hapter 9
+15 Bonus
As Jaycie stepped out of Housleton Airport while dragging her suitcase behind her, a sleek, unmistakably expensive Bugatti was waiting curbside. The man standing beside the car immediately opened the door for her as she approached.
“Ms. Stanton, please get in.”
Her luggage was loaded into the car, and she slid into the back seat, naturally striking up a conversation with the man now seated in the driver’s seat. “Leonard, why are you picking me up? Where’s the chauffeur?”
Leonard Cobb chuckled, the faint wrinkles at the corners of his eyes making him look even more kind. As the car pulled into the flow of traffic, he replied, “You haven’t been back in so many years, Ms. Stanton. When I heard you were returning today, I
insisted on coming to get you myself.”
“Looks like you missed me,” Jaycie teased, a playful glint in her eyes. Then, shifting the topic, she asked, “How have Mom and Dad been these past few years?”
Leonard had been the Stantons‘ butler for decades and had practically watched Jaycie grow up. To her, he was more like family
than an employee, so their conversation flowed easily.
He didn’t deny her teasing, nodding instead. “I did miss you. Mr. and Mrs. Stanton have been well, healthy as ever. The only thing
troubling them is how much they’ve missed you.”
Jaycie and Leonard chatted the entire ride. By the time the car pulled up to the Stantons‘ mansion, she had a good sense of how
things had been at home.
Stepping out of the car, she walked straight to the front door. As she pushed it open, a line of servants stood at attention, their
