Chapter 1 - The Letter Beneath the Floorboard
Every Friday afternoon, Thomas Hail still climbed the hill east of Millfield with a bouquet of wildflowers in his hand.
Some weeks Clara walked beside him.
Some weeks their daughter, Annie Rose, ran ahead and asked questions faster than either parent could answer.
And some weeks Thomas went alone, carrying the silence that had once been his entire life.
Five years had passed since Clara first asked who the flowers were for.
The flower shop had grown into the busiest storefront on Main Street.
The ranch had survived two brutal winters.
Annie Rose had become a sharp-eyed four-year-old who believed every closed door existed solely to be opened.
That belief changed everything on the first Friday of October.
Clara was rearranging dried lavender when Annie Rose crawled beneath the old counter and began striking the floor with a wooden spoon.
“Stop that before you wake the dead,” Clara said.
Annie Rose looked up seriously.
“Maybe they need waking.”
The next blow produced a hollow sound.
Clara froze.
The floor beneath the counter had never sounded hollow before.
Thomas arrived as she pried up the narrow board with the edge of a flower knife.
Underneath lay a tin box wrapped in rotting cloth.
The lock had rusted through.
Inside were seven letters tied with blue ribbon.
Every envelope was addressed to Thomas Hail.
Every one had been written in Annie’s hand.
Thomas did not touch them at first.
His face lost all color.
“That can’t be,” he said.
Clara turned the first envelope over.
The postmark was dated three weeks before Annie died.
The address was not the ranch.
It was Bennett’s Flower Shop.
But the shop had not existed when Annie was alive.
Thomas finally picked up the letter.
His fingers trembled.
The seal had already been broken.
Someone had read it.
Clara watched him unfold the paper.
The first line was simple.
Thomas, if anything happens to me, do not trust Silas Vale.
Thomas looked toward the shop window.
Across Main Street, an elderly man in a black coat stood watching them.
When their eyes met, the stranger tipped his hat.
May you like
Then he smiled and walked away.
