Lost and Found: (A Ripple Effect Romance Novella) by Karey White Page A

“Not a very happy ending.”
    “It’s heartbreaking,” she said. Blake’s eyes moved to her lips. Only then did Lydia look down at her hands, color rising in her cheeks.
    “Come on. I’ll walk you to your room,” Blake said.
    Lydia struggled to keep her breathing steady as she followed Blake to the door. He grabbed his keycard and her purse off the dresser and held the door open above her head. She ducked under his arm, and the door swung shut behind them.
    Lydia pulled her keycard out of her bag, but instead of unlocking the door, she turned to Blake. “Do you think he regretted not going after her?”
    Blake shrugged and leaned a shoulder against the wall. “I don’t know. Maybe it was too late to change her mind. Even if he’d been willing to change.”
    “Are you glad you found the box, or do you wish you hadn’t?” She wanted him to feel okay about it. She’d suggested he stay. Maybe it would have been better if he’d boarded that plane and never found out about the doomed relationship between Elliott and Gladys. But that would have meant their time together wouldn’t have happened, and Lydia almost couldn’t bear that thought.
    Blake smiled. He reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. His fingers brushed against her cheek, sending shivers down her back. Then his hand traveled slowly to her shoulder and down her arm until he took her hand and held it in his. “It was hard to read, but I feel closer to Grandpa, and I understand him better.” His thumb moved over the back of her hand. She watched his face as he looked down at their hands. His strong jaw with a day’s scruff and the small scar on his chin. She noticed a tiny freckle on the side of his nose.
    And suddenly Lydia wanted more than to hold his hand. She wanted more time than tomorrow. She wished they could stay suspended here forever.
    “I’m not sorry at all,” Blake said, meeting her eyes. His gaze moved to her lips and Lydia thought he might kiss her, but then Blake squeezed her hand and let it go. He smiled back at her before they entered their separate rooms. “I’ll see you in the morning, Lydia.”
     

Blake brushed his teeth slowly. He wanted to think about Lydia. She was charming and sweet and bashful. He wanted to picture her cute nose, scrunching up when she laughed. He wanted to think about their day and imagine kissing her goodnight instead of lamely saying he’d see her in the morning.
    The problem was that his mind kept getting trapped in his grandfather’s tragedy. He couldn’t stop thinking about the pain his grandfather had endured because of his relentless pursuit of his career. Even though part of him felt disloyal to the grandmother he’d never known, Blake couldn’t help feeling sad for Elliott and Gladys and the loss of their dreams. Had his grandfather been wrong? Maybe, but Blake understood his motivation, his drive to be successful. He loved the feeling that came with success, the rush when he handled a case successfully. He wanted to be free of financial worries.
    Blake opened his briefcase and took out the letter his grandfather had written to him. He probably should have read it with Lydia. She’d just lived through Elliott and Gladys’s entire doomed relationship, after all. But he worried the letter might hold too strong a reproach and he wasn’t sure he wanted to be scolded in front of her. He turned on the lamp and got into bed.
    The letter was three hand-written pages. After reading so many letters in his grandfather’s youthful hand, it was surprising to see the shaky lines of an elderly man. The letterhead said “Dr. Elliott Knowles” at the top. It was identical to the letterhead he’d used after Christmas all those years ago.
     
    Dear Blake,
    I hope since you’re reading this, that you’ve met Gladys and read the letters I sent her. I thought hearing the words of my thirty-year-old self would have more impact than the words of an old man saying “slow down” or