Victoria held out her arms for Charlie, who Noah finally relinquished.
The way they passed around her little boy as if he was part of their family shone the sweetest bright spot into this moment. What would it feel like to find a family like this to love … and in which to be loved?
“George is in such debt, the bank wouldn't offer him any more loans.” Victoria pressed a kiss to Charlie's cheek. “So he must have been desperate enough to steal from his own mill. I'm meeting with the solicitor to go over the particulars of the will and see exactly how all the property was divided.”
“I plan to look into some of the other banks next week to investigate whether George has taken out loans anywhere else,” Noah added. “But this …” He pointed to the desk. “We can easily pair these costs with the ones we've charged other people and show the purposeful overcharging without any exaggeration to the story at all.”
“But even if we prove that he overcharged them, we need to check the ledgers. Then we'd have proof of whether or not he's pocketing the money and stealing from the company.” Kizzie stepped closer to him, drawing his attention. “Once word gets out that we know something, George will be sure to get rid of any evidence lickety-split.”
He stared at her, taking in her words, appreciation warming those hazel eyes of his. “Which means we need to search his office tonight.” Noah drew his watch out of his pocket. “The watchmen change over in a half hour. If we get there early, I think I can convince Jones to distract Sykes for the time we need to sneak into the office. Bribery for the good, right?” Noah winked at Kizzie. “And Jones can help give us the time we need to search.”
“We?” Kizzie looked up at him, still a little distracted from the effect his wink had on her pulse. “You want me to go with you?”
A wonderful feeling bloomed through her chest and ignited her smile.
He grinned down at her. “You'll make sense of the numbers much faster than I ever could.” He searched her face, his voice gentle and welcoming. “That is, if you're willing to go with me and have Charlie stay with Mother.”
Kizzie looked over at Victoria, who answered by kissing Charlie's round cheek again. “We'll be right here, safer than either of you.”
Kizzie blinked a few times and shrugged her shoulders before turning back to Noah. “I'm willing.”
Chapter 23
VICTORIA GAVEKIZZIE A BLACKcoat to wear instead of the green one she'd worn to their house.
“It will hide you better,” she said, sending a wink to Noah with an added glint to her eyes.
His mother's knowing look, tinged with a little matchmaking mischief, ignited all sorts of sparks in Noah's chest he shouldn't have while taking Kizzie into a dark mill to secretly search for evidence of his brother's villainy. Not to mention also trying to avoid being caught by a crooked watchman.
Instead of drawing attention by taking the carriage, they walked the short distance from the house down to the mill, keeping to the shadows as best they could.
With quick work, Noah filled Jones in with an abbreviated version of the current situation, and the older man, a contemporary of his father's, grumbled through a few unsavory comments related to George's and Sykes’ ungentlemanly and abhorrent behavior.
Instead of being offended, Kizzie attempted to hide her humor behind her gloved hand.
And Noah fell a little more in love with her.
Because, without a doubt, he was.
Falling. Sometimes, even jumping in with eyes wide open. How his heart could love two such different women as Elinor and Kizzie only proved the bigness of God's ability to grow a person's heart through grief and trial.
Of course, he wasn't the same man he'd been when he'd first courted and then married Elinor. Life, grief, and a great deal of growing up had changed him, so perhaps Kizzie was exactly the perfect woman for the man he was now.
Jones agreed to help keep Sykes distracted and, at the half-hour mark, ensure he was far away from the office so Noah and Kizzie could slip out of the mill and back to the house without Sykes knowing about it.
The plan sounded fairly foolproof, but since Noah had never delved into sleuthing of any sort, his confidence quivered a little. However, Kizzie didn't appear nervous in the least. In fact, she plunged toward the office stairs without a hint of hesitation.
They got to the second floor just as the sound of a door closed below them.
Sykes was early.
Kizzie looked over at Noah, and without a word, he grabbed her hand and drew her the short distance down the hallway to the office he and his brother shared. Strange as it was, Noah spent little time in the large room, as most of his work kept him on the production floor. So his side of the room was fairly sparse. But George's side was crowded with a large rolltop desk framed by two bookshelves and a massive window on one side.
Noah led her to the desk and dug into his pocket, retrieving a key.
“I've never used this key for Father's desk because I hadn't any need for it, but I'm certainly glad he gave both George and me a copy of it now.” He unlocked the desk, and the top rolled back to reveal nooks and crannies crammed with papers, ledgers, receipt books, and Noah wasn't certain what else.
“We might need more than a half hour for this,” Kizzie whispered, studying the disorganized conglomeration.
