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)
Another grunt. “This is shit.” He turned his back on me, his disgusted mutter including something about stuffed mushrooms.
“You’re going to come up with another menu?”
I thought the sound he made was a ‘yes.’
Just to annoy him, I said, “I’ll let you know when we’re having the next wedding meeting so you can be there.”
“I’m not going to any wedding meetings,” he called after me, as if I was dragging him to his own execution.
“Yes, you are,” I called back, escaping the kitchen before he could say anything else.
Chapter Nine
SAVANNAH
The next few weeks unfolded in the pattern of that first morning. Loud music before dawn. Breakfast on the table like clockwork, that single piece of chocolate set out only for me. A rush of hours flying by, filled with work and enough surprises that I barely had time to think about how much I didn’t want to kiss Finn again.
The burst pipe in Sterling’s room had taken me a full week to sort out.
The electricity going out in Hawk’s gatehouse and the subsequent fight to get him into a room at the Manor while I begged the electricians to work us into their packed schedule. Hawk hadn’t wanted to move into the Manor, claiming that sleeping on a camping cot with the mice was just fine if it meant he didn’t have to put up with the family.
We knew it wasn’t personal. Hawk just wasn’t a fan of people, in general. He’d tried to stay put, insisting the cold didn’t bother him, but Griffen refused, staring Hawk down until he gave a grunt that reminded me of Finn and finally surrendered. I installed him in the smallest functional guest room at his request, and aside from some minor grumbling and an outright refusal to eat with the family or in the kitchen with the rest of us, he’d settled in nicely.
As we moved further into October, fall settled over the mountains, bringing apple season and trips to the orchard that ended in smiling faces and sticky fingers. I finished decorating the house for Halloween. I took Nicky into town for his costume, a bright yellow catlike creature from his trading card game, all the while keeping one eye on Finn for trouble, and another on my phone, trying not to wonder when my former mother-in-law would pop up next.
Both remained suspiciously silent for most of October. It was my mother-in-law who broke first.
A few days before Halloween, I sat at the kitchen table going over notes from our last wedding meeting, pulling items for a new to-do list while Finn worked at the island doing something complicated with a potato, music blasting as usual. I didn’t mind. He had good taste in music, and the pounding beat helped me focus. I was the de facto wedding planner, and despite everything else I had to do, I was enjoying the hell out of it.
I’d tapped Royal for help with contacts and equipment. Running the Inn at Sawyers Bend with Tenn meant that Royal had access to everything from florists to catering supplies. Once upon a time, Heartstone Manor’s lower-level storage room had been filled with everything needed to host royalty at a moment’s notice.
These days I had to scrounge to find extra place settings. I wondered if Prentice had sold off the dinnerware at the same auctions he’d used for the missing art. So far I didn’t think Griffen’s investigator had found any receipts that revealed where the sets of vintage porcelain were. My mother didn’t know either. All I had were empty shelves where the Flora Danica and Royal Doulton should be.
Even so, we were in good shape. Griffen had gotten ordained from a website and would be performing the ceremony, which would be in the library. Even though I’d just finished putting up the Halloween decorations, I couldn’t wait to start decorating for Christmas. It had been years since anyone had a real Christmas in this house. Not since Darcy had died.
I was determined to fill Heartstone Manor with cheer. We had children in the house again, one of them mine. And sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas, we’d have a baby. A family holiday was exactly what we needed.
I penciled in a note to get real fir garlands for the front hall banister. I’d string the lights myself. It would be worth the extra trouble to have the scent of Christmas filling the house.
“Did you talk to Hope about Thanksgiving?” I asked absently, raising my voice to be heard over the music.
“What about it?”
I glanced over to see Finn scrolling on his tablet, making a list on a Post-it stuck to the island.
“The menu. Did you talk to Hope about it?”
“She said I’m in charge,” he said to his tablet, his tone clearly saying that any other option was ridiculous.