~HUNTER~
I hadn't meant to follow her.
After dinner, I had planned to lock myself in my study and review the quarterly reports that had been sitting on my desk for three days.
But then I had seen her slip quietly down the hallway toward the library, and my feet had betrayed my better judgment.
The library was my sanctuary. Floor-to-ceiling mahogany shelves, leather-bound first editions, and windows that overlooked the gardens.
It was where I came to think, to escape, to remember who I was beneath the expectations and responsibilities.
But now, watching Celine reach for the top shelf while balanced precariously on the old wooden ladder, I realized it had become something else entirely.
She was humming softly to herself…some tune I didn't recognize…as she worked her feather duster a
