Despite having less than an hour to prepare for their trip, Jacqui took a few minutes to call her parents and let them know she was going out of town. She explained about finding the stuffed bear and how her great-uncle might have left her something. She then called Lyssa, sharing her news about the engagement and then asking Lyssa if she could manage the bakery for a few days while she went out of town.

Khizar was on the phone at the same time, making the arrangements for the flight. He watched as Jacqui threw together some clothes and shoes for a few days away, and closed up her apartment.

They stopped by Khizar’s hotel so that he could get his things as well. Jacqui roamed his hotel suite while he packed. She hadn’t been in his hotel while he was in Milwaukee; he always came over to her house.

That fact had bothered her a little, but she understood when she saw his hotel suite. The rooms were almost as luxurious as their hotel in Hawaii, but they were a bit cold. Not uncomfortable, just not homey feeling, and Jacqui could understand that Khizar would want to spend time in a friendlier setting.

This was the style she was going to have to get used to, Jacqui thought. The luxury she could handle, even if she had to talk Khizar from going over the top all the time. But maybe when they traveled, they could find different kinds of places to stay.

She realized she didn’t know how often they would travel. Jacqui assumed that Khizar traveled quite a bit—he’d told her stories about some of his trips. But those were for business, and they hadn’t talked about how much he would continue to travel after they were married. Or if she might travel with him.

Jacqui was so happy. She was in love with Khizar, and thrilled that he had proposed. Even though there was still a lot they needed to talk about, she knew they’d work through it.

In fact, this trip would be a good time to talk through some of those issues. They’d have time on the flight. Not to mention that working together to solve the puzzle her great-uncle had left her would bring them even closer together.

One of the best memories she had of her parents was a seemingly mundane moment, as the best memories so often are. Her mother had bought a DIY kitchen island, with two drawers in the middle and shelves on one end. It had needed some assembly, which had of course turned into an all-night project.

Jacqui remembered her father putting on music and spreading out all the pieces and instructions in the middle of the living room floor. Her mother had brought out two glasses of wine and they’d sat in the middle of the floor and figured out the instructions together. They’d laughed when he’d installed one of the drawers upside down, and then when she’d done the same thing with the shelves.

What stood out to Jacqui, even all these years later, was that her parents worked together. They were partners; they relied on each other.

That kind of relationship was what she’d always wanted, and Jacqui knew that this trip would show that she had that kind of relationship with Khizar, even if they still had details to work out.

* * *

When they got to the airport, the pilot was waiting with the jet ready to go. According to the coordinates etched on the fake diamond, they needed to go to Alabama, a two-hour flight. The pilot had filed a flight plan to get them to the closest airport, and Khizar had arranged to rent a car from there.

They looked over a map while they ate breakfast, and Khizar tapped a spot of green with his index finger.

“The coordinates put us here, in the Talladega National Forest. Looks like it’s a forty-minute drive from the airport.”

Jacqui nodded. “We’ll want to stop and get a good GPS from an outdoors store.”

“Good idea.”

Jacqui had been planning to bring up a discussion of what their married life might look like, but before she knew it, the plane was descending and they were in Alabama. That was okay, though. They’d have the flight back, and plenty of time after they found whatever William Bauer had left for her.

Khizar picked up the four-wheel drive SUV from the rental counter, and they stopped at the first outdoors shop they saw to buy a handheld GPS to help them when they got into the forest.

It was a gorgeous drive, winding through hills and wooded areas. They stopped at a scenic overlook to get their bearings, and then drove to a parking lot at a trailhead.

The parking lot only had one other car parked there. Jacqui wasn’t all that surprised they were almost the only people in that location; it was a weekday morning, and not summer yet. They’d seen a few other cars driving around, but it was mostly quiet on the road.

There was a stream running next to the trail, which led up a gentle hillside. Khizar picked up the GPS and Jacqui grabbed the backpack she’d bought at the same time. She’d gotten a small first aid kit and a couple of bottles of water, just in case.

They walked along the paved trail, pointing out birds and the occasional rabbit.

“It’s beautiful out here,” Khizar said, his tone reverent.

Jacqui agreed. “I’m guessing this kind of forest isn’t what you’re used to back home.”

Khizar shook his head.

“Not quite like this, though there are mountains along the northern border of Nudushan. Though, to be fair, hiking was never my favorite thing to do.”

“My adopted parents used to take me hiking when I was a kid. My dad is kind of an outdoorsy guy, and he tried to teach me things like how to start a fire and set up a tent.”

Khizar looked at her, interested. “And did you enjoy those things?”

“Nope.” Jacqui smiled at him. “I tried to, because it made my new dad happy. But I think he figured out pretty quickly that the outdoors life wasn’t for me.”

They rounded a bend in the trail and stopped at a clearing in the trees. The spot was on a natural terrace in the hillside and looked out over a valley. The same stream they had seen at the parking lot ran through the valley, though they were too far up the hill to hear it.

The breeze whispered through the tree leaves. Jacqui thought it was one of the most peaceful spots she’d ever been in. Tucked to one side of the clearing with the best view into the valley was a bench.

It looked a little out of place on the trail. A black wrought-iron structure held up long boards of dark wood that formed the seat and back of the bench.

“Interesting,” Khizar murmured.

Jacqui looked over his shoulder at the GPS unit. “We’re here?”

“Looks like it. Actually, I think the bench is sitting right on it.”

They walked over to take a closer look at the bench. On one of the wooden slats backing the bench, Jacqui could see written words. She sat down on the bench and traced the letters, reading the words out loud:

“What matters most is always under the surface.”

“I wonder what it means,” Jacqui said thoughtfully.

Khizar tapped her on the shoulder and motioned for her to join him behind the bench. She stood and moved, then gasped as she read the metal plaque fixed on the back of the bench. Donated by William Bauer.

