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in
    consternation. “What are these?”
    Ash dumped the contents of her bag into the palm of her hand. There were about twenty small black
    objects, some of which had been emerald cut, some in the round diamond shape. “What are they? I’ve never
    seen stones like these before.”
    “Are they black diamonds?” Bell asked.
    “In a way, they are,” Mr. Johnson said, then, still smiling, he started for the door, but he paused with his
    hand on the knob. Turning just a bit, he gave Jocelyn a wink, then he left the room.
    Joce had to work to keep a straight face. The “black diamonds” that Miss Edi had left for the stepsisters
    were actually pieces of coal.
    She didn’t say a word as they left the offices. She sat in the back of the car on the drive home and listened
    as Bell and Ash, sitting beside her, held the pieces of coal up to the light and exclaimed over their beauty and
    discussed how they were going to have them set.
    Joce looked out the window to hide her smile. The joke that Miss Edi had left her jealous, greedy
    stepsisters lumps of coal made her miss her friend with a painful longing. Miss Edi had been mother,
    grandmother, friend, and mentor all in one.
    Joce glanced up and saw her father frowning at her in the rearview mirror. She could see that he knew what
    the “stones” were and he was dreading the coming fury when the Steps found out. But she didn’t mind. She
    planned to be gone long before the Steps discovered what the black stones were. Her bags were packed and in
    the back of her car, and as soon as they got home, she was going back to her job at the university.
    Only when Jocelyn was back at school and in her tiny apartment did she open the packet that contained
    Miss Edi’s will. She’d tried to steel herself for what she’d find, but nothing prepared her to see an envelope with
    that beloved handwriting on it. TO MY JOCELYN it said on the envelope.
    With trembling hands, she opened it, pulled out the letter, and began to read.
    My dear, dear Jocelyn,
    I promise I won’t be maudlin. I don’t know if it’s been days or months since my demise, but
    knowing your soft heart, you’re probably still grieving. I know all too well what it is to lose people you
    love. I’ve had to stand by and watch most of the people I loved die. I was very nearly the last one left.
    Now, to business. The house in Boca is not mine, nor is most of the furniture. By now I’m sure the
    contents have been moved out and put up for auction. But don’t worry, my dear, the best of what I
    owned, meaning everything that I took from Edilean Manor, will go back to where it came from.
    Jocelyn put the letter down. “Edilean Manor?” she said aloud. She’d never heard of the place. After her
    initial confusion, a feeling of betrayal ran through her. She’d spent a great deal of her life with Miss Edi, had
    traveled with her, met many people from her past, and had heard hundreds of stories about her time with Dr.
    Brenner. But Miss Edi had never mentioned Edilean Manor. It must have been important, as it was named for
    Miss Edi—or she was named for it.
    Jocelyn looked back at the letter.
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    I know, dear, you’re angry and hurt. I can see that frown of yours. I told you so much about my
    life, but I never mentioned Edilean, Virginia. As you can guess from the unusual name, the town
    “belonged” to my family—or at least we thought it did. Centuries ago, my ancestor came from
    Scotland with an elegant wife and a wagonload of gold. He bought a thousand acres outside
    Williamsburg, Virginia, laid out a town square, then named the place after his young wife. The legend
    in my family is that his wife was of a much higher class than he was, but when her father refused to let
    his daughter marry the stable lad, he ran off with the girl and a great deal of her father’s money. No
    one ever knew if she was abducted or