Seaside Secrets (4 page)

“
It's not too heavy,” she said as she tugged at the padlock on the front. “But I don't think we're getting in here too easily.”

“
I think I spotted some bolt cutters in the hall closet,” Mary said and hurried off to get them. When she returned with the bolt cutters Suzie hesitated.

“
Do you think we should open it?” she asked with a frown.

“
All of the contents belongs to you,” Mary reminded her.

“
I know, but it still feels strange,” Suzie admitted. “I guess it wouldn't do any harm to see what's inside.”

It took a few attempts but she managed to cut through the lock. When they opened the safe they found very little inside. There were a few stacks of legal papers as well as a small key.

“What do you think this belongs to?” Suzie asked as she held the key up to the sunlight drifting through the windows.

“
Only key I've seen like that belonged to a safety deposit box I had,” Mary said as she studied the key as well. “It looks like it might have the initials of the bank on it.”

“
Here, look at this,” Suzie said as she pointed to one of the papers in one of the stacks. “It lists the bank and box number.”

“
How interesting. It seems like a lot of effort just to keep a key safe,” Mary said thoughtfully. “I wonder what's inside the safety deposit box.”

“
Well, whatever is inside the safety deposit box would surely belong to Jason, so I guess I should call him and let him know that we found the key,” Suzie suggested with a slight shrug as she fiddled with the business card that Jason had given her.

Despite the fact they were cousins, Suzie felt a little uncomfortable around Jason. If only she could pin down his intentions, and read him as easily as she could other people, she might feel a little more secure.

“You give him a call, and I'll finish rolling up the rest of this carpet,” Mary offered as she brushed some dust off the knees of her jeans.

“
I don't want you doing all the work, Mary,” Suzie warned as she glanced guiltily over at her friend.

“
Suzie, this is the best thing for me,” Mary assured her as she got back down on her knees to roll the carpet. “I've always found focusing on a task to be the best time to sort through things in my mind. It just seems easier to figure things out while my body is busy doing other things.”

“
Just don't overdo it,” Suzie warned her as she pulled out her cell phone.

“
I'm not dead yet,” Mary winked at her. “In fact, for the first time in a very long time, I feel very alive.”

Suzie smiled at that. It reassured her to think that something about all the work they were doing was creat
ing some kind of healing for Mary. As Suzie dialed the number on the business card she stepped outside onto the wraparound porch to make the call. As she walked around behind the large building she found herself awestruck by the deep blue of the water against the pale blue of the sky. It seemed to grab the core of her and give it a sharp shake to see something so beautiful. It wasn't that she hadn't seen beautiful things before, but the combination of the salty air, and distant intangible memories of her youth was a powerful force.

“
Hello?” Jason's voice jarred her from her thoughts. She blinked twice before she even remembered that she had called him.

“
Hi, Jason it's Suzie,” she paused a moment and then added. “Your cousin.”

“
I remember,” Jason chuckled a little into the phone. “What can I help you with?”

Suzie smiled at the question. It was endearing for someone to automatically offer to help.

“Actually, I think I have something that might help you,” Suzie replied as she flipped the business card between her fingers. “Mary and I were pulling up the carpets in the living room and we came across a hidden safe. Did you know about that?”

“
A hidden safe?” Jason repeated hesitantly. “I've never known my father to have a safe.”

“
Well, it was there,” Suzie replied. “Inside were only some documents regarding the property and some old vehicles, but also a key to a safety deposit box.”

“
Oh?” Jason's voice had dropped in tone quite a few octaves.

“
Well, your father left the contents of the house to me, but I'm sure he intended for you to have whatever was in the safe and the deposit box that this key must open,” she explained. “So, would you like to come pick it up?”

“
Uh, at the house?” he asked, his voice still awkward.

“
If you don't mind,” Suzie replied with a touch of confusion. “I'm covered in dust and carpet fibers, so I'm not exactly presentable to the public. If you'd rather I could meet you somewhere later after I've had time to clean myself up.”

