by Layne, Ivy
Opening the back passenger door of his car, she said, “Let’s put everything in here, that way you don’t have to haul it upstairs and then back down again. Are you staying another night, or do you have to get home?” Shaking her head, she added, “It feels so weird to think of Griffen’s home not being here. You’re going to visit, right?”
“I’d like to,” I said honestly. “But you might have to come to Sawyer’s Bend for a while. Did he tell you about the will? We can’t be away from the house often.”
“Then we’ll visit,” Alice said. “I want to come stay in your castle. Summer stayed at the Inn with Evers once and said it was amazing.”
We talked on the ride up to Cooper and Alice’s floor—about Savannah and the massive task she had ahead of her, about the Manor and the state Prentice had left it in. About what it would be like sharing the place with Griffen’s estranged siblings.
I let myself get distracted by the conversation, almost forgetting what we’d been doing all day. I was tired and starving despite the coffee and cookie we’d grabbed at the mall a few hours before. And somehow, between my mini-freakout in the lingerie shop and the comfortable conversation with Lily and Alice, I forgot about my makeover.
We walked in to a rush of sound, two small bodies hightailing it across the foyer to barrel into Lily and Alice. Lily’s little boy looked nothing like her with his platinum hair and blue eyes, but he threw his arms around her waist and babbled up at her about a movie or a video game, such love in his eyes I had no doubt they belonged together.
Alice hefted her little girl into her arms, the toddler almost too big for her to carry. The little girl had dark hair and ice-blue eyes in a delicate face. She nestled her head into Alice’s shoulder, murmuring something in a lightly accented voice.
The guys weren’t far behind. I caught sight of three tall men, almost identical with their dark hair and broad shoulders. The one with ice-blue eyes just like the little girl’s made his way to Alice, scooping the girl from her arms and murmuring something in her ear that made her laugh.
I started to say hello when a hand closed around mine, dragging me through the foyer to a hallway off to the side.
Griffen.
“You aren’t even going to introduce us?” a laughing male voice called after us. Griffen didn’t bother to respond.
In the quiet of the hall, he took my hands in his, his eyes warm with something I couldn’t read. At least he didn’t look shocked or repulsed. That was something.
“Do you…? Do you like it?” I couldn’t help asking. “Alice thought I could use a haircut and she—the stylist—showed me some things with makeup and—”
“I want to say you look beautiful, but that would imply you weren’t already beautiful. And you were. You are. You’ve always been beautiful, you were just good at hiding it. Or maybe not seeing it. So, the real question is, do you like it?”
I didn’t know what to say. Tears welled in my eyes at the steadfast assertion in his voice, as if he had no doubt that beauty had always been a part of me. As if he’d always known.
I hadn’t known. I don’t think anybody knew. And even with the hair and the makeup, I wouldn’t call myself beautiful. Pretty. I could settle for pretty.
I wasn’t going to say any of that. Wasn’t going to tell Griffen he was wrong if he thought I was beautiful.
A tear welled over my lid and slid down my cheek. Griffen brushed it away with the ball of his thumb. “You see it, don’t you?”
I didn’t know what he was talking about, but I did know the answer. “I like it. I don’t know why I never did this before.”
I did know. We both knew. But I didn’t want to talk about Uncle Edgar and his horrible taste in clothes and his belief that a woman could be smart or pretty but not both. He was wrong, and I knew enough intelligent, beautiful women that I didn’t need Griffen to tell me so.
I said the only thing that felt true even though it didn’t make sense. “I feel like me. Like this is Hope.”
“Hope is beautiful. And she always was.” He grazed the side of my cheek with his thumb before lowering his mouth to mine. I ignored the wolf whistle from behind us and pressed my lips to his. Alice and Lily had been right.
I didn’t need to know what to do with Griffen. Griffen knew plenty. I just had to follow his lead. My body wasn’t the least bit confused. My lips moved under his, my tongue tasting, loving the growl in his throat when I kissed him back.
