“Mama,” she breathed, “Grandpa’s outside!”
Violet tugged her wrapper close as she hurried forward to steady Lily before she toppled off the chair.
And then she saw him.
A small, strangled sound caught in her throat.
Dear Lord, what was her father doing withhim? And what in the world possessed him to let William Ashford within a hundred feet of her home?
She blinked hard, as if willing her vision to be wrong.
But no—there he was.
Beside her father.
Sleeves rolled.
Hammer in hand.
William.
Sunlight skimmed across his fair hair and the smudge of dirt along his jaw. He listened to something her father said, then resumed hammering—carefully, stiffly, like a man unused to such labour but determined to be competent.
He looked nothing like the polished aristocrat who’d once broken her heart in his mother’s rose garden. And yet… he was unmistakably him.
Her stomach dropped—swift, instinctive, infuriating. She wrenched her gaze away and placed a steadying hand on her daughter’s back.
“Down you get now,” she told her gently.
Lily obeyed, sliding off the chair, and Violet pushed it back under the table—an unnecessary gesture, but somehow restoring that small bit of order eased the chaos twisting inside her.
She had barely straightened before a knock sounded at the door.
It would be her mother, right on time for her morning visit.
Violet arranged her face into a polite mask and opened the door.
Her mother stood there, apron dusted with flour, a basket hooked over her arm. She greeted Lily warmly, then followed the child’s excited pointing toward the yard.
“Your grandfather’s started early,” she said, brushing her granddaughter’s hair back with a fond smile.
“And he’s helping!” Lily chimed, practically vibrating.
Her mother’s brows lifted with a knowing calm…toocalm.
“Well. That is interesting.”
Her reaction had Violet narrowing her eyes and would have made her speak if Lily hadn’t burst in first.
“Can I go see? Please?” she asked, looking up at her grandmother with eager, wide eyes.
“Of course,” Edith said gently. “Your grandpa will be glad of your company.”
The words were barely out of her grandmother’s mouth before Lily bolted outside. Violet moved to the doorway beside her mother, watching as her little girl raced across the yard—barely reaching the halfway mark to the fence before she squealed, “Grandpa!”
Her father laughed and scooped her up. Lily’s giggles spilled into the morning air as her grandfather tickled her sides and lifted her high… then quieted as her gaze drifted past him, catching on the man standing a few paces away.
Violet watched William still under her daughter’s scrutiny. For a long moment, the two of them simply stared at one another—two pairs of wide eyes, curious and assessing.
