I packed up the kids for a weekend at the lake house since he told me it would only be a brief work trip, no more than two or three days. However, his car was already in the driveway when we pulled in. I felt sick to my stomach. The house was too quiet inside until I saw him outside, his jeans stained with muck, his shirt clinging to perspiration, climbing out of a half-dug pit while carrying a shovel. A rusted and ancient safe, like a secret fighting to breathe, was lying in the pit.
He insisted that I “trust him,” but his voice trembled when I demanded answers. He said that it belonged to his grandpa and that he thought he could surprise me by finding a map in an old journal. To go treasure hunting, he had instead made up a story about Omaha. Upon opening the safe, we discovered bundles of cash, velvet pouches, old photos, and a message written in his grandfather’s rough handwriting that read: “This money came at a price.” Use it only in dire circumstances. There may still be some folks who come looking.Our finding was cursed by the words. Adam acknowledged that he wanted to pay off his debt without telling me since he was drowning in it. I wanted to yell, but my fury was overpowered by my fear of what the money would imply. We eventually turned up the safe as evidence after locking it away and phoning the police. A black SUV hovered around our house for days, and investigators arrived with phrases like “ongoing investigation.” We agreed that taking short cuts wasn’t worth the mess, so we reduced costs and took on more work. One open discussion and one mutual sacrifice at a time, forgiveness came gradually.A few months later, a letter from a law company informed them of a small but valid trust connected to Adam’s grandfather’s previous employment. Although it wasn’t much, it was sufficient to keep us afloat. We restored the leaky roof, paid off the bills, and discovered that true wealth was not found in dirt-buried safes but rather in tranquility. Now that the scar in the yard has healed, the kids roast marshmallows when we go to the lake house, and Adam silently apologizes by squeezing my hand. We now understand that the decision that matters is the one that allows you to sleep fearlessly, not the one that is simple.