CHAPTER 10 — THE MOUNTAIN OF SECRETS
The helicopter disappeared behind a wall of snow-covered peaks as Grace studied the faded map spread across her lap.
The abandoned observatory sat nearly nine thousand feet above sea level, hidden inside a national forest where few people ever ventured.
Nathan sat across from her without speaking.
For hours he had replayed the old video in his mind.
The sleeping baby.
The promise he could no longer remember making.
He looked at Grace.
"I don't know if she'll really be there."
Grace folded the map carefully.
"I have to find out."
The helicopter landed just before sunset.
The observatory looked forgotten by time.
Its enormous telescope pointed toward the sky like a frozen monument.
Broken windows rattled in the mountain wind.
The front door stood slightly open.
Someone had been there recently.
Grace stepped inside first.
Dust covered the wooden floors, but fresh footprints led deeper into the building.
One pair.
Barely visible.
Nathan followed cautiously.
"Grace..."
She raised a hand.
"Listen."
The building was silent.
Then—
A piano note echoed through the darkness.
One single key.
Then another.
Someone was playing.
The melody was soft.
Gentle.
Familiar.
Grace stopped walking.
"I know this song."
Nathan's heart skipped.
"So do I."
"It was your mother's favorite lullaby."
They followed the music into the old observatory dome.
Moonlight poured through the cracked glass ceiling.
An elderly woman sat at the dusty piano with silver hair tied neatly behind her head.
She never turned around.
She simply finished the final note before speaking.
"You've grown into someone stronger than I ever imagined."
Grace's voice trembled.
"Dr. Eleanor Vale?"
The woman slowly stood.
Then she turned.
For a long moment, nobody moved.
Grace stared into a face that looked decades older...
Yet carried her own eyes.
Her own smile.
Tears rolled silently down Eleanor's cheeks.
"My name stopped being Dr. Vale a long time ago."
She smiled through her tears.
"I'm your mother."
Grace crossed the room without thinking.
The two women embraced beneath the shattered glass dome as Nathan quietly looked away, giving them a moment twenty-seven stolen years in the making.
But the reunion lasted only seconds.
Outside...
May you like
Headlights appeared on the mountain road.
Someone else had found the observatory.
