this.”
“I can pay you any amount you name.” He reached into his jacket and pulled out an envelope. “In fact, I’ve calculated the amount I took, compounded the interest, and I’ve written you a check for the full amount. I did it just before I came upstairs.”
“It’s about money, but that’s not what I want.”
The envelope dipped slightly in his hand. “Then name your price, and I’ll gladly pay it.”
I reached into my purse and got the receipt Garrett had given me when I’d deposited the money from my mother in the safe.
“You can take this back. After all, it’s yours.”
He looked at the receipt, and then his expression changed into pain. “Then you don’t forgive me?”
“You don’t understand. It’s not my money. Even if it belonged to my grandparents, that doesn’t make it mine. Give it to Uncle Thomas, if you have to, but I don’t need it. We’re doing just fine.”
Zach nodded his approval, and I felt even prouder that I’d chosen him.
“I don’t know what to say,” he said.
“Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll think of something.”
Barton’s face brightened, and I knew I’d have a difficult time ever calling him Jeffrey, or even J.B. “May I keep calling you Barton?”
“Savannah, you may call me whatever you wish,” he said with a smile. “Just as long as you call me.”
“That’s a promise,” I said.
Zach coughed, and then said, “You two have a lot to talk about, and none of it concerns me. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll go into the bedroom so I can get back to work.”
I remembered the codes I was supposed to be working on, too. “Barton, would it be all right if we postponed this reunion for a few days? We’re really pushed for time here.”
“Of course you are,” he said. “We can get acquainted anytime.”
He moved toward me, and after a moment’s hesitation, Barton hugged me.
“Good night,” he said after quickly breaking it. “And thank you for giving me my life back.”
“It looks like you’re doing okay without us,” I said.
“That’s where you’re wrong. Without my family around me, all of this means nothing.”
After he was gone, Zach looked at me and whistled. “Wow, and people think I’m the detective in the family.”
“You would have figured it out, too, if you’d just spent the day with Uncle Thomas.”
“You’re giving me way too much credit again. Savannah, remind me never to get into a detecting contest with you. I’ve got a bad feeling that I’d come in second place if I did.”
“Let’s not worry about that right now. We have work to do.”
“We sure do, but I don’t know how you’re going to be able to focus on it. After all, you just found out you’re rich.”
“I’m not rich, my uncle is,” I said, the taste of the words feeling funny in my mouth.
“True.”
“And if I were, you would be, too.”
“Not me. I just married money.”
“And here I thought it was for love.”
He kissed me, and then Zach said, “Love’s the cake, the rest is just icing, no matter how much of it there is.”
“Let’s get to work. You’re making me hungry, talking about cake.”
“We could always order room service,” Zach suggested.
“That sounds like a great idea.”
I picked up the phone, ordered for both of us, and then found my husband staring at me. “Don’t you think you should have asked me what I wanted before you called?”
“I’m sorry,” I said as I picked the phone back up. “What did you want?”
“Steak, garlic mashed potatoes, and creamed spinach.”
“But that’s what I just ordered,” I said.
“I know, but it feels good when you ask.”
We both laughed, happy to have something to break the tension we were both feeling.
As we waited for the food to arrive, I took the copies and laid them out in the sequence they’d arrived in so I could study them better as a whole, and not just parts.
I wasn’t sure, but there was something there.
