Captiva Ever After (Captiva Island Series #7)

Millie smiled. “Yes, I believe I have. Nice to meet you, Linda.”

“Millie is our new housekeeper. She’s also going to handle our bookkeeping, so if you have any questions or need to talk about money, you’ll want to talk to Millie from now on.”

Linda nodded. “Well, I best be on my way. I’ve got so many people to talk to. Thank you again, Maggie, for being so understanding. You ladies have a lovely day.”

As Linda walked out the front door, Maggie turned on her heels and faced Millie. “Now, let’s you and I get better acquainted, shall we?”

* * *

Maggie invited Millie to sit in the chair opposite her. “Most of the time this room is locked. I’m the only one who comes in here so you don’t have to worry about cleaning it. It’s a special place where I like to sit and read.”

“Are these books special in some way?” Millie asked.

Maggie nodded. “To me they certainly are. The woman who owned this property became a special person in my life. Even though she and I really didn’t know each other very well, she seemed to understand what I was going through when we first met.”

Millie looked up at the photos on the wall. “My mother told me that she was happiest whenever she looked at pictures of Captiva.”

“Yes, you mentioned that your mother lived on Captiva but that you all moved to Maine shortly after you were born. Is that where your father was from?”

Millie squirmed in her chair and shrugged. “My step-father. I never met my father. Yeah, my step-father was from Maine. He left us when I was twelve, so my mother raised me by herself.”

“I can imagine that wasn’t an easy thing for her to do. I’m surprised that she didn’t return to Captiva since she loved it so much. Was she from here as well?”

Millie nodded but didn’t say much about her mother. Maggie thought she’d already asked more questions than she usually did when learning about a new hire, and wondered how much more she could learn from Millicent Brenner.

“Millie, I’m sorry if it seems like I’m prying, but we’re a family-run business and I think of all my employees as part of our family. I hope at some point you won’t see my questions as snooping but more as genuine concern for your well-being. I know you mentioned that you had friends nearby. Invite them down anytime. We’d love to meet them.”

“Thank you, Maggie. I appreciate that.”

“Why don’t you wait here at Ciara’s desk and I’ll let her know that you’re ready to go over the bookkeeping software.”

Millie sat at the desk and Maggie went out onto the back porch.

“She’s definitely holding back. I mentioned her friends and she never flinched. I have no idea what’s going on with her, but as much as possible, we need to keep an eye on her.”

“That’s going to be easy for the next couple of weeks but after that, I’m going to need an excuse for why I’m around so much if I’m handing over my job to her.”

Maggie nodded. “You’re right. For now, we’ll all watch her. I’ll ask Sarah and Trevor to do a bit of investigating online. I’m terrible at that stuff but they seem to do everything online these days. Hopefully by the end of the year we’ll know everything there is to know about Millicent Brenner.”

CHAPTER 16

Lauren was unaccustomed to her grandmother’s house looking so cluttered and disorganized. Ever since Grandma Sarah had returned from her cruise, she seemed less interested in things that she usually focused on and more interested in planning her next adventure.

She wore bright colors and jewelry for the first time in years, and her comfortable shoes were replaced with fashionable heels.

Television had never been that important to her grandmother, but the last two times that Lauren visited her the television was on and a reality dating show was on the screen. Tonight was no different.

“Grandma, are you really watching this show?” Lauren asked.

“Oh, yes, did you watch it last week? I don’t think this woman is on the show for the right reasons. I think she just wants to get a television contract. That happens all the time. They say come on the show to find love, but they don’t mean it.”

Lauren shook her head. “No. I don’t watch this show or any reality show. I’m surprised that you do.”

Lauren followed her grandmother into the bedroom. While they talked, Grandma Sarah walked from one room to the other. Taking clothes from a closet, then folding and stuffing them into her suitcase.

“What are you doing?” Lauren asked.

“I’m packing. Winston and I are going to Key West, Florida.”