“I will leave you women to chat and unwind before Fergus has a chance to ruin my dinner.” With that, Charles chuckled and left the three women to gab.

Myra and Annie helped Charlotte unpack as they caught each other up on superficial things. Myra was careful not to prod Charlotte too much. She wanted Charlotte to offer the information they needed freely and not feel that she was being grilled for it. If only to save her any embarrassment.

Myra gave Charlotte a big hug, and Annie wrapped her arms around both of them.

“Freshen up, dear. Charles will call us when we are about to start the festivities.”

“I hope you didn’t go to too much trouble. The tickets and the limo service were over the top.”

Myra and Annie gave her a wry look. “You can’t be serious,” Annie hooted. “You’re dealing with us, remember?”

Loud laughter filled the room.

“I cannot tell you how much better I feel right now.” Tears started to well in Charlotte’s eyes.

“And you just got here. Just wait until dinner! You will feel like you died and went to heaven,” Annie said, smacking her lips.

* * *

When Myra made her way back to the kitchen, she noticed a slightly grim expression on Charles’s face. “What is it, dear?”

Charles cleared his throat. “We have some new information about the ‘miracle doctors.’ Avery sent it a short while ago. Fergus is downstairs, sorting it out.”

“Charles, you know the rules,” Myra admonished him.

“Yes, old girl, I do. My point is, we are going to have to think seriously about this situation, gather the intel from Nikki, then read Avery’s report. There is definitely something amiss.”

Myra took a deep breath. “At least she’s here and out from under them.”

“For now,” Charles reminded her.

“Yes, for now, and she isn’t leaving until we get to the bottom of this.” Myra pecked him on the cheek and patted his fanny. “That roast smells divine.” She knew how to change the subject, even if it was only on the surface she thought as she headed to the dining room.

In the meanwhile, Charlotte was making her way from the other side of the farmhouse toward the dining room. The aroma coming from the kitchen was calling to her. She realized that she hadn’t eaten much in the past fifteen hours.

When she approached the dining room, she gasped at the beautiful table setting. In the middle of the table was a large vase with branches of cherry blossoms surrounded by white peonies. The arrangement had to be at least four feet high. “This is breathtaking,” she gasped. Glancing at the place settings, she could barely speak. “Myra! This is spectacular! You didn’t tell me this was going to be a formal affair. Who on your A-list is coming?”