Chapter 2 - THE SPOON HER MOTHER LEFT.
Ruby held the engraved spoon against her chest as though Grant might take away the last piece of her mother.
“She gave it to me before she died,” Ruby said.
Vivian stepped forward too quickly.
“Her mother worked near the private dining rooms. That proves she stole it.”
Ruby flinched when several guests murmured in agreement.
Grant turned the spoon beneath the chandelier light.
The crest was not from the hotel collection.
It belonged to a private nursery set made for the Ashford children forty years earlier.
Only two pieces had survived.
Grant owned one.
His older sister, Caroline, had disappeared with the other after their father disowned her for marrying a mechanic.
“What was your mother’s name?” Grant asked.
“Caroline Reed.”
The ballroom fell silent.
Vivian laughed, but the sound was thin and frightened.
“Plenty of women are named Caroline.”
Ruby reached inside her floral bag.
May you like
“My mom said this would prove which Caroline she was.”
She pulled out a photograph of Vivian standing beside Ruby’s mother.
