Harlequin Romance March 2021 Box Set Cara Colter (the mitten read aloud TXT) 📖

and will be willing to share it. If not, then maybe she suspects something or can toss me a bone. If she doesn’t…’ She trailed off.

He leaned his elbows on his knees and stared at the boat pond. Three children were sailing remote-controlled boats and Callie couldn’t help thinking it looked like fun.

‘You also have the letters, so there’s a chance you could find a clue there. Or maybe even the truth.’

Except so far she hadn’t had the courage to open them. Dread flooded her every time she picked one up. Callie was an adult now. Her mother didn’t get to make decisions for her any more. But there had to be a good reason she’d never told Callie about Frances—and a good reason why she’d never been reconciled with her mother.

Opening them felt disloyal. And a part of her was scared—scared that she’d come to like Frances. And she didn’t want to like someone who’d done something awful to her mother. She wanted to find out what had happened between the two women first. She’d relegated reading those letters to being her last course of action.

‘You said you wanted to video yourself talking to the camera and explaining how you’ve traced your family tree from the few seeds you’ve been thrown?’ Owen said.

Glad for the distraction, she nodded.

‘Then how’s this for a plan? I could rearrange my work schedule, and one day next week we could head up to Ellerslie. The house is currently vacant, but there’s a caretaker couple who’ve worked there for years. We could have a rummage around and maybe film on location there. We’ll probably have to stay overnight at a nearby inn, but that shouldn’t be a problem.’

Her whole body became electrified at the thought—visit the family estate?

‘Have you ever been there?’ she asked. ‘It looks stunning. The photographs are amazing…’

‘I had no idea Frances even owned an estate until after her death.’

‘It’d be wonderful to do some filming there—it would add a real wow factor. Are you sure we’re allowed?’

‘I’m the executor of Frances’s will. If your mother refuses her inheritance I’m going to have to oversee the sale of the property. At some point I’m going to have to inspect it to see if any work needs to be done.’

‘What about your boss? Won’t he mind? Can you just take off like that?’

He glanced up into the blue of the sky and she figured he was mentally tallying up his work schedule.

‘I can swing it,’ he said finally.

To have that kind of leeway and freedom at work had to mean that he was seriously good at his job—that his employer was willing to give him the world in order to keep him. That was what she wanted—to be so good at something, so competent, that her job would never be in jeopardy again.

‘And you’re sure it’d be okay for me to tag along?’

How would her mother feel about Callie visiting Ellerslie?

Owen leaned forward to clasp her hands, as if sensing the tug of war going on inside her. ‘As your mother’s deputy, I’d have thought you have an obligation to see the house.’

‘But my mother hasn’t made me her deputy,’ honesty forced her to point out.

He hesitated. ‘You’ve kept those letters that Donna returned because you think she needs to read them. In that same spirit you have to see the estate so you can give her… I don’t know…a report on it. At least take some photos to send her.’

That made sense. ‘You want her to accept her inheritance, don’t you?’

He hesitated, and then nodded. Then, ‘Can I ask you something? Why consider rejecting your inheritance when Frances has put no conditions on it? I don’t understand your reasoning. Why not just accept it and treasure it as the gift it is?’

Callie knew he saw it as his honour-bound duty to ensure Frances’s wishes were fulfilled. And in the service of that he’d put pressure on Callie to accept her inheritance. His loyalty belonged to Frances, not her.

She pulled in a breath. ‘If something really bad happened between Frances and my mother—and I think it’s pretty clear something did—if Frances treated my mother cruelly… Then to accept my inheritance would be…’ she searched her mind for the right words ‘…tacit approval for whatever it was she did. Accepting her money would be like taking a bribe to turn a blind eye to the past.’

If Frances had treated Donna reprehensibly, then she’d show solidarity with her mother. She’d turn her back completely on Frances and her world of wealth and privilege.

‘I think both you and your mother have misjudged Frances.’

And after hearing about Frances today… ‘A part of me hopes you’re right,’ she said.

Frances’s story had struck a chord with her—maybe because of her own ill-fated love affair—and she felt as if she had a lot in common with the other woman. Just as Frances had thought with Richard, Callie had believed she’d have everything she’d ever wanted—family, children, financial stability, love—with Dominic. Both she and Frances had been cruelly disillusioned.

‘It may all turn out to be nothing more than a big misunderstanding,’ said Callie. And if that were the case then she might be able to make things right.

‘Callie, you have a right to visit the estate. It’s your family history too.’

She lifted her chin. It was.

For the time being she’d concentrate on the simplest of her current concerns—the TV job. She had every intention of applying for it, regardless of whatever else happened, and video footage of the estate would add serious drama to her little documentary.

She rubbed her hands together. ‘That job is so mine. My documentary is going to knock the interview panel’s socks off.’

He grinned back. ‘Look, I know you’re all over this video of yours, but don’t forget I’m a tech nerd, with some serious hardware back at my apartment.’

Her heart gave a giant kick. ‘You’d help me turn my little home video into something seriously slick?’

He raised his hands skyward. ‘I thought you’d never ask.’

‘Oh,