“Works for me,” I said, my hand on Hope’s lower back as I ushered her into the dining room. “Have you eaten yet?”
“An hour ago, but I’ll have coffee with you.” We took our seats at the end of the table, me at the head and Hope to my right as before. I reached out to squeeze Hope’s hand after we sat, and she slid it away, her palm leaving smears of moisture on the shiny dining room table, her eyes skipping away from mine.
Was she shy in front of Savannah, or was she withdrawing from me again?
I got it. Or I thought I did. It was second nature to Hope to keep herself safe. Even from me. Maybe especially from me. I kept reminding myself that just because having her in bed had changed everything for me didn’t mean it had done the same for Hope.
Didn’t that happen to couples all the time? One thinks sex equals love and the other is all about the orgasm.
Internally, I jolted. Love? Is that what this was?
I get Hope in bed and suddenly I’m in love?
I didn’t know. I hadn’t thought about love in years. Not like that. Not since Vanessa. Love was a trap and a lie. What I had with Hope wasn’t some mushy sentiment, it was blood and bone. It was history and loyalty. I owed her more than lies about love. I wanted to give her more than words. I wanted to give her everything.
It was very possible that all she wanted from me was sex. Now that she’d had a taste and discovered she liked it, maybe that was all she was interested in.
The idea of that burned. I reminded myself that we had time for me to change her mind. Time to show her that I was good for more than orgasms.
Miss Martha came in, dressed in her old Heartstone uniform, similar to Savannah’s except the dress was solid black. With a wink and a smile, she slid full plates in front of us. “I’ll be right back with coffee.”
Savannah looked down at her clipboard. “I’d like to give you an update on where we are.”
“Go for it. You’ve worked a miracle in a few days.”
“Not quite a miracle, but close enough.” Savannah picked up her pen and pointed to the top item on her list. “The bedrooms are ready. All but Sterling’s. As ordered, I did not touch that one.”
“She can clean up her own mess,” I said, irritated all over again by my baby sister’s behavior. “When the room is no longer a toxic waste dump, feel free to put it on the rotation.”
“Gotcha,” Savannah said, underlining something on her list. “We have a cook, and we’ll see how she works out. I’ve hired two day maids. I’m not sure that’ll be enough with this many people in-house, but I thought we’d start small and add later.”
“Security is a concern,” I said, “so, at the moment, the fewer strangers in the house the better. I spent some time with my former employers putting together a security plan for the house. They’ll send a team down this week to get started. The groundskeeper I hired used to work with us and he’ll head security. I planned to put him up in the gatehouse, but I don’t know what kind of state it’s in.”
Savannah scribbled something at the bottom of her list and murmured, “I’ll get out there and take a look. As far as I know, it hasn’t been used in years, so it might not be habitable.”
“Hawk isn’t picky. He’ll be fine with whatever we have for him until we get the details worked out. I don’t know when he’s going to show up. Could be today, could be next week. Hopefully sooner. I’ll try to get an update.”
“A timeframe would be helpful,” Savannah agreed. “As soon as we get everyone settled in today, I’ll get our team working on the rest of the house. Unless you want a big crew in here, we’ll have to take it room by room.”
“Room by room works. Hope and I will be working out of the office here most of the time. Today we’ll be out, so we won’t need lunch. If anyone shows up to move in before we get back and they give you any trouble, just call.”
“It’ll be fine,” Savannah said evenly. I wasn’t so sure, but I liked her confidence.
When we finished eating, we followed Savannah through a hidden door in the rear of the dining room to a butler’s pantry with dumbwaiters on either side, two long counters, and storage for linens, flatware, and everyday crystal. At the end of the butler’s pantry, we found the elevator, door locked, and the back stairs that led to both the second floor and the lower level. We followed Savannah down, faint voices from below coming clearer with every step.