“Your great-uncle donated this bench,” Khizar said. “He must have had a reason for inscribing this quote here.”

Jacqui slowly walked around the bench again, thinking. She looked for other clues.

“Under the surface…maybe under the bench?” she mused.

Khizar knelt and ran his hand under the wooden seat, and then over the bench legs for good measure. He shook his head.

“I don’t feel anything unusual,” he said, standing again.

Jacqui crossed her arms, taking in the whole little area. They’d passed a few other spots on the trail where the path widened, or even made place for people to stop and rest. At each of them, the asphalt covered the whole area, widening out and then narrowing back into the trail.

But here, the trail stayed narrow. The bench was set on top of forest dirt, not paved path.

“What if it’s buried under the bench?”

Khizar looked at her, and then at the area around the bench. Jacqui raised her eyebrows at him and shrugged.

“We’re going to need a shovel,” she said.

They made their way back to the car and drove into the nearest town. Jacqui spotted a hardware store, so Khizar ran in to buy a shovel. He tossed it in the back of the SUV.

When he climbed back into the vehicle, Jacqui looked at her phone.

“Hey, let’s grab lunch while we’re in town. We don’t know how long it will take us to dig up whatever’s hidden back on the trail.”

“Excellent plan. See anything that looks good?”

Jacqui pointed out a small diner on a corner of the main downtown street. Khizar parked the SUV in front of the building.

The diner wasn’t large, just eight booths lining two of the walls and a few other tables scattered across the middle of the room. Red-and-white checkered tablecloths covered the tables, and the booths were covered in dark red leather.

Jacqui noted that the restaurant was spotless, and even though they were on the late side of the lunch rush, the place was still almost full. They were greeted with a smile and a wave to sit anywhere that was open.

They chose the only booth that was open. Barely thirty seconds after they sat down, a young woman in jeans and a white button-up shirt brought over two menus and two glasses of water.

“Would y’all like anything else to drink?” the waitress asked.

“I’d love some iced tea,” Jacqui said.

“Sweet tea okay?”

Jacqui smiled at the waitress. “Unsweet, please.”

“The same for me,” Khizar said.

“You got it. Everything’s good here, but the burgers are our best. A good deal, too. Let me get your teas, and I’ll be back in a sec.”

Jacqui liked the warm feel of the restaurant. It had obviously been around for a long time; the waitress greeted other customers by name and brought drinks to some of them without needing to ask first.

After they ordered—the hamburgers, which their waitress approved with a firm nod—Jacqui asked Khizar a question that had been rolling around in her mind since they landed that morning.

“Why here? Was William Bauer from Alabama?”

“That’s a good question. He never talked about where he was from.”

Jacqui tilted her head. “How well did you know him?”

Something passed across Khizar’s face, but it was gone before Jacqui had a chance to figure out what it was.

“We met a few times. He was a legend in the diamond business. I visited his mine a couple of times, and had dinner with him more than once.”

“He never talked about his family?”

Khizar shook his head.

“No. I didn’t know he had any family. I knew he wasn’t married, but he didn’t talk about anything but diamond mining. Unless it was fine whiskey and cigars. He was a loner, and liked it that way.”

Jacqui took that information in. She knew her family history up to a point; she’d heard stories from both her parents about her grandparents, but she was so young when her parents had died that she didn’t really remember much from those stories. Hearing about her great-uncle made her feel more connected to her parents and their parents, too.

“Did he have an accent?” Jacqui asked.

Khizar gave her a look that said he didn’t understand the question.

“What kind of accent?”

Jacqui waved her hand around to indicate the restaurant.

“Listen. Everyone here has an accent, some stronger than others. But I’d bet a lot of the people in here are from this area. Did William have any kind of accent?”

Khizar said, almost absently, as he listened to the conversations around them, “Bill.”

“What?”

“He went by Bill. I don’t know that anyone called him William.”

“Oh.”

Jacqui thought about that, and the fact that Khizar had known that piece of information.

Khizar listened more and then nodded.

“He did actually have an accent. Not much of one, but it got stronger at the end of a long evening. I can’t tell for sure, but from what I remember, it did sound a little like the people here.”

That meant William—Bill—Bauer probably had Alabama connections. It explained why he’d left a bench in that spot. He didn’t randomly choose it; this place was special to him, somehow.

They sat in silence, each lost in their thoughts, until the waitress brought their plates. She made sure they had everything they needed, and when she walked away, Jacqui took a deep breath.

“Would you tell me about my uncle?”

Khizar looked up at her, startled.

“I know you didn’t know him well, but you’re all the connection to him I have. At least, until we learn more about why we’re here. I’d just…I wish I’d known him. All I remember from meeting him is a vague impression.”

She shrugged, not really able to explain why this was so important to her.

Khizar nodded and Jacqui almost cried at the kind, understanding look on his face.

“The first time I met Bill Bauer, I was just starting out. My father was running the company, and I was working as his assistant. Bauer walked into our offices one day without an appointment. He waved at the security guys at the front desk, yelled at one of our senior VPs about owing him a steak dinner, and put his feet up on my father’s desk. He was singularly unimpressed with royalty or CEOs.”

Jacqui ate while Khizar told her a few stories about Bill Bauer, most of them making her laugh. It was clear to her that Khizar had admired the old man, and that made her love her fiancé more. She wondered if her great-uncle would have approved of her marrying Khizar, and when she asked him that, Khizar stopped and thought.

“I think he would have told you that you could do whatever you wanted, and if you wanted to marry into a diamond family, well, he probably would have told you how to negotiate getting half the company from me as a wedding present.”

Jacqui laughed and Khizar smiled at her. They finished their meal and paid the check, then headed back into the forest to see what clue Bill Bauer had left them.