She spun on her heel and strode past them, tears burning the backs of her eyes.
Her mother’s voice drew her back and stopped her in her tracks.
“They found a tumor in my breast,” Marie said to her retreating back. “That’s what the health scare was. They were able to get all of it out during surgery, but I had to do a few rounds of chemo after, and there was talk of a mastectomy…”
Emma made herself turn around, even as her heart thumped painfully inside of her chest. “What?”
“I’m fine now,” Marie added before stepping out from behind Henry’s wheelchair. “But I was terrified. When they ran the labs and did the PET scans, I kept thinking to myself that I didn’t want to die and leave things as they were between us.”
Emma’s eyes welled with tears, and her stomach dipped. “Is that why Dad took care of you?”
“The studio wasn’t happy with how many days I was missing, and there was talk of me being fired. My agent had to step in and tell them the truth, against my wishes. I didn’t want anyone to know. I couldn’t bear the thought of anyone seeing me that way. I was so weak and frail…”
Emma bridged the distance between them and took her mother’s hands in hers. “You are not weak. You have never been weak.”
And knowing the truth only made Emma appreciate her mom all the more.
She couldn’t imagine what it must’ve been like to keep all of it to herself—to hide away from the world for fear of rejection—especially when the world had gotten used to seeing her as a glamorous and elegant star.
“If it weren’t for your father, I don’t know what I would’ve done.” Marie withdrew one hand and placed it on his shoulder. “We want things to be better between us, Emma. Maybe we didn’t go about it the right way, but our hearts have always been in the right place.”
“I’m sorry about how I got you here,” Henry added in a whisper-soft voice. “I hope you can forgive us.”
Emma glanced between the two of them.
Then, she threw one arm around her father and the other around her mother, drawing them in for a hug. The three of them cried in silence for all the wasted time they had lost. A part of Emma was still furious over how they’d led her here, but for the first time in weeks, she understood her parents better now.
Thinking that they were out of time had made them desperate and reckless.
She couldn’t fault them for resorting to extreme measures.
And it had gotten her back to Rockport, after all.
Everything else, she could get over.
Chapter Nineteen
“Be careful how you dig,” Henry instructed. “We don’t know how deep or shallow the hole is.”
Jack and Kyle exchanged a quick look and leaned against their shovels. A heartbeat later, darkness settled around the world as the eclipse blocked out the sun entirely, and the path beneath their feet emerged, catching a few particles of light from above. Emma lowered herself onto her knees, even as the cold rose to greet her, and used her phone to illuminate the rest of the path.
“It’s under the tombstone,” she whispered, pointing a finger directly ahead. “Just like we suspected.”
Wordlessly, Jack rolled up his sleeves and got to work. Opposite him, Kyle did the same, the two of them throwing dirt over their shoulders. A short while later, there was abang, and they both stopped. Marley and Jules lurched forward and peered into the hole in the ground, their eyes wide with wonder and disbelief.
Emma forced herself to her feet and stood next to them.
The hole was only a few inches deep and had a couple of items with strange markings around them. When she peered closer, she made out a small wooden box with intricate carvingsalong the side. Slowly, she leaned forward and plucked the box out of the ground. Then, she held it up to the light, and several pairs of eyes turned to her, expectant and waiting.
It looked similar to her grandfather’s chest, but it was smaller than anticipated.
Emma ran her fingers along the smooth edges, and when it made a small clicking sound, she let out a startled gasp. She held the box away from her as it shuddered for a few seconds. As soon as it stopped, she crossed over to where her father sat and laid it on his lap. Henry released a shaky breath, took Emma’s hand, and squeezed. Marie reached for his other hand, and Emma could’ve sworn she saw a slight tremor pass through her.
After all that research and digging, it felt surreal to have gotten to that point, to realize her father was right.
It wasn’t the treasure she was expecting, but a part of Emma wondered if it was what they needed, nonetheless.
“It’s really small,” Marley commented. “I hope you find what you’re looking for in there.”
