Total pages in book: 143
Estimated words: 132834 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 664(@200wpm)___ 531(@250wpm)___ 443(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132834 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 664(@200wpm)___ 531(@250wpm)___ 443(@300wpm)
I eyed baby Stella with affection. She was mostly bald, with wisps of white hair and blue eyes that looked weirdly monochrome to me. Before I could embarrass myself by commenting, Savannah told me that a lot of babies were born with blue eyes like Stella’s, and over the months to come, Stella’s eyes would likely shift to their true color.
It had been two weeks since Griffen and Hope came home from the hospital, and so far, they looked both utterly exhausted and completely blissed out every time their gaze fell on their little girl. They’d named her after Lady Estelle Ophelia Sawyer, also Aunt Ophelia’s namesake.
I liked the historical reference. My great-great-grandfather William Sawyer met Lady Estelle while studying at Oxford. After bringing his beloved bride home to Western North Carolina, he’d planned and built Heartstone Manor, mainly to soothe his wife’s homesickness for England. By all accounts, their marriage had been built on a deep and abiding love. Griffen and Hope wanted to extend that legacy of love to their firstborn. Mission accomplished. Everyone at Heartstone Manor was head over heels for baby Stella.
Since we’d all moved back into Heartstone, the office had never been vacant so often. Pre-Stella, either Griffen or Hope was almost always behind the desk that had been our father’s. Later they added Royal to the mix, and he split his time between the Inn and helping run Sawyer Enterprises. Most of the time when I passed by the office, it was two or all three of them in there, laptops open, heads together, finding new ways to grow the family legacy.
But for the last two weeks, it was only Royal behind the desk, doing his best to hold things down on his own while his two partners focused on learning how to parent. The new nanny, Paige, as well as Savannah and Miss Martha, had been working together to give the new parents all the privacy they needed, dropping off trays of food and snacks and leaving with baby-related laundry so Griffen and Hope didn’t have to think about anything but Stella.
Since little Stella was feeling cooperative this afternoon and Hope was restless, we decided to meet in the office and dig into the mystery of the boxes of baby things from the attic. After a minute of scanning, Hope shoved Vanessa’s letters back at me.
“Still nothing,” she said with annoyance. “I keep thinking I’m missing something, but Vanessa kept things to the point in her blackmail letters.”
I looked to the door of Griffen’s office for Savannah. Not there. She’d been on the way to meet us, then texted to say she’d been waylaid by the electricians and Billy Bob over yet another issue in the guest wing. I knew she wouldn’t want us to get too far without her.
On the other hand, I wasn’t sure there was anywhere to get. As Hope had noted, Vanessa’s blackmail letters were short and to the point. She threatened to tell his secret unless he paid her.
I know who the new Mrs. Sawyer will be, and I know why you’re marrying her.
500k or I tell him everything.
And later,
Cutting it a little close, aren’t you? You don’t have long before you’re out of time. Get me the rest of the money, or I tell him all your plans. Once he knows the truth, he’ll never let her go.
The final note read:
If he finds out what you did to him, what you stole from him, he’ll destroy you. Once he knows the truth, there won’t be anywhere you can run that he won’t find you. 300k more, and I’ll keep my mouth shut. Pay me, and you’ll never see me again.
No one had any idea who the mysterious future Mrs. Sawyer was. Prentice had renovated the master suite to prepare for her, and planned to renovate the rest of the Manor, then everything just stopped. He fired most of the staff, Miss Martha quit, and Heartstone began to fall into disrepair.
Rereading the letters now, I thought it likely, from the references to being out of time, that Vanessa somehow knew the mystery woman was pregnant.
It was too bad Vanessa was dead. By the end, she claimed to be ready to tell us everything in exchange for a pile of cash. We hadn’t thought she knew anything, only finding the blackmail letters after she’d been shot in the gardens at the Inn.
“Miss Martha,” Griffen said. “Can you remember when you first saw those boxes upstairs?”
Letting out a sigh, Miss Martha shook her head. “I wish I could, Griffen. It was after all of you moved back into Heartstone because, at first, I thought they were Hope’s. I still wasn’t sure when I mentioned them to Savannah. I might have paid more attention if I’d looked through the contents. I wish I could be more help.”