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The following week proceeds without major incident. There are no more sabotage attempts. Luann has either stopped sneaking out, or she’s found a way to do so without alerting me. Victoria is quieter and more subdued than she was when I met her, but she is calm, at least. Julian’s late-night phone calls with Robert either cease, or he keeps his promise to me and takes them outside of the house.

There is a slight scandal over the poisoned grapes, but it is quickly hushed. Julian apparently is aware of the skeletons in the various closets because, other than a brief report in the local news and a short post in an online wine review magazine, I'm not aware of any press coverage regarding the Listeria outbreak. The entire Pinot Noir harvest is purged, and a process is put in place to inspect the Chardonnay and Riesling prior to bottling.

Speaking of the white grapes, the harvest begins this week. There are a dozen employees visiting from the commercial vineyard, working from sunrise to sunset. Perhaps that is why there are no sabotage attempts. The harvesters stay at the house, sleeping four to a room in vacant servants' quarters.

With the adults kept busy with the harvest, I am able to find a routine with the children. Over the course of the week, they settle into the routine and just like their mother, they relax.

Best of all, I am able to relax too. I have no more nightmares and no more concerning breaks from reality like the scene in the forest. I enjoy my coffee in the mornings, teach the children, enjoy afternoons at the beach or in town with them—I won’t go back to the forest—and return home to enjoy my evening with a book. I’ve finished A Caribbean Mystery and moved on to Nemesis .

In this novel, Miss Marple once more encounters a mystery with Jason Rafiel, although the poor Jason is deceased at the time of this novel. It’s a rather darker adventure than the previous book, but once again, I have the comfort of knowing that it ends happily.

I’m beginning to hope that this story will end happily. Sean calls me that Saturday morning and announces that after a week of investigating Julian, he is confident that Julian had nothing to do with the sabotage attempts.

“The fire was started by a disgruntled employee who wasn’t happy with his severance package. I was able to trace his movements for several days prior to the fire. I also read some very informative social media rants. Julian was definitely not in cahoots with him.”

“And Robert Cartwright?”

“No, he’s not involved either. As for the Listeria , that’s a bit harder to tell, but I’m still leaning toward it being an accident. There were thirteen reports of Listeria contamination in the United States last year, and one of them resulted in a far worse outbreak than this one. I think this is just part of the job.”

That’s more or less what Julian said to Victoria. My suspicions ease somewhat.

“I’m delighted to hear that,” I reply. “I’m glad he isn’t a bad sort. It’s always nice to find that I’m not working for a terrible person.”

“You do seem to have a type, don’t you?”

“What does that say about you?” I retort.

“I’ve always known that I’m a horrible person.”

I roll my eyes. “You’re lucky that’s not true.”

“ You’re lucky that’s not true. But what about the servants? Have you found any leads with them?”

My cheeks flame, and I suppose my hesitation answers his question because he says, “You haven’t investigated the servants, have you?”

“I can’t believe it, but it’s slipped my mind again. I just… I was caught up in—”

“That’s all right. No need to make excuses. I investigated them myself. Grant was once arrested for aggravated assault.”

“Grant? The driver?” I can’t picture the gentle, softspoken Grant being violent with anyone.

“That’s the one. Fortunately, it was quickly established that Grant was not guilty, being that he was in an entirely different city at the time. As for the rest, they’re clean as a whistle. Not proof that nothing’s going on, but that combined with the Bellamys’ good reputation as employers suggests to me that this isn’t an inside job like we believed it was.”

I smile. “Thank you, Sean. You really are a lifesaver.”

“I really am. Do you know why else I’m a lifesaver?”

“Why?”

“Because I’m not going to give you hell about the other thing that’s slipped your mind.”

“The other…” Then I realize. It’s the weekend again, and I haven’t even thought to come visit him. “Oh, Sean! I’m so sorry!”

“That’s all right. I said I won’t give you hell, and I won’t. But you should look out of the kitchen window.”

I frown and do as he says. When I see him there with his roguish smile and a bouquet of flowers in his hand, I lose myself. The next thing I’m aware of is being in his arms, my lips pressed against his, weeping into his shoulder.

“There, there, love,” he says softly. “That’s all right. I’m here.”

"Oh, Sean. I've missed you."

“I know. I suppose I’ve missed you too.”

I slap his chest lightly, and we both laugh. I pull away just in time to hear Victoria behind me. “Why Mary. You didn’t tell me you had a boyfriend.”

I redden a little more, and then further when Sean jokes, “That’s all right, Ms. Bellamy. She has a habit of pretending I don’t exist. Out of sight, out of mind, and all that.”

I roll my eyes. “Victoria, this is Sean. Sean, you appear to already know Ms. Bellamy.”

“By reputation alone, but I have to say, she’s far more beautiful than her reputation suggests.”

Victoria raises an eyebrow. “So my reputation suggests that I’m ugly.”

Sean stammers, “Oh. No. I… I meant that you’re rumored to be beautiful, but you’re even more beautiful than that rumored beauty.”