“
No,” he paused a long moment and Suzie wondered if the call might have been dropped. Right when she was about to check the connection, he spoke up. “I'll come over,” he replied reluctantly as if it was the worst thing he could imagine. “Just, do me a favor and meet me outside, okay?”

“
Sure, Jason,” she replied with a softer voice. “Just text me when you get here.”

“
I will,” he replied before hanging up.

Suzie stared down at the phone
for a moment. She found it very odd that Jason was so opposed to stepping into the house. She had just been marvelling over the beauty that could be seen from the porch she was standing on, but Jason acted as if he'd rather be anywhere else on earth. She could understand that since his father had recently passed in the home there might be some underlying grief that caused his dislike of the place, but still, something seemed off about it. When she walked back into the living room she found that Mary had already rolled up the remainder of the carpet.

“
Wow!” Suzie exclaimed with a laugh, her blue eyes dancing as they swept over the bare wooden floors. “If I had known you could do all this yourself I would have been sitting on the porch with an iced tea.”

“
Ha, ha,” Mary panted out as she struggled to her feet. “I think I might have overestimated the youth of my back.”

“
Well, then it's to the porch with you, young lady,” Suzie said sternly. “I'll bring you some iced tea. You will not believe the view,” she sighed with pleasure at the recollection of it.

“
Did you talk to Jason?” Mary asked as she dusted off her hands.

“
Yes,” Suzie replied and bit her lip lightly as she wondered if she should share how strange she found her cousin. “He's going to come by to pick up the key,” she finally said. She didn't want to continue to question Jason's behavior. He had just lost his father after all, and had no mother to turn to either. In fact, in Suzie's estimation, she was probably Jason's closest living relative. She didn't want to alienate him just because he wasn't grieving the way she expected him to. “Go on out,” Suzie encouraged Mary. “I'll meet you out there.”

When Suzie stepped out on
to the porch with a glass of tea in each hand, she found Mary gazing with a dreamy smile on her lips at the ocean stretched out before her.

“
How could anyone give this up?” she asked quietly as she accepted the glass of tea from Suzie. “I think I could stare at the ocean forever.”

Suzie rubbed her friend's back lightly and smiled sympathetically at her.
“I know this is still hard for you, Mary,” she said gingerly. “I can't tell you how much I appreciate your help.”

“
I can't tell you how much I appreciate being here,” Mary replied as she took a sip of her tea. “You always seem to know exactly what to do.”

“
Ha,” Suzie rolled her eyes at that and leaned against the railing of the porch, with her back to the ocean. “If only that was the case,” she smiled as nostalgia flooded her. There were a lot of turns in the road of her life that she would have preferred to have led down different paths. But as she glanced over her shoulder at the rolling waves and the slowly setting sun, she was certain that despite the missteps, she had landed exactly where she was meant to.

“
Hello?” Jason's strong voice called from around the corner of the house. Suzie straightened up and set her glass of tea down on the flat surface of the wide railing. She walked towards the sound of Jason's voice.

“
We're back here,” she called out as she walked around the corner of the house to meet him. Jason stood tentatively at the edge of the porch as if he expected the wooden boards to collapse beneath him. “I thought you were going to text me?” Suzie reminded him.

“
I did,” he replied with a gruff edge to his voice. Suzie slid her hand into her pocket to check her phone. When she found it empty she realized that she must have left it on the kitchen counter while she was fixing the iced tea.

“
Sorry, Jason,” she frowned as she met his stolid blue eyes. He only looked back at her expectantly. She gritted her teeth as she realized getting the slightest hint of emotion out of him was going to be like pulling teeth. “Here,” she handed him the key that she had stowed in her other pocket. “I'd be happy to give you the other paperwork that was in the safe.”

Jason stared nervously at the key he was holding between his thumb and first finger.
“Honestly, I don't even want this,” he shrugged and started to turn away. “I'll probably just tell the bank to donate whatever is inside.”

