Blanche's POV
After I watched Carry slip into Blissfield Villa, I clutched my backpack straps tighter and rushed toward the main entrance. While I moved, Carry's bright voice rang out, "Miss Joanna, I'm back!"
That joyful sound twisted something sharp in my chest. I held back until Carry disappeared into the hall, then crept up to the doorway where I could watch everything unfold inside.
Carry passed her backpack to Heidi before darting straight to Joanna, who'd just emerged from the kitchen. She wrapped her arms around Joanna's leg and gazed up with sparkling eyes. "Miss Joanna, where's Lillian?"
Lillian Vins was Joanna's mother, recently moved to Blissfield Villa.
That's exactly why Carry had returned here. She refused to stay at Jacob Manor.
It wasn't Oswald she couldn't stand—it was me.
Joanna knelt in front of Carry, fingers threading through her hair with tender care. "She's in the kitchen, sweetheart."