“Ah, I see. I’m glad to know I’m more beautiful than myself.”

I have never loved Victoria more. Sean shakes his head and says drily, “I can see why you two get along so well.”

Victoria laughs. “Well, come on in. No need for you to stand outside in the cold.”

“Actually, I was hoping I could steal Mary for the day. I’ve recently emigrated from cold, dreary Wales, and I’ve been longing to visit the picturesque sites of Massachusetts.”

“Of course. The children have the weekend off of school, and they’re old enough to manage without constant supervision. I do hope you’ll join us for dinner, though.”

“Count on it, ma’am.”

I manage to control myself until Sean and I are in his car, but then I throw my arms around him and kiss him again. He returns the kiss for a moment, then pulls away laughing. “See, if you came to visit, you wouldn’t have to miss me this much.”

“Oh, shut up. You love the attention.”

“Yes, but you hate admitting how much you like me. You’d spare yourself the embarrassment if you didn’t allow your desperation for my company to grow so strong.”

I roll my eyes and pull on my seatbelt. “Well, you’ve managed to remind me of your least attractive quality of arrogance, so I don’t miss you nearly as much now.”

“You’re welcome. Just thinking of you.”

I laugh and shove him lightly. “So where do you want to go?”

“I was thinking we could explore the state forest. I hear there are miles of scenic—”

“No. Not the forest.”

He blinks. “Oh?”

I don’t like the searching quality of his gaze. “It’s not that much fun, really. Let’s visit the beach.”

“The beach it is.”

He takes me to the nearest beach. This far from the denser portion of the island, the beach isn’t crowded, and we’re able to keep mostly to ourselves as we walk. For a while, the conversation is lighthearted. He tells me about the candidates he’s interviewing for his agency, and I tell him about the children and about the mysteries I’m reading.

Eventually, though, he turns to me, and I see in his expression that the lighthearted portion of the day is over. “Mary. I’m worried about you.”

“About me? Why?”

“You made a promise to me that you haven’t kept. And I’m fine with that. I understand if you can’t see me. I even understand if you just don’t feel like making the drive. But forgetting about visiting me is another thing entirely. And forgetting three weeks in a row is… well, worrisome.”

I lower my eyes. “I’m sorry, Sean. I’ve just been so caught up in all of the drama at the Bellamy house. You know how I am.”

“I do. Well enough to know that if it was the Bellamy drama bothering you, you would have already investigated all of the servants yourself. You would have talked to people in town about the Bellamys. You would have called me with more than just Julian’s name, and you would have been much closer to an answer than you are now.”

I blink, unable to find an answer. He’s right. I’ve done little more than speculate about the attacks on the family, and on the rare occasions I notice how little I’ve worked, I excuse it by saying it’s not that much of a mystery. But if it were true that I wasn’t interested in an answer, I would never have bothered Sean in the first place.

“What’s going on, Mary?” he presses. “Is it Annie? Have you learned something about her?” He follows those questions up with the one I dread the most. “Did something happen in the forest?”

I pull away from him and cross my arms over my chest. Once more, my education isn’t necessary to recognize that as a defensive reaction.

He recognizes the same thing. “It’s me, Mary. I’m not going to hurt you, and I’m not going to run to the nearest psychologist and tell them to hunt you down and force you into a therapy session.” I lower my eyes and feel tears approach. “Is that what you thought I’d do?”

I sigh heavily. “I’ve just been… a little off. Seeing those letters… I’m worried about what they say. I… I don’t know if I’ve told you this before, but I don’t remember everything about my life before Annie’s disappearance.”

“You’ve mentioned it once or twice.”

“Oh. Well, it’s true. But since I left teaching and found myself in the middle of mysteries involving other families, I’ve been fixated on the mystery involving mine. You know that part, of course. But the closer I get to the truth, the more frightened I am. The more I remember…”

My lips tremble. I have to fight to get this last part out. “The more I remember, the more I think that I might have been the one to drive her away.”

He smiles softly. “You’ve mentioned that too.”

“I know. But I’m afraid to find out that it’s true. If I’m responsible for Annie leaving, then that means it’s my fault that I’ve spent my whole life miserable. Not my whole life, but you know what I mean. I’m just… I’m afraid, Sean. I’m so afraid. I feel like I’ve fought hard to achieve some closure, but I’ve only brought myself more confusion. And now I feel like I can’t even trust my own memory. What if I hurt her? We used to fight, you know. What if we fought too hard one day, and I hurt her, and that’s why she left?”

Sean doesn’t answer me right away. His face suggests that he doesn’t know how to answer me. I don’t blame him for that at all. I don’t know how to answer myself either.

“Let’s go get some lunch,” he offers. “We’ll think better with food in our bellies, yes?”

I manage a watery smile, and he pulls me close. “It’ll be all right. We’ll work this out. You’re not alone.”

Those three words have to be the most beautiful words in any language.