“Hale put in every single term we talked about at Panera,” Grant said.

“The sixty-thousand-dollar wire will land in your account within forty-eight hours of your signature.”

He gave me a warm, confident smile that reached all the way up to his eyes.

“Sign page twenty-two tonight, Emily, and we can put this whole nightmare behind us.”

He turned and walked down the gravel drive to his car without waiting for a reply.

By nine that evening, Sophie was asleep in her little bedroom at the end of the narrow hall.