“You two want pizza or Chinese?” I didn’t recognize the voice, but I resented the interruption. All of a sudden, it occurred to me that I was kissing Griffen in full view of a bunch of people I didn’t know and all I could think about was kissing him more.
One orgasm, an hour in a lingerie shop, and my mind was firmly in the gutter.
Griffen stepped back, breaking our kiss. I turned around, Griffen’s arm sliding around my shoulders, and looked up to see avid curiosity on all the faces at the end of the hall except Alice and Lily, who were both giving me satisfied smiles.
“Do you want pizza or Chinese?” Griffen asked in a low voice. “If I get my vote, I’d rather take you to bed, but these clowns aren’t going to leave us alone.”
He’d rather take me to bed. I wasn’t sure I was ready for that, but I wasn’t going to turn him down. Not after that kiss. Going for the easy answer I said, “Pizza.”
Six pizzas later, everyone was full. We were parked on one of Cooper’s huge couches watching a basketball game, my head on Griffen’s shoulder, my eyes drooping. Before they slid shut, I felt him loop an arm behind my back and lift, pulling me into his lap.
“I’m too heavy,” I mumbled, trying to force my eyes to open.
“You’re not.” Griffen settled me in, his fingers trailing through my hair, the gentle tug and release too relaxing to fight.
“K,” I whispered, my eyes closing all the way. I don’t know how long I slept there. I surfaced once at the sensation of being carried, only to hear Griffen telling me to close my eyes and go back to sleep.
I woke to an empty bed, a note on Griffen’s pillow.
Working out downstairs, be back to take you to breakfast.
My new clothes were all in his car, but I did my best with my old jeans and gray sweater. Griffen didn’t seem to mind when he came back, deliciously sweaty, his eyes glued to my butt in the worn denim.
We met Cooper, Alice, and Petra for breakfast, then all headed over to Evers’ house. His wife, Summer, was home from her trip, and we spent the day hanging out, the guys still refining the security plan for Heartstone Manor, the rest of us watching the kids and getting to know each other. I’d never had a day like it. The easy camaraderie, the open welcome.
Like Alice and Lily, Summer seemed to accept me without reservation. It was far more than I’d expected, and I wasn’t quite sure what to do with it except just enjoy myself.
All too soon, we had to leave. We pushed it later than we should have, but neither of us wanted to go. This was family. The Sinclairs had given Griffen a home when his own people had thrown him out. Back in Sawyers Bend, we faced uncertain welcome, a barely functional place to live, and—oh, yeah—someone who’d murdered Griffen’s father and might be after Griffen.
With all that waiting for us, was it a surprise we didn’t leave Atlanta until late Sunday night? We might have stayed into Monday, but Griffen and I were in agreement. We wanted a day to settle into Heartstone Manor before the rest of his siblings arrived.
Our time in Atlanta had run out.
After a long dinner of steaks grilled on Evers’ deck, we said our goodbyes, mine only a little tearful, Griffen’s filled with plenty of back slaps. The guys would be at Heartstone to oversee the security install, so it wasn’t good-bye forever. Not really. And yet, it was. Griffen was quiet as we got in the car. I reached out to tangle my fingers with his.
The Sinclairs would
always be his friends. Family. But his life in Atlanta was over. This wasn’t good-bye forever, but it was still a good-bye. Griffen squeezed my hand and let out a long breath. That was the extent of his emotional release. Men.
I couldn’t change the terms of the will or force Griffen’s family into accepting him. I couldn’t replace what he was losing in leaving Atlanta and Sinclair Security. As I stared out the window and watched the road flash by, I swore I’d do everything I could to make it worth it, to make up for everything he’d lost when Prentice had died and turned his life upside down.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Griffen
I called Savannah on the way back, talking quietly so I didn’t wake Hope. Not long after we left Atlanta, she’d balled up her jacket under her head, tucked herself into the corner of her seat, and fallen asleep. Her face at rest was compelling. More than pretty. More than beautiful.
