Grace looked skeptical, but Gavin’s eyes lit up.

“Why do you think it’s real?” I asked.

“I’ll admit, I don’t have a lot of hard evidence. It doesn’t help that I can’t find a copy of Ernest Montgomery’s will. It should be public record, but it might have been destroyed in the big Tilikum fire. But I did find a document that suggests he amended his will years after that engagement notice was in the paper. And based on the records that do still exist, there was a part of his fortune the Montgomery family didn’t inherit after he and Sarah both died.”

My mind spun with the details, creating a story. This wasn’t the type of thing I wrote, but I couldn’t help it. It was how my mind worked.

“Maybe John Haven didn’t want to marry Sarah Montgomery, he wanted to marry Eliza Bailey,” I said. “But their families insisted, so John and Eliza made a plan to run away together. Eliza left first, and John stayed behind to compete in the race, hoping to use the prize money to fund their escape. Only when John went looking for Eliza afterward, she wasn’t in their prearranged meeting place. And then John was robbed and murdered.”

Everyone stared at me.

“That’s good,” Gavin said, his tone enthusiastic. “Then maybe Ernest did hide a treasure, only the real treasure wasn’t gold, it was his granddaughter’s hand in marriage. But no one ever found it.”

“Yes,” I said, grabbing Gavin’s arm in excitement. “And it included a piece of his estate as a dowry for Sarah. But the tragedy is, Ernest died before anyone found it, and Sarah spent the rest of her life alone.”

“Wait,” Grace said. “The original owners of my house were Montgomerys. I looked up the real estate records to see if I could figure out who might have hidden Eliza’s mirror and the love notes, but it didn’t occur to me that the Montgomerys would have had anything to do with it. But if there’s a connection between John and Eliza, and Sarah Montgomery…”

“Oh my god, this keeps getting better,” Ginny said, furiously typing notes in her phone. “There’s definitely something going on here.”

“Have you been to the Haven House?” Grace asked.

Ginny’s eyebrows drew together. “I took the tour, but why?”

“What’s the Haven House?” I asked.

“It’s like a little museum,” Grace said. “They claim it’s the oldest surviving house in town, and it’s set up with the original furnishings from the early 1900s.”

Gavin rolled his eyes. “It’s the stupidest thing in Tilikum. They made us take field trips there when we were in elementary school.”

“Why is it stupid?” I asked with a laugh.

“Because everyone knows the Havens didn’t live there, but for some dumbass reason, they named it the Haven House.”

“I was wondering because some people say Ernest Montgomery built that house,” Grace said.

“I looked around, but I didn’t notice anything unusual,” Ginny said. “But if Ernest built it, that is interesting. Although if there’s any truth to local lore, he built half the town.”

“True,” Grace said. “And I’m pretty sure the house he lived in burned down.”

“I bet Harvey will find the treasure,” Gavin said. “And then the joke will be on everyone in town who called him crazy.”

“I wish I could stay here indefinitely until I figure this out,” Ginny said. “It’s so fascinating. But I don’t think my boss is going to share my enthusiasm for a century-old mystery.”

Grace glanced back at the counter. “I should probably go help the girls. Thanks for sharing your findings.”

“You bet,” Ginny said with a smile.

Grace got up and Logan peeled off from where he’d been standing with Asher. He sauntered to our table and flashed a smile at Ginny.

“Hey. I was thinking about grabbing some breakfast over at Bigfoot. Want to join me?”

“You know what, I’d like that.” Ginny turned to me. “Do you mind?”

“Not at all. Go ahead.”

“I’ve got her,” Gavin said.

“Thanks.” Ginny smiled, then stood and gathered her things.

Logan put a hand on the small of her back and led her outside.

Gavin glanced at me and raised his eyebrows. “Have they been hanging out?”

“A little, I think.”

“Huh.”

“I don’t know how much longer she’ll be in town, but I guess we’ll see what happens.”

The cafe door opened again and my mom walked in, followed by my dad. Mom gave me a little wave and they both headed for our table.

I waved back and Gavin turned to look. He seemed to startle, jumping a little and then straightening his back.

“Hey, Chief,” he said quickly.

“Hi, you two,” Mom said, her lips curling in a knowing smile.

I tensed, waiting for her to say something awkward. I hadn’t admitted to her that I’d been sleeping with Gavin, but I had a feeling she knew. She always seemed to know those kinds of things.

Fortunately for me, she didn’t say anything else. Just smiled and glanced over at my dad.

“Congratulations,” Dad said with a nod.

Gavin’s gaze swung to me, his eyes wide with alarm, then back to Dad. “What?”

Dad gestured to the pumpkin crown. “The Pumpkin Plunge.”

He took the crown off and looked at it, like he’d forgotten it was on his head. “Oh, right. Thanks.”

“I remember the year your dad won,” Dad said. “Although I think Gerald made you hold out longer than anything Charlie had to contend with.”

“That’s right, I remember that,” Mom said, putting her hand on Dad’s arm. “He looks so much like Charlie, don’t you think?”

Dad looked at Gavin. “You really do. Spitting image of your father.”

The levity in Gavin’s expression melted away and he glanced down at the table. “Yeah, that’s what Gram says.”

“We should get in line to order,” Mom said, tugging on Dad’s arm.

“Bye Mom… and Dad,” I said, stumbling over the phrase. Saying it that way felt so odd, like they were actually a couple.

Gavin kept his eyes on the table as my parents walked away.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

He cleared his throat. “Yeah. I’ll be fine. Wanna get out of here?”

“Sure.”

Gavin said things like I’ll be fine, or it’ll be fine all the time, and usually he meant it. But this time, I could tell he didn’t.

I followed him out and we got in his truck. He turned on the engine, but didn’t drive away.

“I don’t remember them,” he said finally, his voice unusually quiet.

“Your parents?”

He nodded. “My brothers do, but I was only four. It feels like I never even met them.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I was an oops baby anyway. They didn’t mean to have more kids.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. You’d think they’d have figured out how it worked by then, but I guess not.” He cracked a smile. “Asher and Evan are only a year apart, and then they had the twins two years later. The last thing they needed was another kid. But along came Gavin.”