All or Nothing at All (Stevens Book 3)

Chapter 21

Grace stood looking at the massive house in the distance. She came to the same spot, just at the edge of a copse of trees, and looked her fill at the empty house most days.  She had arrived two weeks earlier and one week after Melinda Downs. Cybil had been right about the woman. She was a tall and lanky redhead, who wore and abundance of makeup and perfume and did not dress to work. Her tailored clothes were always pristine and never had a spec of dirt on them despite the fact that she worked at a dig site.

Realizing that she was only torturing herself, she turned away from the house and walked back through the trees towards the dig site. They had been pulling artifacts from the earth nonstop since she had arrived and part of her felt like a kid in a candy store at all of the wonderful things they were discovering, but the other part of her was constantly on edge.

They had cleaned up for the day and most of the students who were helping on the dig site had taken the van into town to enjoy some down time. Grace walked over to the portable buildings and sat in a chair outside her door enjoying the cool breeze and the smell of the freshly turned earth. She was so deep in a dream of what could have been that she didn't hear the horse's hooves behind her on the soft grass.

"I thought it was you," The soft welsh accent caught her off guard and she turned to see Tom Hill, Bryce's land manager, dismounting his horse.

"I was hoping you didn't notice me," Grace said as she rose and held out her hand.

Tom had been to the site earlier that day and had been taken around by Melinda, who had showed him all of their new discoveries while taking credit for them all, just as Cybil had feared.

"You're a hard woman to miss even with a large hat and sunglasses." He grinned as he looked around. "Where is everyone?"

"They went into the village to blow off a little steam."

He nodded looking at her closely. "Why didn't you want me to notice you?"

"I'm trying to stay out of sight.  The Earl and I had a disagreement, and I'm not sure that I would be welcome if he knew I was here. Cybil asked that I come and keep an eye on things, and she's a hard girl to say no to." Grace kept it simple.

Tom smiled. "That she is." They were silent for a moment and Grace debated whether she should ask him to keep her presence a secret, but as soon as she had the thought she knew it was unfair of her to ask. 

"Right now it's quiet, but most of the family arrives later this week for the laying of the corner stone for a new village hall in honor of their grandfather. It's rare that they're all here together," Tom shared. It was a blanket statement, and she wasn't sure if he was trying to tell her to keep a low profile or that she hadn't a hope in hell of keeping her presence a secret. She sighed at the thought of having to deal with the Stevenses in mass.

"I won't mention that you're here, but it's bound to get out," he confirmed the latter.

"Thanks for that." She nodded, knowing that he didn't have to do that much for her. She knew Clive was coming that weekend and now she knew why. If the whole family was in residence then it was too good of a chance for him to miss.

"It's good to see you, Grace." He nodded before remounting his horse and leaving her to try and figure out the best escape route.

True to Tom's word, that Friday, the family started to arrive, and Melinda spent most of the day up at the house and off site, leaving Grace to work steadily while doing her best to ignore the butterflies in her stomach at the thought of Bryce being so near.

When Melinda arrived back that evening, she knocked on her door looking for a little chat. Grace did her best to let her know she wasn't interested, but the woman wasn't taking no for an answer, and Grace spent an hour listening to her talk about her new friends.