Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 45614 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 228(@200wpm)___ 182(@250wpm)___ 152(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45614 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 228(@200wpm)___ 182(@250wpm)___ 152(@300wpm)
Walking around them, Mason felt like a little boy, and now a full-grown man, on the verge of an all-out war.
Wherever his father had stashed Candice Delcoties, there was no way for him to get to her without alerting his father. She was not hidden away in any of his usual haunts and hideouts. It could only mean one thing: his father had her close, which meant she was in his home.
Mason hadn’t stepped foot inside that home in a long time. He had managed to avoid it.
His mother was away as she only ever arrived back home for special functions, where she needed to look the part of doting wife. His mother had long given up on Paul Savonas. Mason believed it was when she discovered his love of young girls. Mason’s mother had been a young girl herself, but at the time, she thought she was the special one. She hadn’t been. Just the right girl that Paul needed at the time.
Paul Savonas was all about power and control.
“Hello, Mason,” David said.
He stopped and turned to look at the older man. “I thought Tamsin said you had left for the day.”
“Ah, I had, but then I realized I hadn’t covered the cabbages, and you know those pesky moths and butterflies,” David tutted. “I tried to tell myself I could keep a watchful eye on them in the coming months. There is no way I’d be a match for a bunch of caterpillars.”
Mason laughed. “You know I have absolutely no idea what you’re saying.”
“I know.” David winked at him, and he got back to work. Seeing him struggle, Mason removed his jacket and rolled up his sleeves, going to the other end and getting stuck helping with the work.
He listened to David as he whistled, which took him back over ten years ago when his grandfather would whistle as he worked. Why hadn’t he thought about that in so long? It seemed the strangest sound to him.
“You look troubled, young man,” David said.
“Just work and my … dad.”
“Ah, a complex man, your father. I know he gave your grandfather many days of concern. It’s why he and I became good friends. He would often go walking in the gardens, stumble onto me, and then we’d have a good old discussion about how we would put the world to rights, and handling the raising of stubborn, and oftentimes cruel men.”
“Did my grandfather like his son?”
David paused.
“You don’t have to worry about the answer.”
“When it came to your father, Paul, he was not an easy man to … like. I know your grandfather was troubled with how he turned out.”
Mason looked at David and he waited a few seconds before he spoke again. “You know his … likes?”
David stopped working and looked up at him. “I’m aware of what he’s capable of. It’s why I made sure I was always here with Tamsin, especially in the early days. She is a fine young woman. She doesn’t need to be tainted with the likes of Paul Savonas.”
He couldn’t have agreed more.
“I love her,” Mason said.
“I know.” They finished putting the covers on the cabbages and David stepped back with a sigh. “See, if you act now, then you hopefully stop yourself from feeling a whole world of disappointment when they attack your cabbages.” He shook his head and tutted. “Nothing worse than going to pick a cabbage to find it nothing but stalk and mess because it has been eaten.”
“I will take your advice on that,” Mason said.
David chuckled. “Well, that is my job done for the day.” He turned toward Mason. “And in case you don’t know this already, I know you’re young and you all know better than us, but Tamsin loves you as well.”
Mason smiled and he shook his head. “You can’t know that.”
“True. She hasn’t said the words out loud, but I have gotten to know Tamsin in the last couple of years, and I do know that she does care about you. I’ve seen the look on her face when she has seen you in the garden, or when I talk about you. That woman loves you. She might not know it herself, but give it time. But hey, what do I know? I’ve only been on the planet over sixty years, clearly not enough time to understand … people.”
He couldn’t help but laugh. Shaking David’s hand, he saw the other man off, and then headed inside.
The kitchen staff was busy at work, and he nodded at them as he passed. Going toward the library, he expected to find Tamsin curled up with a book, but the room was empty. The movie room was as well, and there was no sign of her in the dining room. He made his way upstairs toward the bedroom and bathrooms, but there was no sign of her.