered to the other side of the room, eager to find something before him. If anything, she had the advantage of fresh eyes. He had probably been there countless times over the course of his life. Although, it would've helped if she'd had any idea what exactly she was looking for.

"Find anything?" Brayden asked from across the room.

"Not yet." She walked along the perimeter until she came to Brayden. They continued to look through the room, but nothing stuck out as unusual or interesting.

The next room was a study or a home library. Shelves full of old books lined the walls.

"Are people allowed to hold the books?" Lana asked.

"They've never stopped anyone when I've been here. I don't think there's anything special about any of them, except for how old they are."

Lana played with a strand of hair, looking over the shelves. There had to be over a hundred books just on the shelf in front of her. Was it possible people had gone through each one? One stray paper stashed inside the middle of one could hold the clue to an ancient murder mystery. "Do people usually look through these books?"