Page 26 of Fireworks & Forehead Kisses

We’d gotten to know each other when Stella had to take power naps during the day and when I cooked lunch. I loved cooking, and Dorothy seemed to enjoy someone preparing food for her. Stella didn’t seem to like to eat, but I insisted that shedid. She was too thin not to. I do think she was coming to enjoy having lunch with everyone.

“Hey, here you go.” I handed him a plate of brownies that I’d baked over the weekend.

“What’s this?” he asked.

“Brownies I baked over the weekend. If I leave them in the house, I’ll eat the whole pan. Usually, I’d give them to my sister, but she is pregnant, and anything chocolate sounds horrible to her, so I thought maybe you’d like them.”

“Oh, thank you.”

“Mrs. Wolfe is in the library,” he explained.

“Who is out at the stables?”

“Oh, that’s Craig.”

“Craig?”

“He’s the horse carer. He and his wife, June, moved into the guest house. June’s a sweetheart. She’s a retired nurse.”

“Is she?”

A retired nurse. Hmm, how interesting. Stella had been dead set against having a nurse here, and yet Craig’s wife happens to be a retired nurse.

“Yeah. She’s young, too. In her mid-forties, but she was able to take an early retirement.”

“Wow, that’s great.”

Declan Wolfe, I had to give credit where credit was due.

Well played, sir. Well played.

As I walked down the hall, I was so busy being impressed by Declan’s checkmate chess move that I totally forgot I didn’t know where I was going.

I turned around and asked. “Oh, um, where is the?—”

Fred pointed. “Sorry, it’s actually in the west wing. Third door on the right.”

“Got it. Thanks.”

I turned and headed down the opposite hallway. When I got to the third door, I saw that it was open a crack. I walked inside and found Stella standing behind a large desk, looking like a boss babe. Her short hair was slicked back; she was wearing a white turtleneck, gold hoop earrings, a gold necklace, and black slim-framed glasses. There were what looked like a hundred swatches laid out on the massive desk in front of her.

“Good morning!” I greeted her as I walked inside.

When she looked up, I saw that her eyes were swollen and filled with tears. It was obvious she’d been crying.

“Are you…is everything okay?”

“Yes.” She wiped away her tears. “My grandson, he was in an accident.”

“Oh no. Is he okay?” I didn’t know Declan, and what I did know I wasn’t even sure I liked, but for some reason the news really upset me.

“He will be. He’s in the hospital.”

“I’m so sorry. I was supposed to email him some information, but I won’t?—”

“Why would you email Derek?”

“Oh, Derek.” I felt a sense of relief. “I thought you meant Declan.”

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