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)
My ears tracked the movement in the kitchen, my eyes only able to catch quick glimpses through the door. A mutter reached my ears, and every muscle strung tight in anticipation.
“Where is that girl? We have to get these salads upstairs.”
I edged closer and risked a peek into the kitchen just in time to see the wide back of Mrs. Bailey disappear into the small room containing the dumbwaiter, her hands loaded with salad plates. This was it.
I had no idea where April was, but I did know she’d be back any second. She hadn’t gotten distracted and wandered off. Savannah did not employ slackers in Heartstone Manor. With a quick glance to make sure the kitchen was empty, I dashed to the stove and the pot of soup simmering over the largest burner, a soup tureen filled with steaming water close by.
In a flash, I dropped a sugar cube into the soup. Risking one more second to let it dissolve, then another to give the soup a quick stir, I disappeared from the kitchen as silently as I’d entered.
In the hall, I headed left, away from the kitchens and Mrs. Bailey. Passing the open door to the prep kitchen, I heard a cabinet shut and picked up my pace. It had to be April, maybe grabbing something she’d prepared earlier or a garnish she’d forgotten.
Spinning to my right, I ducked into the gym, peering around the doorframe to see April head back toward the kitchen, something leafy and green filling her hands. I stayed where I was, waiting for her to turn into the kitchen before I sprinted the rest of the length of the hall.
Taking the steps to the first floor two at a time, I was glad I had to cross the main level to reach the dining room. I needed time to wipe the smug grin off my face, to calm my racing heart. I didn’t want anyone to see, to guess that I was up to anything other than the usual—sulking around Heartstone Manor and ignoring my siblings.
I strolled into the dining room as I usually did, sliding into my chair between my older sister Avery and my younger sister, Parker. Both of them shot concerned looks my way, but neither said anything. From across the room, Savannah Miles slanted me a cool look.
Not a thing about that look was unprofessional.
I still felt the slice of it.
Savannah had hated me for years. By the time I got what I wanted, she’d hate me even more. I could live with that. I had to. I had a mission, and no one was going to derail me. Not even the formidable Savannah Miles.
Savannah slid a salad plate in front of me and slipped away, taking her position just inside the door of the butler’s pantry, unobtrusive and alert, as she always was. I tried to hide the exuberance fizzing through my veins. The rest of them might miss it, but Savannah wouldn’t. She didn’t miss much. I didn’t need her to get suspicious and figure out what I was up to.
To get what I wanted, I had to get rid of Mrs. Bailey without getting myself kicked out of Heartstone Manor. It was the thinnest of lines—be annoying enough to drive off Mrs. Bailey, but not so annoying Savannah would have me booted from my home.
My oldest brother Griffen had made it very clear. If it came down to a dispute between a Sawyer and Savannah, Savannah would win.
It’s not that Griffen cared more for our housekeeper than he did for his family. It’s more that Sawyers did not have a good reputation for treating staff with respect. At least not during my father’s reign. I’d always heard my grandfather and great-grandfather had been true gentlemen. Something they clearly hadn’t passed down to Prentice Sawyer.
No woman on staff had been safe from Prentice except for Miss Martha, Savannah’s mother. He hadn’t laid a finger on her for the same reason Griffen was protecting Savannah. Heartstone Manor had needed Miss Martha in her time, and it needed Savannah now. Without Savannah, everything around here would grind to a halt. She hadn’t been willing to take on the job unless Griffen promised she wouldn’t have to deal with a new generation of Sawyers preying on the staff.
So far, our generation of Sawyers didn’t seem to take after our father. Except for our cousin Bryce, but Griffen had taken care of him the first time he’d cornered a maid and tried to get handsy. According to our father’s will, Griffen couldn’t throw Bryce out of the house for the next five years, but he could encourage the maid to press charges for assault, something he’d made it clear he’d support wholeheartedly. I still hadn’t decided how much Griffen took after dear old Dad, but the way he’d stuck up for Kitty was a point in his favor.