But he had no idea that the most important part of that evening would have nothing to do with the ring.
Underwater, Marcus pulled the silver jewelry box from the narrow opening.
It was covered in dust and mineral deposits.
He recognized the tiny engraving on its lid.
R.R.
Rachel Reed.
His hands began trembling.
He had seen that box countless times before.
Rachel had kept it on her bedside table.
After her death, he had searched for it because it contained a small gold necklace Sophie had received on her first birthday.
He never found it.
The box had disappeared.
Marcus had assumed it was packed away during the difficult days following the funeral.
But now it was here.
At the bottom of his swimming pool.
He looked at the metal cover again.
The opening beneath it appeared to lead into a narrow maintenance chamber.
He had never known such a compartment existed.
He pushed the box against his chest and began swimming toward the surface.
When his head broke through the water, he gasped for air.
“Marcus!”
Olivia rushed toward him.
He raised one hand.
“I found something.”
Sophie stood behind Olivia, crying silently.
Marcus climbed out of the pool, water streaming from his clothes.
He placed the small silver box on the stone deck.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then Sophie stepped forward.
“That's Mommy's.”
Marcus nodded.
“Yes, sweetheart.”
“She told me it was there.”
Marcus looked at his daughter.
“When?”
Sophie's lower lip trembled.
“Last night.”
Olivia knelt beside her.
“What do you mean, honey?”
Sophie looked down at her shoes.
“I had a dream about Mommy.”
Marcus felt his throat tighten.
“She was standing beside the pool,” Sophie continued. “She was wearing her blue dress. She told me that something important was hidden under the silver circle.”
Olivia gently brushed the little girl's hair away from her forehead.
“Why didn't you tell us earlier?”
“Because I thought Daddy would be angry.”
Marcus immediately knelt in front of her.
“Angry? Sweetheart, why would I be angry?”
Sophie's eyes filled with tears.
“Because I told you I wanted Mommy back.”
Marcus closed his eyes.
He pulled his daughter into his arms.
“Oh, Sophie.”
She buried her face against his wet shirt.
“I don't want you to stop loving Mommy.”
Marcus held her tighter.
“Listen to me. I will never stop loving your mother. And nobody is asking you to stop missing her.”
“But what about Olivia?”
He looked up.
Olivia was crying now.
Marcus gently turned Sophie's face toward hers.
“Your heart isn't a small room with only one chair in it,” he whispered. “You can love Mommy forever. And you can love Olivia too.”
Sophie looked at Olivia.
“Even if I still want Mommy?”
Olivia's voice trembled.
“Especially then.”
The little girl finally reached for her hand.
And something inside Marcus began to heal.
But the silver box still remained unopened.
And none of them knew what Rachel had left inside it.
Marcus carried the box into the house.
He placed it on the dining table, where the three of them had shared hundreds of meals.
The sunlight coming through the windows illuminated the engraving on its lid.
Olivia brought a towel for him.
“Are you okay?”
Marcus shook his head.
“I don't know.”
“Do you think Rachel put it there?”
“I don't know how she could have.”
He examined the box.
The lock was old, but it wasn't damaged.
He tried opening it.
It wouldn't move.
Then he noticed a tiny folded piece of paper wedged beneath the metal clasp.
His hands stopped.
“There's something here.”
He carefully pulled it free.
The paper was yellowed with age.
On the outside, in handwriting he recognized immediately, were four words.
For Marcus, when he is ready.
He sat down.
Olivia placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Do you want me to leave?”
“No.”
He looked at Sophie.
“Would you like to hear what your mother wrote?”
The little girl nodded.
Marcus unfolded the paper.
His eyes moved across the first line.
Then the second.
By the third sentence, his breathing had changed.
Rachel had written:
My love, if you're reading this, then I hope life has finally given you a reason to smile again.
Marcus stopped.
His vision blurred.
Olivia squeezed his shoulder.
He continued.
I know you. I know you will spend years blaming yourself for things that were never your fault. You will wonder whether you could have found another doctor, another treatment, another hospital, another answer.
Please don't do that.
You loved me. You fought for me. You gave me every moment you could. That is all I ever wanted.
But there is something you must understand.
I did not hide this box because I wanted you to remember my death.
I hid it because I wanted you to remember something about my life.
Marcus looked at the jewelry box.
The letter continued.
Inside is a small key and a recording. There is also a photograph that I want Sophie to see when she is old enough to understand why I made a decision that may one day confuse her.
Marcus stopped reading.
“A recording?” he whispered.
He opened the box again.
This time, the clasp moved.
Inside lay a tiny silver key, a folded photograph, and a small memory card sealed in a plastic envelope.
Marcus stared at them.
The photograph showed Rachel standing beside an unfamiliar woman.
The woman was older, perhaps in her sixties, with short gray hair and a warm expression.
On the back were three words.
Find Eleanor Reed.
Marcus frowned.
“Who is Eleanor Reed?”
He had never heard that name before.
Olivia looked at the photograph.
“Could she be a relative?”
“My family doesn't have anyone named Eleanor.”
Marcus turned the photograph over again.
Then he noticed something written beneath the name.
An address.
An address in Savannah, Georgia.
It was followed by a date.
The date was three weeks before Rachel died.
Marcus felt a chill move through him.
Rachel had visited someone in Savannah without telling him.
And she had hidden the evidence beneath a swimming pool.
Why?
What had she been trying to protect?
He looked at Sophie.
The little girl was staring at the photograph.
“Daddy?”
“Yes?”
“That's the lady Mommy used to talk to on the phone.”
Marcus slowly turned toward her.
“What lady?”
“The one who made Mommy cry.”
The Little Girl Pointed at the Pool Just as He Was About to Propose… What He Found Beneath the Water Changed Their Family Forever
“That's the lady Mommy used to talk to on the phone.”
Marcus stared at Sophie.