Chapters (66)
- Cover
- Dedication
- Keep Reading
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Fifty-Four
- Fifty-Five
- Fifty-Six
- Fifty-Seven
- Fifty-Eight
- Fifty-Nine
- Sneak Peek
- Find Me
- Books by Mary Catherine Gebhard
- Acknowledgments
“Sure…” His kindness was off-putting. He’s been sure to be cold, like everyone else. To let me know how little he approves of what I’m doing.
We cleaned in silence, dusting Grayson’s sparse furniture, polishing what needed to be polished. I keep waiting for a lecture, something.
We headed up to the second floor, and my heart beat faster. I took one corner of the sheets, and my uncle took another as we removed them to put on a fresh pair of linens.
“I’ve found you a place,” my uncle said casually.
I paused. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, you need somewhere to work. I found you somewhere to work. You can’t work here anymore. You must know how the servants view you.”
“Well, yes, I do.”
“I don’t know what you’re thinking, Story. I know you’re smarter than this. I have to assume something else happened, more than simply looking him in the eyes. I’ve found you somewhere to work, an estate in Scotland.”
Scotland.
I looked at the linens in my hand and back again to his bed that I’ve slept in, where I’ve done more than sleep. We’ve whispered secrets, we’ve shared pieces of our soul, but when it comes down to it, this is who I am.
I change his sheets.
Gray always said the contract wasn’t about sex, because I would give it to him. If I could just last until Christmas, I’d have enough money to set Uncle up for life, but I don’t know anymore. There was one escape clause—leave Crowne Point forever.
I never thought I’d even consider it.
But I can’t be my mother.
Now Uncle was giving me a place to escape to.
A crash pulled me out of my thoughts. Uncle dropped his side of the sheets, falling into Grayson’s night table, pushing the lamp off, shattering on the floor.
“Uncle?” Fear strangled my throat. “Uncle!” He was awake, but cross eyed and loose limbed, barely held up by the nightstand against his thighs. I ran to him, grappling with his body, sliding my arms under his as his body weight transferred to mine. We both slid down, when suddenly the weight lifted.
Grayson.
My heart pounded with his arrival. I’d started to expect his hardened voice. His shadowy presence whenever things were starting to go south. That was wrong. That wasn’t good. Because I knew without a shadow of a doubt there would come a day when Grayson wouldn’t be there.
When I would have to carry the weight on my shoulders alone, once more.