I’d told Hope the truth when I said she’d been beautiful without the haircut and the makeup. Despite what Edgar had made her think, she’d always been beautiful. Now everyone else could see it, too. She hadn’t looked like she was wearing a lot of makeup, but whatever she’d done had made her eyes deeper, mysterious. Her hair had a sleek shine it had been missing.
It wasn’t any one thing. Not her hair or her eyes or her full, pink lips. It was all of it together. Maybe it was just confidence from making friends and having fun spoiling herself for once.
I didn’t know and it didn’t matter. Not really. What I did know was that, unexpectedly, I hadn’t wanted to linger in Atlanta with the people who’d become my family. Not that I was looking forward to dealing with my actual family. They weren’t scheduled to show up until Tuesday, and I wanted time alone with Hope.
Savannah assured me that things were well in hand at Heartstone Manor. I found that hard to believe. Not because of Savannah, but we’d only been gone a little more than forty-eight hours.
How much could she do in forty-eight hours?
I soon learned that Savannah Miles could work miracles in forty-eight hours.
Hope’s eyes fluttered open as we pulled up in front of the house. Half asleep, shopping bags looped over her arm, she followed me up the steps, blinking in the light as Savannah swung open the heavy door.
Here, things weren’t much different. The chandelier was still dusty. Everything was still dusty. Following my eyes as they took in the room, Savannah said, “I started with the living spaces. That seemed most efficient. Are you hungry? Hope?”
“I’m fine,” I assured her. “You need anything, Buttercup?”
Hope slanted me a look that was partly disgruntled and mostly pleased. She liked it when I called her Buttercup. So did I.
“I’m fine, Savannah, thanks. Just tired. It was a long day. Good, but long.”
Savannah stepped forward to take the bags on Hope’s arm and finally got a good look at Hope. She stopped in surprise before breaking into a wide grin. “Hope, you look fantastic. Did you get your hair cut?”
“Haircut, highlights, makeup, and Griffen’s friends took me shopping. I got way too much. And I might need your help with the makeup tomorrow.”
“I’m no expert, but just give a shout. I love your hair. Is this all your bags?”
“There’s more in the car,” I said, “but I can get it tomorrow.”
“Don’t worry about it. That’s my job,” Savannah said with a smile. I listened to her and Hope talk about the stores Hope had visited in Atlanta and something about Savannah settling on a uniform for the house. The day was catching up with me. More than anything, I just wanted to be alone, in bed, with Hope.
I wasn’t planning on starting anything. She was obviously exhausted. I wasn’t much better. I hadn’t slept much the night before. I could use a solid eight hours before we faced the rest of what was to come.
I was lost in thoughts of the pile of work on my father’s desk—of having to face my father’s desk at all—when I walked into the master suite and got my first pleasant shock since coming back to Heartstone Manor.
Savannah had transformed the room. Hope’s living room was reproduced in the spacious sitting room, augmented by pieces Savannah must have grabbed from here and there in Heartstone Manor. She’d taken everything else from Hope’s apartment. The huge velvet couch, the side tables and bookshelves, right down to the stacks of books just as Hope left them.
Hope let out a gasp of pleased surprise and turned in a circle, her eyes wide and bright. “How did you do this? You even got my drapes.”
Savannah treated us to a smug smile. “They’re not actually your drapes. If you look a little closer, you’ll see these are a few feet longer and a darker shade of green. I found these in one of the guest rooms and moved them over here.”
I followed Hope to the master bedroom where, again, Savannah had reproduced Hope’s apartment. My eyes fixed on that lush brass bed overflowing with soft pillows and blankets. As in the sitting room, Savannah had found pieces around the house to fill the space, Hope’s small bedroom no match for the expansive master suite of Heartstone Manor.
What she’d chosen went perfectly with Hope’s belongings. A chaise lounge in red damask with a delicately arched reading lamp. A mahogany dressing table with tufted stool and three-part mirror. And on the other side of the room, a huge leather chair and ottoman with a side table perfect for a mug of coffee and a book.
