“It’s marvelous.”
He nodded at the desk. “She wrote most of her novels right there.”
She scanned the room again, imagining Olivia’s many characters all chattering like friends, ready for a new adventure. Were any of them still waiting to be launched? “This room is crowded with characters.”
“Let’s hope they don’t all start talking at once.”
“Oh, they’re talking right now.” And she hoped they never stopped.
Did any of them know what happened to their creator?
Pink shimmered on the horizon, and in the distance, beyond the trees, she saw a thread of blue. Soon the sun would be setting, and she still needed to show Finn the gold button with Simon’s name.
But first. “Before we leave, and this may sound crazy—”
He raised a brow. “You’ve already established a lack of normalcy.”
“Good, because I’d hate to mislead you.”
“You’re about as transparent as they come, Harper.”
“Not always a good thing, I guess...”
“What sounds crazy?” he asked.
“Do you remember that scene inGrace Havenwhere the heroine is trying to stop a man from cheating her family?”
“I’m afraid I haven’t read that book.”
“She hides a ledger behind...” Harper stepped away from the windows. “Why didn’t you read that book?”
“I don’t read much fiction.”
Much fiction or... “Have you read any of Olivia’s books?”
“I’ve skimmed a few. Read their synopses.”
She planted both fists on her hips. “You manage her estate!”
“But not her writing.”
“How can you possibly serve her well if you don’t read her stories?”
He straightened the water globe. “We were talking aboutGrace Haven, right?”
“Are you trying to distract me?”
“Very much.”
“Fair enough.” Harper eyed the panels on both sides of the fireplace. “The book is set in the 1800s and describes a really unique office with a fireplace and built-in letter slots and a glass globe.”
“Olivia often wrote about places and things familiar to her.”
“There’s a panel in the fictional office, Finn. Right beside the fireplace. It slides like a pocket door.”
His gaze fell to the wide panels that divided the fireplace from the windows. “There’s no moving panel here.”
“Are you sure?”
