Chapter 9 - A House Without Fear
Three months later, the Hardwick estate sounded different.
People laughed.
That was the first thing Laura noticed.
Emily sang badly while arranging flowers.
Percy mocked Bess’s obsession with perfectly aligned table settings.
The cook threatened anyone who touched her pies before dinner.
Nobody lowered their eyes when footsteps approached.
Celeste no longer lived there.
She had accepted a plea agreement for her role in Lantern, provided evidence against Hale, and entered a supervised rehabilitation program after testifying.
Laura had visited once.
Celeste apologized.
Not to Laura first.
To Emily.
Then the cook.
Then Bess.
Nobody was required to forgive her.
Laura thought that mattered.
Warren Hale faced federal charges built partly on Daniel’s evidence.
His network was dismantled piece by piece.
Daniel Beckett’s death was officially reopened and reclassified as murder.
Laura received a letter acknowledging his role in exposing Lantern.
She placed it beside their mother’s brass lantern.
Garrett found her there one evening.
“You're crying.”
“No.”
“You are.”
“Go away.”
“No.”
Laura wiped her face.
“You're extremely annoying.”
“I've been told.”
His gunshot wound had healed, leaving another scar.
Laura had resigned as a maid.
She had intended to leave entirely.
Garrett had reacted badly.
Not angrily.
Worse.
Quietly.
He had helped carry her suitcase downstairs.
Then stood beside the front door looking like someone had removed all the oxygen from the room.
Laura lasted forty seconds.
“Ask me to stay properly.”
Garrett had looked at her.
“I thought you didn't want me to.”
“I don't want you ordering me.”
Understanding had slowly appeared.
“Laura Beckett, would you stay?”
“Why?”
His jaw tightened.
Apparently feelings remained more frightening than gunfire.
“Because the house is better with you in it.”
“Coward.”
“Because I'm better with you in it.”
“Closer.”
He stared.
Then surrendered.
“Because I love you.”
Laura had dropped her suitcase.
Now, weeks later, Garrett found her standing beside Daniel's lantern.
“Dinner's ready.”
“Who cooked?”
“Margaret.”
“Then why are you telling me?”
“Because apparently owning the house doesn't exempt me from errands.”
“It shouldn't.”
He wrapped his arms around her waist.
Laura leaned against him.
“I've been thinking.”
“Dangerous.”
She elbowed him gently.
“About leaving domestic service.”
Garrett became careful.
“What do you want to do?”
Laura looked toward Daniel's photograph.
“Elena said there’s a victims’ advocacy organization looking for someone to run its financial-crimes support program.”
“You'd be good at it.”
“You think?”
“I know.”
Laura turned.
“You're not going to offer to fund the whole organization?”
“I already did.”
She stared.
Garrett realized his mistake.
“Anonymous donation.”
“Garrett.”
“They needed money.”
“You are impossible.”
“Yes.”
She kissed him anyway.
That night the staff ate together in the formal dining room.
Not the servants' dining room.
Garrett had ordered the distinction abolished.
Bess initially protested.
Then discovered she enjoyed correcting Garrett’s table manners.
Halfway through dessert, Malcolm entered.
He carried an envelope.
“For Laura.”
No return address.
Laura opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
Daniel.
He stood beside another man.
On the back:
Your brother saved more than you know. Ask Garrett about the boy.
Laura looked up.
Garrett's face had gone pale.
“What boy?”
Nobody spoke.
Laura slowly stood.
“Garrett.”
He closed his eyes.
“There is something Daniel made me promise never to tell you unless Lantern was destroyed.”
Her heart began pounding.
“What?”
Garrett looked at the photograph.
Then at Laura.
“Daniel had a son.”
Laura stopped breathing.
“What?”
“He was eighteen months old when Daniel died.”
Her chair scraped backward.
“Where is he?”
“Safe.”
“Where?”
Garrett swallowed.
“Boston.”
Laura stared at him with tears already filling her eyes.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“For six years?”
“Yes.”
She slapped him.
The room froze.
Garrett accepted it without moving.
Laura's voice broke.
“You knew I had family.”
“I knew Daniel believed the child would die if anyone discovered him.”
“You should have told me.”
“I know.”
“Don't say that!”
She ran.
Garrett did not follow.
Not immediately.
Bess looked at him.
“You're an idiot.”
“Yes.”
“Go.”
Garrett found Laura beside the front gate.
She was crying so hard she could barely speak.
“What's his name?”
“Benjamin.”
“How old?”
“Seven.”
“Does he know about me?”
Garrett nodded.
Laura turned.
“He knows?”
“Daniel left letters. His foster parents gave them to him.”
She covered her mouth.
“Does he want to meet me?”
Garrett reached into his coat.
He handed her a folded piece of paper.
On it, written in a child's uneven handwriting, were seven words.
Dear Aunt Laura, can I come home?
Laura sank to her knees.
Garrett knelt beside her.
She cried against his chest.
May you like
And for once, Garrett Hardwick did not try to fix anything.
He simply held her.