“I left the fairy lights,” Savannah said, “because I didn’t want to stick that many pins in the plaster here, but otherwise, I tried to move your place to Heartstone. Anything you want to change—”
“It’s perfect! It’s amazing. Thank you so much. How did you manage this? We weren’t gone that long.”
“I put Billy Bob to work,” Savannah said as if that explained everything.
It must have because Hope replied with a knowing, “Of course. Good thinking.”
“Who is Billy Bob and how did he get all this done in barely a day?”
“Billy Bob is my cousins, Billy and Bob. Bobby if you’re referring to him in the singular. They’ve been joined at the hip practically since birth. My aunt took to calling them Billy Bob as a joke and it stuck. I put them on the payroll for the time being. They work hard, and between the two of them, they can do almost anything. Plus, they can always come up with extra hands to get a job done. When we moved your apartment,” she said to Hope, “they made one phone call and ten guys showed up. Way cheaper than movers, and I had the place emptied out and put back together over here in only a few hours.”
“You’re a miracle worker,” I said, grateful she’d taken the job.
“I’ll show you the rest tomorrow. You two look like you’re about to fall down where you’re standing. If you decide you need anything, text me. I haven’t had a chance to test the bell system. Oh, and I set you up for the little things.”
She nodded to an ornate cabinet in the corner of the sitting room. We followed her over and she opened it to reveal a mini-fridge, set of drinking glasses, water decanter, mugs, tea caddy, single-serve coffee maker, and an electric kettle, all arrayed on cleverly designed shelves.
“I found this in the attics. I like the way this room is set up. Your own little apartment inside the Manor. Once the hordes descend on Heartstone, you might not want to leave if you want a drink or a snack.”
She pulled out a basket filled with small bags of pretzels, chips, oranges and apples, and a few plastic-wrapped brownies.
“Text me a half-hour before you want breakfast. I’m on duty in the kitchen, but I have an interview with a potential cook tomorrow so hopefully, that won’t last much longer. Beyond breakfast, my skills are fairly basic.”
“Thank you,” Hope said. “You don’t know how much it means to come home and find home.”
“That’s how I hoped you’d feel.” Savannah gave her a quick hug and headed for the door. “I’ll bring t
he rest of your luggage up. If you think of anything you need in the next hour, just text.”
Hope was wavering on her feet, so tired I was half-afraid she’d pass out where she was standing. I was still holding the suitcase she’d packed the day before and handed it to her. “I’m going to help Savannah get the rest of our stuff. You go ahead and get ready for bed.”
Her face pale with exhaustion, Hope nodded and disappeared into the bedroom. I knew by the time I got back she’d probably be out cold. That would be for the best since she was too tired for more than a kiss good night. I wasn’t sure I could stop at that.
As it was, when I climbed in beside her warm body, I didn’t resist pulling her into my arms, settling her against me and smiling as her arm wrapped around my waist, her leg hitching over my thigh. She gave a sleepy murmur into my shoulder and settled in to sleep. With a long deep breath scented of cinnamon and apples, I relaxed and did the same.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Griffen
What first?” Hope asked, her pen poised above a blank page in her ever-present notebook. Her full breakfast plate sat in front of her, a steaming cup of coffee to her left, but she ignored them in favor of getting a jump on the day.
We sat at the end of the table in the massive formal dining room, the dark-beamed and white-plastered ceiling a full two stories above us, the great iron chandeliers cobwebbed and dark. It felt odd to eat here, just the two of us, the wide expanse of the long table stretching across the room, empty and unused.
There was a breakfast room at the far end of the dining room, a separate space with a wide, curving bay window that looked out into the front courtyard. The breakfast room was almost as formal as the dining room, and its small size was only relative to the expanse of the dining room. All the Sawyers would have fit neatly in the breakfast room with seats to spare, but the space was friendlier, less imposing, and far more comfortable for a quiet breakfast for two.
