Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 109777 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 549(@200wpm)___ 439(@250wpm)___ 366(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109777 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 549(@200wpm)___ 439(@250wpm)___ 366(@300wpm)
Savannah gave Griffen a hesitant look. Shifting her gaze to me she said, “You know. Sterling puking all over the bathroom after one too many. Bringing home one-night stands who walk off with the family silver. Being expected to fetch and carry all day when I should be running the house.”
With a jerk of one shoulder, she added to Griffen, “I grew up in Heartstone. I love that house. I’d love to put it to rights again, to take care of it, but—your brothers have reputations. I’m not interested in offering additional services.”
Griffen’s back went straight at the implication. “Has anyone given you a hard time at the Inn? Expected anything from you that you didn’t want to give?”
“No. Not really. But living in the house is different. And your father—”
She didn’t need to finish that sentence. Prentice had never laid a finger on Miss Martha—if he’d tried he would have lost the finger—but assorted other household staff had warmed his bed over the years. Brax had followed in his father’s footsteps until Prentice fired the staff.
Griffen picked up one of the cookies and broke off a piece. “Why don’t I lay this out in more detail? You’d work for me and Hope. The only other person with authority over you would be Harvey Benson. Your job is to run the house. Until you get a full staff hired, you’ll need to pitch in wherever necessary, but your job isn’t to jump anytime a Sawyer rings a bell.
“Your job is to make sure we have meals, a clean and presentable home, that the grounds and the house are in good condition. You’ll manage the household budget and staff. You will not act as anyone’s personal servant. And if at any time any member of the household crosses a line you don’t like, you come to me or Hope and we’ll sort it out. Does that work?”
“That works.” Savannah smiled, drawing in a deep breath that froze in her lungs as something else occurred to her. “What about security?”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Someone walked into Heartstone Manor and shot Prentice in the head.”
“Ford is in jail,” Griffen said carefully.
Savannah gave a dismissive shake of her head. “I know what the police think, but Mom swears he didn’t do it.”
“I’ve spent the last ten years working for the best security agency in the country. I’ll get a team out to rewire the house, set up a system so we can monitor the property.”
“Good enough for me,” Savannah said, the smile returning to her face. “When do you want me to start?”
“First thing tomorrow,” Griffen said, “go by Harvey’s office. I’ll tell him to expect you. He can fill you in on the specifics including the NDA and the reason for it. Hope and I have some business to take care of, but we expect to move in by Monday. The faster you can get started the better.”
And that was that. We had a housekeeper. And a witness.
A weight lifted from my chest just knowing that Savannah would be there. She wasn’t a friend, not yet, but she was an ally. I needed one of those. Griffen was being decent, but eventually, the shock would wear off and he’d remember that he was married to the woman who’d ruined his life.
Since the day had started I’d been a leaf flowing down a mountain stream, bubbling along wherever the current took me, pushed and pulled by everyone else’s demands. I’d married Griffen to save the town. I’d do it again in a heartbeat, but it hadn’t been my choice any more than it had been his.
If I had to have a witness in the house, documenting my every move, at least it could be someone I’d chosen. Just knowing I’d gotten my way in this one thing made the rest easier to take.
We said goodbye to Savannah and got into Griffen’s sleek Maserati. I fastened my seatbelt and looked over to see him tip his head back against the headrest, eyes closed. He looked utterly exhausted. My heart hurt for him.
He’d come home expecting to put his father in the ground, sign some papers, and never see any of us again. Instead, his whole life had been turned inside out. He’d have to leave his home, his career, the people he’d made his family. All of it to save a town that had turned its back on him.
I wanted to help. Hard to figure out how when I was part of the problem. “What now?”
Griffen rolled his head in my direction and opened his eyes. Raising a brow, he asked, “Honeymoon?”
My stomach turned over in disappointment. In remorse. In the tiniest bit of hopeless longing. This wasn’t that kind of marriage. No ring. No kiss. No honeymoon. Just five years of playing a role for everyone except Griffen.