Just Breathe

Chapter 3

Kelly placed eight chocolates in the center of the wedding favor she was making. Her friend Rachel was getting married in two weeks' time and she'd offered to help with any last-minute details. And this afternoon, that involved wrapping table favors for the guests.

"Avery and I spent two hours last night trying to decipher the code for the journal."

"No wonder you look tired," Rachel said. "What time did you make it to bed?"

"About midnight. Tanner's warning about locking all the windows and doors freaked me out. I kept thinking every creak and groan was someone breaking into the store."

"He means well."

Kelly tied a red ribbon around the tulle bundle of chocolates. "I just wish he wasn't so intense. Everything he says and does is so serious."

"That's what makes him good at his job. He was a Navy SEAL."

"He was?"

"Tanner told me about his military career not long after I met him." Rachel's fiancé, John Fletcher, owned the company where Tanner worked.

Kelly added another table favor to the box at Rachel's feet. "How many is that?"

"Eighty-five. Only another twenty-six to go."

"It's just as well you're one of my best friends."

"I'll be standing in line to help you with your wedding when the time comes," Rachel said. "I appreciate your help."

"You don't need to worry about helping me. I won't be getting married for years."

"Why not?"

"I have to meet someone first. My brothers do a good job of scaring most men away from me."

Rachel cut a length of ribbon. "Don't tell them you're dating anyone."

"That's easier said than done. They have spies in every corner of Bozeman." She added a handful of chocolates to the tulle circle in front of her. "One day they'll all have girlfriends and be too busy to pay me any attention."

Rachel raised her eyebrows.

"I know. I'm seriously delusional."

"Hopeful might be a better way of putting it."

Kelly didn't care what Rachel called it. Her brothers were a massive problem, but nothing she said or did made any difference to the way they treated her male friends.

She passed Rachel another finished table favor. "It must be a crazy time for you. When does John's family arrive?"

"Two days before the wedding. They'll stay with John and I'll move in with Tess." Rachel added another tulle-wrapped wedding favor to the box. "Tell me about the journal. Do you know who it belonged to?"

"No, but I've made an appointment with Professor Harding at Montana State University. She's worked at the Smithsonian Institute. I'm hoping she'll be able to tell me when the journal was made. Once I have an approximate year, I'll know where to start looking."

"Has the auction house been any help with names and dates?"

"They gave me all the information they had when I bought the box. There's one other person who may be able to help, but they're away until next Monday."

"When does Tanner get back?"

"Tomorrow. I haven't heard from him so I assume he hasn't managed to crack the code."

"You'll figure it out. What are you going to do once you know what the journal says?"

"I'll try and find a relative of the person who wrote it and offer it to them. If there's no one, I'll give it to the local museum. For all I know it could be someone's recipe book."