Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 105921 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 530(@200wpm)___ 424(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105921 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 530(@200wpm)___ 424(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
I wasn't going to get away from Tenn, and I needed to be here even if I wasn't sure exactly what to do about it. Might as well go with the flow. For now.
Keeping pace beside Tenn, I took August's hand in my free one and tucked him behind me as Tenn reached to open the front door of Heartstone Manor.
Chapter Seven
SCARLETT
The door swung open before Tenn could turn the handle. A man who could only be another Sawyer stood in the open doorway, his blond hair rumpled from sleep. This must be Griffen, the oldest brother, the one Tenn had called from the gates. Beside him was a tall, slender woman in a bulky robe, her face pale, eyes wide as she took in the three of us.
Griffen stepped back to let us in. "What the hell is going on?" he demanded, his voice filling the two-story front hall.
"Are you okay?" the woman asked, her warm brown eyes on me then moving to Tenn. It felt like she was checking on me as much as Tenn, but I didn't answer. Until I had a better feel for the room, I was keeping my mouth shut.
A door closed on the other side of the hall and a couple strode in, hand in hand. The man was almost a carbon copy of Tenn, his hair a little more auburn than Tenn's espresso, but otherwise, they could have been twins. The woman was shorter than me, her face a little moony when she gazed up at the Tenn look-alike, the hot pink coils of her hair bright against her honeyed brown skin.
"Hey guys," the Tenn look-alike said. "Since when are you all up this early?"
Tenn raised an eyebrow at him. "Since I found Vanessa's body this morning when I came back from my run."
They all stared at us, faces blank.
"Vanessa's body?" the look-alike asked. "She's dead?"
"Shot in the forehead, just like Dad," Tenn confirmed.
"And who's she?" he asked, looking at me. I rolled my eyes to the ceiling, impatience warring with my nerves. Tenn had said his whole family lived here, but I hadn't expected to walk into a crowd.
"Her?" Tenn asked, shooting me a hard look. He raised his arm and mine followed with a metallic jingle, the handcuff connecting us shining silver under the crystal chandelier. "She's my alibi."
A cacophony of sound exploded, questions shooting from all angles. August hadn't heard about the dead body earlier, and I'd prefer he didn't get an earful now. I tugged at Tenn's hand with the cuff. He ignored his family's demands to look down at us.
"Ix-nay on the ody-bay," I said with a pointed look at August, peeking out from behind me.
"I know pig-Latin," his little voice piped up. God save me from smart-ass kids. Then again, if I didn't want little smart-asses running around, I probably shouldn't have procreated. Dragging Tenn's hand along with mine, I pressed my palms over August's ears.
Silence fell as the crowd registered August's presence. If it were just me, I would have stuck with keeping my mouth shut, but I had August to look out for. Trying for a friendly smile, I faced Tenn's family.
"Hi, I'm Scarlett. This is my son August. I know things need to be said, but August doesn't need to hear anything that might keep him up at night." I raised an eyebrow, hoping they got me. I'd learned the hard way that hands over the ears were not foolproof.
The woman beside Griffen rubbed a hand over her abdomen for a second before she took charge. "Of course. You can—" She inclined her head at my hands over August's ears. I dropped them.
He glared up at me. "I'm not a baby, Mom."
"I'm sure you're not," the woman said. "You're August? I love that name." August beamed up at her. "I'm Hope. This is Griffen, Royal, and Daisy." Hope pointed to each of them as she said their names. "Have you had breakfast, August?"
After a pointed look at both me and Tenn, August smiled at Hope, sensing an ally. "No, and Mom and Mr. Tenn promised me pancakes."
"Okay, we can make that happen." With a glance at the cuffs connecting me to Tenn, Hope turned to Griffen. "I need to go upstairs and get dressed. Could you introduce Scarlett and August to Savannah and Nicky, see if Savannah can feed August downstairs, and arrange breakfast for the adults in our office?"
Griffen pressed a kiss to Hope's forehead. "I'm on it."
Hope smiled at us. "Sorry to run off on you," she gestured to her robe, "but I'll be right back." Leaning down so she was even with August's face, she said, "Savannah's son is a little younger than you and I bet he'd love to have another kid to play with. Usually, he's stuck with the grownups around here. Do you think you could hang out with him for a while?"