“No, sweetheart,” Caroline said.

“We’re going home now.”

Ellis looked past Caroline into the dark library doorway, where Grant was still standing beside the mahogany desk.

“Did that man want to talk to us?” Ellis asked.

“No,” Caroline said, placing her hand gently on Ellis’s shoulder.

“He was just finishing some old paperwork.”

They walked down the wide marble staircase together toward the front portico.

The sunlight outside was bright and warm, glinting off the ocean at the edge of the property.