The Lakeside Inn, Leeanna Morgan [rosie project TXT] 📗

into the hallway and returned with a tool belt. “If you need a screwdriver, chisel, or hammer, I’ve got some here.”

Wyatt chose a narrow chisel. “It should be easy enough to wiggle it loose.”

Mabel leaned over his shoulder. “If my grandfather needed access to whatever’s inside the compartment, I don’t think he would have made it too difficult to open. Especially if he needed the information quickly.”

“Mom’s right,” Barbara said. “Is there a panel on the front that slides open?”

Wyatt turned the drawer around and felt along the front edge. “Nothing that I can find.” Holding the drawer to his ear, he gave it a good shake. “It doesn’t sound as though there’s anything inside.”

A disappointed sigh rippled around the room.

Penny sat on the edge of the chair. “Have you tried pushing the panel down? It doesn’t look as though the wood is very thick. It could bend enough to pry the edge open without damaging the drawer.”

Allan nodded. “Good idea. If I wanted to get something out of the drawer quickly, that would be my way of opening it.”

Wyatt placed the drawer on the floor and pushed against the top layer of wood. Penny and her dad were right. The wood was more flexible than he thought. The narrow chisel appeared over his shoulder.

“Use this to lift the side of the wood,” Diana said.

Holding his breath, he wiggled the chisel into place and gave it a gentle nudge. The thin wooden cover popped off the drawer.

Mabel gasped. “I can see something.”

He didn’t know whether it was his imagination but, everyone seemed to lean forward, straining to see the piece of paper sitting in the cavity.

He jumped when Penny leapt out of her chair. “Don’t touch anything until you’re wearing gloves!”

Diana hurried after her sister. “I moved the first aid kit to the cupboard under the sink.”

Within seconds, the two sisters returned to the room.

Penny thrust a pair of Latex gloves at him. “Be careful. The paper could be really fragile.”

Wyatt pulled on the gloves and carefully lifted the piece of paper out of the drawer. Luckily, it was only folded in half. The thick paper had yellowed with age, but the black ink was still visible. His eyes widened when he read the date. “Someone wrote the letter on November 16, 1863.”

“That was seventeen years before my grandfather was even born,” Mabel murmured. “Why would it be in the dresser?”

With a pounding heart, Wyatt re-read the first paragraph. It couldn’t be. He turned over the sheet of paper and gasped when he saw the signature.

“What is it?” Katie asked.

Wyatt’s hands shook so much that he had to put the letter down. “It’s a letter that was sent to Robert Todd Lincoln from his father.”

Penny frowned. “You can’t mean—”

Barbara gasped. “Abraham Lincoln?”

Mabel’s cell phone dropped to the floor.

Wyatt took a deep breath. “As well as a message to his son, it contains a handwritten copy of the Gettysburg Address.”

He moved out of the way so Penny could have a closer look.

Her shocked eyes lifted to his. “You’re right. After he asks how his son is doing, Abraham tells him what he’s going to say at the Soldiers’ National Cemetery in Gettysburg.” She took a deep, shaky breath. “It’s all here; ‘Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.’”

She sat on the floor, looking as stunned as Wyatt. “It must be a fake. Why would our great-grandfather have this letter, let alone hide it in his dresser?”

Wyatt didn’t know, but he was determined to find out.

Chapter 14

An hour after Wyatt had gone home, Penny knocked on his front door.

When the door opened, she smiled and handed him his cell phone. “You left this beside the sofa.”

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” She studied his face. For some reason, he didn’t look happy. “Is everything all right?”

“It’s fine. I…” Wyatt ran his hand around the back of his neck. “No, it’s not all right. Do you have time for a hot drink?”

“Sure. I was worried about interrupting you. I thought you might be painting.”

“I was, but I couldn’t concentrate.”

On the way through the living room, Penny saw some photo albums sitting on the table. Were they part of the reason he was so down? “Everyone’s excited about finding the letter. Dad rushed back to the general store to get one of the fireproof boxes they sell. He doesn’t want anything happening to the letter before we see if it’s real or not.”

“That’s a good idea.”

Something definitely wasn’t right. When Wyatt was having lunch with them, he was just as excited as they’d been. Now he sounded deflated, as if all the energy and enthusiasm the letter created had been sucked out of him.

She looked around the kitchen. Not for the first time, she was amazed by how pretty it was.

“Would you like coffee or a mug of hot chocolate?”

“Hot chocolate, please. Did you get hold of your parents?”

Wyatt nodded. “When I called earlier, they were at my brother’s house. They enjoyed the candy I sent them.”

Penny smiled as she sat on a kitchen stool. “Brooke makes the best chocolate I’ve ever tasted.”

She watched Wyatt move around the kitchen, waiting for what he wanted to talk about. If he was worried about them and their friendship, she wasn’t sure what she would do.

He placed a mug of hot chocolate in front of her. “Would you like something to eat?”

Penny shook her head. “I’m still full from lunch. Mom’s apple pie was delicious, but the extra scoop of ice cream I had was a little too much.”

He made himself a drink, then sat beside her. “I’m glad you came. I’m feeling a little depressed.”

“Why?”

“Today is the anniversary of the day we met. Having lunch with your family took my mind off everything. But when I came home, I felt more alone than ever.”

She wasn’t sure there was anything she could say to make