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)
We finished eating and went back to the waiting room, fielding texts from Heartstone. Everyone wanted to know where the baby was. Nicky sent a picture of the fort he’d built with August and Thatcher for their sleepover. Later Scarlett sent another pic of the fort, all three boys tucked into sleeping bags, out cold.
After what felt like a lifetime, Griffen came into the waiting room, bleary-eyed and beaming. “It’s a girl. We have a girl!”
We were on our feet, me jumping up and down and throwing myself at Griffen, Finn settling for a hug and pat on the back.
“Good job, man,” Finn said, his eyes bright.
“When can we see Hope and the baby?” I asked.
“No visitors. Too many cases of flu or something,” Griffen said, “but we’ll probably be home tomorrow afternoon. The next morning by the latest. Royal set you up with a room at the Inn so you don’t have to deal with the roads. Should be clear between here and town. The sleet stopped hours ago.”
That was Griffen for you. Taking care of everyone else even while he was in the midst of the biggest moment of his life. Belatedly, I realized he’d gotten us a single room. Not two rooms. In case I was wondering if Hawk had spilled the beans, now I knew. I had a momentary flash of embarrassment before it occurred to me that Griffen didn’t have a problem with Finn and me, or he wouldn’t have gotten us the single room in the first place.
The staff at the Inn was waiting for us, handing us a room key as soon as we got to the front desk. We tumbled into bed and passed out, sleeping until after dawn for the first time in ages. Another time we might have lingered in bed and ordered room service, but the roads were clear, the sun was shining, and we both wanted to go home.
Back at Heartstone, I showered at the cottage and dressed in my uniform before going back to the Manor. School had been delayed but not canceled, and the roads were dry and clear except for downed trees here and there. I saw Finn as soon as I got to the kitchens.
“Griffen called,” he said immediately. “They won’t be home until tomorrow morning. I think the hospital is being extra cautious with the Sawyer princess. Griffen said Hope and the baby are doing great,” he added before I could ask. “But Griffen sounded a little punch drunk.”
“I bet,” I said, smiling at the news. I was tired, but life was good. Lydia hadn’t texted, Nicky was happy and safe at school, we had a new baby in the family, and I was with a very handsome man in a delicious-smelling kitchen. I thought about the new baby, and something occurred to me. “Are you busy?”
“Nothing I can’t move around. Why?”
“Hope has a few things for the nursery she hasn’t set up yet. They were back ordered and just got in—a glider and changing table. And then there’s some stuff up in the attic my mom told me about. She wasn’t sure if it was Hope’s, but she thought we should look through it. I meant to ask Hope about it, but we ran out of time.”
“I can help,” Finn offered.
“Thanks. I want them to come home and find everything ready for them,” I said.
We had the glider, its footrest, and the changing table put together in less than an hour. We discovered we were both directions readers, which made everything go smoothly, me lining up parts and pieces, Finn following the diagrams and holding everything in place for me to screw in. Hope had done the nursery in a cheerful green accented with yellow. Everything matched, and it was adorable down to the last throw pillow.
“Great,” I said, standing up and stretching. “I feel so much better. Thank you.”
“Anytime, Savannah.” Finn’s smile was soft, his eyes gentle, sending flutters through my stomach.
I cleared my throat. “I just want to check the things my mom said were in the attic.”
Finn followed me to the attic stairs. “Are they where you found the bins with the historical records?”
“No, not there,” I racked my brain, trying to remember where she’d said they were. Then it hit me. “In the corner of the room that has those oak bed frames and bookcases with the steamer trunks from the 1890s.”
Finn shook his head in a negative. “Your brain is scary sometimes. Lead the way. You know the attics way better than I do.”
He followed as I picked my way through the connected rooms of the attic until I spotted the wood and leather-bound steamer trunks stacked near several disassembled oak bed frames. Three cardboard moving boxes, newer than the furniture surrounding them, were stacked beside the steamer trunks.