Page 13 of Meet Me on Lilac Lane

Okay then. If she didn’t want to talk about it, he wouldn’t push.

He took another look around the room. “It was Dani’s idea. She’s hoping to sell someone on using this as a gallery again.” The gold wall contrasted with the creamy off-white on the other walls and drew out the golden hues of the wood trim around the windows and doors.

“Mom! There’s a hidden room in here!” Finn yelled, his voice echoing from behind the cabinetry.

Mia looked to Cody. “Yep,” he said. “I found a small door and a tiny room back there. I cleaned it up but didn’t do anything else to it. I think it got created through a remodel between this store and the one it’s connected to.”

“Be careful,” she called out. “Watch your sister. We’re leaving in a minute.”

“They’ll be fine back there. There isn’t anything to get hurt on.”

“I think you underestimate a small child’s ability to find danger.” Her smile warmed the room.

“We’re right here. This place isn’t big enough for them to get into any trouble. Come and see the cool doorknobs I found for the front door.” He gestured at the glass door. “They’re practically a work of art.”

“Knobs? Seriously?” She raised her right eyebrow.

“What? I like antique hardware.” He shrugged. “I found a pair of cut-glass knobs a while back and thought they would work well here.”

“Okay, but then I need to go.” She checked her phone in a quick gesture. “Dani is expecting us in less than five minutes.”

They walked to the front door. The fluted doorknobs shone crystal clear in their brass setting. “A lot of these antique knobs get cloudy after a while. I’m surprised these ones still look so great.” The back of his neck prickled with the heat of her gaze.

“Doorknobs.” She reached out to touch the knob. “You know, Troy would have given you such a ribbing about this.”

He gave a short laugh, no humor in it. “Why do you think I never brought it up?”

“Um, Cody?” She gave the knob a twist. A thunk sounded, but not the corresponding click of the latch being opened. “I think there’s something wrong here. The knob is turning, but the door won’t open.”

Strange. “Maybe you have to jiggle it. The knob worked fine when I came in this morning.”

“I am jiggling it.” She gave a twist and a pull, and the glass piece came off in her hand. She held it up to him like a child presenting the baseball that just flew through the front window. “Oops.”

“Seriously, Madame Monet? Breaking my stuff?” He put his hands to his hips in mock anger.

“Don’t call me that. And, if you had a more practical knob this wouldn’t have happened.” She glared at him. Hopefully he wasn’t imagining the glint of humor in her eyes.

“A more practical knob is way less fun.”

“Fun isn’t all there is to life. Now we’re stuck in here.” She popped a hand to her hip.

“Wait, are you mad at me?” Weren’t they just having fun a second ago? He took a deep breath. The scent of paint and cleaning fluid tickled his nose. Come to think of it, if they were trapped here, he wouldn’t have time to finish that next building. He really needed that money.

“I’m supposed to be meeting Dani.” She didn’t yell, but it was close. She checked her phone again. “I’m already late.”

Great, more guilt. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you late. Let me see what I can do.”

She sighed. “No, I’m sorry. I’m just on edge. I’ve got a lot going on right now. I was going to ask Dani if she needs help with the new initiative. I need something more steady than occasional shifts at Martha’s.”

He got a flashlight from his toolbox. “Here, point this toward the door.” The light jiggled. He glanced up and saw her looking toward the hidden room. “Hey. Keep it steady.” The room echoed with Finn and Maggie’s laughter. Mia readjusted, bringing her gaze and the light back to him. After several attempts to reattach the glass piece, he could see there wasn’t anything he could do while the set was still attached. “Someone will have to open it from the other side.”

“Isn’t there a back door to this place?” Mia clicked the flashlight off and swung toward the back.

He sighed. “Yes, it’s code to have two doors, but the other one is swollen shut.”

“So we are stuck in here.”

He watched her shoulders creep toward her ears and scrambled for a way to fix this. “I can possibly take the door off its hinges, but that will take a while.”

---