Hope Between the Pages, Pepper Basham [best ebook reader android .txt] 📗

So many young couples of the era lived with death all around them.” Maggie glanced over the photos as if lost in thought. “And I hope the ending to Sadie’s story is much happier than a young widow who was forced to leave by an angry mother-in-law.”

“What do you mean?”

“Mother didn’t know all the details. All she knew was a week or two after the report of Oliver’s death, she overheard parts of a conversation between Grandmother and Sadie. It appears Grandmother gave some sort of ultimatum to force Sadie to return to America. It wasn’t until decades later, when Mother was going through her parents’ belongings, that she came upon two unopened letters from Sadie addressed to my mother.”

Clara stared at her. “Mrs. Camden had kept them from her?”

“Indeed.” Maggie gave a sad nod. “Once Mother opened them, they didn’t give any revelation to Sadie’s life back in America, but Mother said how much it would have meant to her to know Sadie had attempted to correspond, as she’d promised.”

“Of course. From all I’ve heard of Granny Sadie, she would have wanted that too.”

Maggie studied Clara a moment. “And what became of her when she left? How did her story end?”

Clara placed her cup on the table. “She returned to Asheville, opened a bookshop, and raised her son, John. When John died in World War II, his wife gave their young son to Granny Sadie and returned to her family in the south. So Granny raised her grandson, who was my father, and passed the bookshop on to him.” “A bookshop. How appropriate.” Maggie chuckled. “Oliver would have loved it.”

“I think…I think he purchased the bookshop for her, for them, as a plan for their future.”

“Ah, yes.” Maggie turned to Esme. “Did you ask Allison to take those papers to Camden House tomorrow?”

“I did, Mum.”

Margaret turned back to Clara. “Allison is my oldest daughter. I can’t remember if the deed is in those papers or not, but the marriage certificate is, as well as some of Sadie’s letters that have survived time.”

“The marriage certificate?”

“Indeed. We don’t know how my grandmother ended up with it or why she kept it, but my mother found it with her mother’s papers.”

“And…” Clara pressed her palm against her chest. “Her letters?”

“Yes, the ones she wrote to Oliver while they were apart. If I recall correctly, they hold lovely insights into both your granny’s character and her and Oliver’s relationship.” She took a bite of a scone and then returned her dish to the table. “There’s also a very special photo. Mother said it was taken on their wedding day.”

Clara would get to see Oliver and Sadie together? She’d been imagining them as a couple during the entire conversation, but to see them? She grinned. “I can’t wait.”

“And a few other items, which I can’t recall. But take as many photos or copies of the papers that you need, and if the deed is in those documents, you are welcome to take the original with you to ensure you can stop whatever nonsense is happening to the bookshop.”

Their conversation continued for another hour, as Clara asked questions and took photos of the many black-and-whites scattered across the table. She even convinced Maggie and Esme to join her for a selfie. Before Clara left the country house, she hugged both of them and promised to return. After all, they were family, and she had years of catching up to do.

She bid them farewell, and Max met her on the passenger side of the car, his grin a welcome sight not only because she’d come to care about him, but also because of the gift he’d given her that afternoon. Something no one else would have thought to offer.

As soon as he closed the driver’s side door and turned toward her, she grabbed his face between her palms and kissed him long enough to have him thoroughly reciprocate. “You are just the most wonderful man in the whole world.”

“I will gladly offer my services on a regular basis if similar kisses are my reward.”

Clara pressed a palm to her cheek, her face warming beneath his tender perusal. “I’m pretty sure we both benefit from that kind of reward.”

“An excellent pastime, then?” He put the car in gear and began the drive back to Camden House as if what he’d done hadn’t changed everything.

“How did you find them?”

He raised a brow and kept his focus on the road. “After you told me Oliver and Sadie’s story, I did some research and tracked down Mrs. Wilson through the previous owners of Camden House. It took a little time, but it appears to have been worth it.”

“Worth it?” She waved back toward the way they’d come. “They’re my family, Max. Oliver and Sadie were married, and my grandfather was their son.”

He tossed her a narrow-eyed glance. “It’s what we thought all along, isn’t it? You’ve got some solid English blood in you.” He glanced back toward the house. “Did you locate the deed to Blackwell’s?”

“Not yet, but I’m hopeful. Maggie’s daughter is bringing some old documents to Camden House tomorrow for me to look through. She seems to think the deed may be included in them.”

He offered his signature smile in answer, his expression encouraging her to continue.

“I took pictures of the family photos she had. Oliver and Victoria. And their father. And Camden House at the turn of the century. And among the old papers we’re getting tomorrow are some of Sadie’s love letters to Oliver.” She sighed back into the seat. “I just can’t believe it. There was so much to Sadie’s life no one knew. Not even my dad.” She turned her head, as it rested against the back of the car’s seat, and studied Max’s profile. Even his scarred side appeared less intense than when she’d first met him. All she noticed was a gentle man with a quiet sarcasm and a tender heart, who kissed like he’d waited all his life to do so.

“Thank