Caleb continued.
“Your father told me he'd paid Victor. He left something hidden in the barn. But I couldn't safely get to it after Victor took over, and I didn't know whether the records would still be there.”
She stared.
“The barn?”
Caleb looked toward the western wall.
Then nodded.
“Under the old platform.”
For several seconds, she couldn't speak.
Finally, she whispered, “My reading place?”
He nodded.
“Yes.”
Her eyes filled.
Caleb continued.
“I've been waiting for a chance to open it without Victor noticing.”
Evelyn looked toward the platform.
The place where she and her father once read together.
The place where Caleb had told her she was beautiful.
All this time, evidence might have been hidden beneath it.
She took a shaky breath.
Then asked, “Do you have the key?”
Caleb nodded.
He reached into his pocket.
Then placed a small brass key in her palm.
Evelyn stared.
For a moment, she seemed overwhelmed.
Then she looked up.
“Why give it to me now?”
Caleb's expression softened.
“Because I should have given it to you the first day you arrived.”
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then he continued.
“I thought I was protecting you by waiting until I had everything figured out.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“You don't get to decide what I can bear.”
His eyes filled.
“I know.”
She looked toward the key.
Then asked quietly, “Will you help me open it?”
Caleb nodded.
“Yes.”
She took a breath.
“And after that?”
He looked toward her.
“After that, we follow the truth wherever it goes.”
Evelyn studied him.
She was still hurt.
Still angry.
But she could see that he wasn't asking her to forgive his silence simply because he cared about her.
He was admitting he'd been wrong.
And he was giving her the key.
She closed her fingers around the brass.
Then nodded.
“All right.”
They waited until Victor left for Granite Falls the following morning.
Then, with help from two trusted ranch hands, they carefully moved the stored materials and exposed the old compartment beneath the platform.
Inside lay a leather-bound book.
A bundle of folded papers.
And a sealed envelope addressed to Evelyn.
For a moment, she couldn't breathe.
Her father's handwriting covered the front.