Page 77 of Lost and Found

“Then play Minecraft?”

“Then Legos while I pack because we’re going on a vacation.”

“Like Disney? Or Machu Picchu?”

Wes laughed. “I like the way you think, kiddo.”

“Will there be roller coasters?”

Wes sipped his coffee. “Are you tall enough to ride roller coasters?”

“Some, I am.”

“I don’t think there are roller coasters. But lots of parks, and Main Street with ice cream, a library, and a store that sells miniature trains.”

Matt’s eyes rounded. “Do the trains go through mountains?”

“We could find out.”

She shouldn’t have said vacation. “It’s more like a fun trip than a vacation. I have to work some, but we’ll do all the fun stuff we can.”

“Does fun stuff mean ice cream?”

Bailey grinned and set the box of Honey Os and a bowl on the table. “Would I take you somewhere that didn’t have ice cream?”

“She wouldn’t,” Matt told Wes, then poured the cereal into his bowl. Little Os spilled on the table. He grabbed them and dropped them into the bowl. “Can we go today?”

“That’s the plan.” She poured the milk and handed him a spoon. “We’re going to stop by Grandma and Grandpa’s to pick up the bag you left over there, and Mrs. Lacey will hang out with you for a little bit while Wes and I pack. Does that work for you?”

With his mouth full of cereal, he nodded and shoved another spoonful in.

“And we can look for the key in my storage unit,” she said to Wes.

“Good plan.” Wes focused on Matt. “What are you building in Minecraft?”

“A castle made out of diamonds. Do you play Minecraft?”

“I have before.”

Excitement flickered in his blue eyes. “I have chickens. And a house. There’s TNT. And flint and steel.”

He continued listing his Minecraft inventory as he ate his cereal. “And a diamond sword and pickaxe. Full diamond armor…” He didn’t stop when he jumped out of his chair to put his bowl in the sink, spilling milk on the floor. “And a wolf spawn egg. A cat.”

Wes wiped the milk with a paper towel and tossed it into the trash can like a basketball. She left them to shoot paper-towel free throws in the kitchen while she showered, a smile plastered on her face.

Chapter Eighteen

Two hours later, Wes pressed the third-floor button for the freight elevator in the self-storage building. These places always gave him the creeps: the never-ending hallways, the motion-sensor lights, and the unpleasant odor of forgotten boxes and people’s dreams of a different future.

Bailey twisted her hair off her neck as the heat swamped over them. “Thanks for coming with me.”

The elevator doors opened to humming fluorescent lights. Their footsteps echoed. Bailey removed the padlock, and metal clanged when he lifted the roll-up door. Little light from the hallway seeped in. He clicked on a flashlight. “You are a well-organized soul.”

“One of my many qualities.” She stepped closer to the enclosed space. “Everything from work and his home office is on this side, and things that Matt might want one day are over here. Matt’s keepsakes are in the corner.”

He scanned the boxes. Bailey’s familiar handwriting looped across each box, with the packing date and a description of the contents. Most everything said file folders. “What kind of lawyer was Ryan?” He looked over his shoulder. Bailey remained an arm’s length from the door. “Hey, sorry. You okay?”

“I think so. I’m nostalgic, maybe… No, that’s not the right word. I feel heavy.”