Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 49458 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 247(@200wpm)___ 198(@250wpm)___ 165(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 49458 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 247(@200wpm)___ 198(@250wpm)___ 165(@300wpm)
Marmalade meowed, drawing Essie’s attention. He stretched and headed for one of the chairs where the pair had sat. After turning exactly three and a half circles, the orange tabby flopped and closed his eyes. Essie shook her head at the mysterious creature and turned back to her work.
A thought popped into her mind. “Aunt Esther? Uncle Edmund? Could you help me find some pictures of the ballroom? Could you show me how you designed that area? After your canoodling, of course.”
Marmalade opened one eye to rebuke her for disturbing his rest. Essie quickly apologized, “Sorry! I’ll be quiet now.”
She picked up her fork and tried a chunk of pineapple. Yum!
Chapter Eleven
Essie had breathed a sigh of relief when Zander and Ivan guided the last massive chair out of the attic. Her aunt and uncle had kindly provided a bunch of faded but viewable photos of the ballroom as that beautiful space had been years ago. Whoever had stored the furnishings on the top floor had grouped together the pieces in the east corner. As soon as the cleaning crew could polish them to their original shine, Essie could arrange the ballroom in its original glory.
Even wearing a mask over her mouth, she’d had to work in short segments in the attic to avoid dust problems. Essie had decided Zander must be part dust bunny because nothing bothered him at all. He’d helped her with the ballroom and cleaning the nursery. Now that they’d rescued everything from the storage area, he could concentrate on that special room on their third floor.
That third key still intrigued Essie. She had searched the sitting area and their bedroom but hadn’t found another concealed keyhole. Whatever that last key opened had to be inside the nursery. Zander had confiscated the keys to keep her from searching until the hidden room was safe for her.
Glancing up from her computer, Essie wondered if he’d left those keys in their room somewhere. She could go take a quick peek while he was working on his estate. In a flash, she reached the staircase. Slowing down between the second and third floors, Essie had second thoughts. Zander would not be happy if she poked her nose back into the nursery.
She pushed possible consequences out of her mind and powered up the last few steps. The door to the suite of rooms sat cracked open. “Sara? Are you up here cleaning?” Essie called.
When no one answered, she figured Sara had simply missed getting the latch clicked fully. Essie could smell the lemon wood polish Sara always had the staff use to make the rooms so appealing. To ensure no one was tidying the bathroom, Essie walked through the rooms quickly. The place was deserted.
If Zander had left the keys, they’d have to be in a drawer. Essie ran her hand inside each section of the dresser Zander had claimed. He didn’t have a lot of clothes in the mansion since his things were still being fumigated back at his estate. Finding nothing, she checked his pants hanging in the closet and even searched inside the duffel he’d brought to the room.
Sighing deeply, she propped her hands on her hips and looked around the bedroom. “If I were a set of keys, where would I be?”
“Buried deep in my pocket, away from a Little girl who’s not supposed to explore,” Zander said.
“Oh!” Essie whirled around to see Zander leaning against the doorframe. “Hi!” Instantly, her heart rate sped into overdrive. He’d caught her.
“Hi, yourself. What are you up to?”
How long had he watched her? “I decided to take a break, and I wanted to see if there were any more photos I should check out.” That sounded logical, right? She watched his face, hoping he wasn’t suspicious.
“Don’t you think Sara would have found them when she cleaned these rooms?” Zander asked, walking toward her.
“Maybe not. I mean, Sara’s great at her job, but she wasn’t searching for photos.” Essie felt a twinge of guilt for suggesting Sara would miss anything.
“Your aunt took everything before she closed the rooms, remember?”
“Things could fall down behind a dresser or in the back of the closet,” Essie suggested, trying to cover her tracks in case he’d seen her searching.
“True.” Zander stopped a foot away from her and studied her.
His blue eyes seemed to stare into her soul. Essie swallowed hard. He hadn’t guessed what she was really doing, had he? He pushed his hand into his pocket and pulled out the keys. “You weren’t looking for these, were you?”
“Why would I need those?” she asked, hoping she sounded innocent.
“Why indeed? Unless you’d chosen to be naughty and you wanted to peek into the nursery?”
She widened her eyes as if in shock. “Oh, no. You told me to stay out of the nursery until you got the room completely cleared of dust.”