Walking back through the living room to the other side of the house I saw Chase sleeping once more. I smiled a little at how adorable he looked while he slept and continued on falling Max.
He walked into a massive kitchen and opened the doors to the pantry. The shelves were stocked with food and I remember thinking that I had never seen anything so organized. Every label was facing forward and perfectly uniformed.
Max knelt down in front of the bottom shelf and looked underneath it. When he stood up he was holding another envelope with his name on it. He gave me a look just before he opened it and I had never felt more connected to him. I watched anxiously as he pulled the note out.
I remember walking down the hall and hearing your mother read your favorite book to you before bed. You would lay there and look up at her, lost in her every word. She had the sweetest voice and I have missed it every day since she left us.
I could have sworn I saw him start to tear up as he read his father's words. His mother seemed so amazing, I wished that I would have had an opportunity to meet her.
"I know which one it is," he said as he began walking back through the kitchen. I followed close behind him.
We wound up in his father's study. It was so sophisticated. Dark, rich wood filled the room and beautifully bound books filled the shelves. I had to pause for a moment to take it all in.
Max walked to one of the bookshelves and ran his fingers along the spines of the books. He stopped on one, in particular, Peter Rabbit. As he pulled it off the shelf he told me of how it was his favorite book as a child and he and his mother would read it over and over again.
When he opened the book the center was hollowed out. I looked on as he pulled out the contents from the cavity within.
Your mother always complained that I was the hardest man to buy for. The truth was I loved everything she gave me. One thing, in particular, held a special place in my heart.
Max ran to his father's desk in the center of the study and pulled a cigar box out of the drawer. His fingers traced the heart engraved on it with his parent's initials, hesitating before he opened it.
It was full of cigars and we looked at each other curiously. His father had us on a wild goose chase and we knew it. Max dumped the cigar's out on the desk and underneath them was another note and a second key.
Your mother was such a bright light in the world. She illuminated every room she ever entered. She was the love of my life and I miss the warmth her light always gave me.
Max thought about the words for a moment but nothing from his childhood made any sense.
"I'm not sure what he is talking about," he said sounding a defeated.
"Well, maybe this one isn't so obvious. He was talking about light right?"
"That means nothing to me," he said.
"Max, what if he means an actual light?"
"Do you think?"
"There is one way to find out," I insisted.
We began examining the lamp on this desk, touching every part of it. We, unfortunately, we came up dry. We both looked at each other and then the sconces on the wall at the same time. He ran to one and I ran to the other. They flanked the massive fireplace.
I frantically searched every inch of the fixture but couldn't find anything. I was still searching when he shouted.
"I think I found it, Lillie."
Abandoning my search, I walked over to him to see what he found. There was a small button on the top of the fixture. It was so insignificant that no-one would have ever found it if they were not actively searching for it.
Max pushed the button and we both jumped back as the fireplace began to slowly rise up. When it finally stopped a secret passage was revealed.
You had to duck down to access it and when we came out on the other side we both just froze. The room looked like some sort of shrine to his mother.
In the center of the room was a large glass box. It was taller than I was and inside of it was his mother's wedding dress. Her shoes and flowers were also encased with it.
Max's eyes were fixated on it, he couldn't tear himself away as he walked closer. Tears began to stream down his face. We had been running around so frantically I didn't realize what an emotional toll it was taking on him.
I walked up to him slowly and stood in front of him. Our eyes met and as his pooled with tears. Without a second thought, I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him to me.
My arms were so tightly wound around him. I wanted to push all of the horrors that night had brought him away. The only way I knew to do that was to hold him. After a few minutes, he pulled away from me and kissed my forehead.
"Thank you," he whispered as he began exploring the room.
Larger than life photos adorned every wall and seemed to show her at nearly every age. I stopped in front of one when she was pregnant with Max. She was clearly a beautiful woman but in that one, she absolutely glowed.
Next to the glass box was an ornate stand with a velvet surface at the top. It was where his father had kept her ring all those years. Max pulled it out of his pocket and gently placed it back in its home.
There was a large screen television on one wall and when Max turned it on, old home movies of his mother began to play. The photos didn't do her justice, she was breathtakingly gorgeous.
We stood there next to each other watching them until we lost track of time. It was hard to tear ourselves away. For him, it was a chance for his mother to come to life again. For me, it was a chance to see inside Max's world.
After a long while, the television just shut off. I turned to Max and found him holding the remote.
"I just couldn't watch it anymore," he said.
"It's okay, let's find this key a home."
We began exploring the room some more and found an antique wardrobe. A keyhole was prominent on the front and Max couldn't get there fast enough.
He inserted the key into the lock and took a second to look back at me before he opened it. We both knew we had to be getting close to what his father wanted us to find. We were not sure we were ready for whatever it was.