“
Jason, wait,” Suzie reached out and grabbed his forearm gently. He seemed a little startled by her touch, and she was just as surprised by it. Despite Jason being about the age that her own child might be if she had one, she had never felt a maternal pull before. Something about Jason made her want to understand him, and even help him if she could. Perhaps it was because they were family, or maybe it was some irrational need that she hadn't put a finger on yet.

“I just want you to know that if you need to talk,” she smiled awkwardly, “I'm here. I mean, there may be some things you want out of the house. Things that belonged to your father, or to your mother,” she suggested. She caught sight of a flicker of emotion cross his face when she mentioned his mother.

“
There's not,” he said sternly and drew his arm from her grasp. “Listen, I appreciate the gesture,” he said calmly as he met her eyes. “But I have people I can talk to. Really the best thing for me would be to have all of this off my back. Okay?” he narrowed his eyes slightly as if he was willing to speak in a harsher tone if she pushed him.

“
Okay,” Suzie nodded slowly, though she wasn't sure if she understood. As he walked away, Suzie could tell from the tension in his shoulders that she had ruffled some feathers. She was ready to believe that Jason was one mystery she was not going to be able to figure out.

“
Well, isn't he pleasant,” Mary said as she walked up behind Suzie with her glass of iced tea. Suzie laughed a little as she took the glass of tea and they both watched Jason climb into his patrol car.

“
Well, he is a police officer, maybe he just has to have a tough attitude,” Suzie shrugged.

“
Hmm, I don't think so,” Mary said as she watched Jason tear out of the driveway. “I've seen that look plenty of times. He's hiding something.”

“
You think?” Suzie asked with surprise.

“
All I'm saying is that if I ever saw that look on my son's face, I knew that we were going to need to have a long conversation,” Mary laughed lightly and then arched an eyebrow. “I guess they never grow out of it.”

“
I guess not,” Suzie replied with a slight frown. “All right, enough work for tonight I think,” she grinned. “How about I start a fire and we trade in these teas for some wine?”

“
Sounds like a good plan to me,” Mary agreed.

***

Once the fire was crackling in the large fireplace, which was in the center of the large living room, Mary sprawled out across one of the three couches in the room. Suzie had found a box of trinkets in the master bedroom and was sorting through them in front of the fireplace.

“
These must have been Beverly's,” Suzie said softly as she sorted through the collection of handmade crafts. “It's sweet that he kept them for so long.”

“
How can Jason not want any of these things?” Mary asked with a sigh.

“
I'm not going to get rid of them. I'll box them up for him, maybe one day he'll want them,” Suzie said quietly. Then she paused as she pulled out an envelope from the box. “Hmm,” she glanced up at Mary. “Do you think it would be wrong to read it?”

“
Not at all,” Mary sat up so she could listen.

When Suzie opened the envelope she expected it to be correspondence between husband and wife, but the letter she skimmed over had nothing to do with that. It was a letter from a father to a son.

“I know dear boy that we have been separated by time and hurt, and I am guilty of always believing that tomorrow would come. However, due to recent discoveries I have made, I fear my time is much shorter than I anticipated. In fact, I fear I no longer believe in tomorrow. I have felt someone watching me, and I know that I have crossed a terrible line. A funny thing happens when you are faced with the end of your life. You begin to think about all the ways you missed out on living it. When your mother died, Jason, I missed an opportunity to be the father you needed me to be. Since then I have missed that opportunity with each and every day that passed. There isn't time left to express all that I truly feel, but the most important thing that I have failed to convey for so many years, is that I love you. I ask for your forgiveness, without the expectation that it will be given. I ask for it so that you will know that I recognized the hurt that I have caused. All I ask of you is that you find a way to heal and let go of the past. Don't be an old man, in an old house, with an old mind. Live your life, Jason, with freedom and passion.”