Elena had never gone abroad.
The ticket had been a decoy.
Instead, she returned to where she'd once lived and bought a house outright.
She had moved her money long ago, leaving Marcus no way to trace it.
Later, while exploring the neighborhood, she came across a small inn for sale and took it over.
The previous owner had run the property as a guesthouse but needed to leave quickly because of a family emergency.
The building had been well maintained and only needed a little work before reopening.
Elena walked through every room and decided she liked it.
The former owner, a local woman, knew Elena was handling everything on her own.
During the renovations, she often came by to help.
When the last of the paperwork was finally completed, the woman even pressed a jar of homemade pickl
