I'd been ready to hate him when our family lawyer announced that Griffen was inheriting everything.
Our father had been a complete asshole. That was a fact pretty much everyone agreed on. He'd loved to fuck with us, pitting us against each other until we were little more than strangers. He'd left each of us a trust fund—with a catch. If we wanted our money, we had to move into Heartstone Manor and live there for the next five years.
If we refused, we gave up any claim to our trusts. And if we contested the will, everything went to Bryce. Just in case we forgot that part, Prentice had offered room and board to Bryce and Aunt Ophelia for the five-year waiting period. I'm sure he was laughing his ass off in hell. He'd hated Bryce as much as the rest of us.
We'd all moved back into the Manor after the funeral as ordered. For the next five years, Griffen had control of everything, including our trusts. If he wanted to spend it all to the last dime, none of us could stop him. In fact, in his will, Prentice had encouraged Griffen to do just that.
Griffen had done the opposite. He'd hired Savannah to manage the house and gotten to work re-learning the ins and outs of Sawyer Enterprises. He'd married Hope, which had seemed weird considering she'd been the catalyst who'd gotten him thrown out in the first place.
Now that I was used to seeing them together, it didn't seem weird at all. They were in love and expecting a baby, their affection and domesticity settling down the household until it seemed like we might actually make it the five years without killing each other.
And more than that, Griffen had listened to us. Royal and I had been trying to get the extra cottages at the Inn approved for years. Griffen had reviewed our business plan and told us to go for it. He'd dragged Sterling out of the bottom of a bottle and given her a job. Piece by piece, he was putting our family back together. The last thing I wanted to do was fuck all of that up.
Griffen shook his head at my promise. "I'm not worried about the family, Tenn. I'm worried about you. Scarlett's an intelligent and beautiful woman. I can't fault you for being attracted. I'm not telling you to keep your distance, I'm just saying that she's up to something, and until we know what, be careful. I don't want to see you get hurt."
"I'll be careful," I said, pushing the words through my tight throat. Straightening, I added, "Bryce told Scarlett he'd searched the house for valuables. He could be full of shit, but you might want to have someone go through his room."
"I'm on it," Hawk said, a grim look in his eyes.
I left them plotting and went in search of Scarlett. I found her in Savannah's apartment behind the kitchens, talking to Miss Martha. When I walked through the door, she turned to me with a bland smile as if the scene with Bryce had never happened.
I wasn't fooled. I'd had a good reason for leaving her at Bryce's mercy. Still didn't sit right. I couldn't get the memory of her stiff shoulders out of my head. I kept seeing her eyes flick past him to gauge how far the door was. I'd fucked that up. Scarlett thought I'd rescued her. The truth was, I'd let her swing far longer than I should have.
"You up for a picnic?" I asked, ignoring the weight of guilt heavy in my gut. I'd make it up to her. Absolutely.
"Savannah is having lunch packed up now," Miss Martha said, her considering eyes moving between me and Scarlett. "The boys are helping her find a blanket for the grass.”
Scarlett kept that bland smile on her face until we were out in the summer sunshine, the heat already building. Sawyers Bend never got Atlanta-hot, but that didn't mean a June day couldn’t make us break a sweat.
One eye on the two boys chasing each other around the picnic blanket, Scarlett started to unload the basket, setting out sandwiches and cookies wrapped in wax paper. Every time she looked away from the boys or the food, her eyes landed on the sparkle of the pool across the gardens.
“I had one of the Inn staff bring over bathing suits for you and August. We can go for a swim later if you want.”
Her wide grin was as bright as the sun, eclipsing the flat smile she’d worn since the encounter with Bryce. This was the real Scarlett. I loved getting under her skin, peeling back the layers of self-protection until I found the real her.
“I haven’t been swimming since I took August—" She swallowed. “Since we went to Disney two years ago.”