Part 73 (2/2)
Stunned, he could only stare at her. ”Gran, you can't give me Bluff House.”
”I can do exactly as I please, boy.” She tapped her finger firmly on his arm. ”As I always have and intend to continue to do.”
”Gran-”
She tapped her finger again, a warning this time. ”Bluff House is a home, and a home needs to be lived in. It's your legacy, and your responsibility. I want to know if you're willing to make it your home, if you're willing to stay, when I'm able to come back, and when I'm gone. Is there somewhere else you'd rather be?”
”No.”
”Well then, that's settled. It's a weight off my mind.” With a contented sigh, she looked out to sea again.
”Just like that?”
She smiled, reached over to lay a hand on his, gently now. ”The dog clinched it.”
Even as he laughed, Tricia opened the terrace doors. ”If you two can tear yourself away, it's egg-dyeing time.”
”Let's get to it. Give me a hand, Eli. I can get down, but I still have trouble getting up.”
He helped her to her feet, then just wrapped his arms around her. ”I'll take good care of it, I promise you. But come home soon.”
”That's the plan.”
She'd given him a lot to think about, but dyeing Easter eggs with a toddler-not to mention her very compet.i.tive fifty-eight-year-old grandfather-made it difficult to think. So Eli just rolled with it. By the time the doorbell chimed, puddles of dye pooled and splattered the newspaper covering the kitchen island.
With the dog at his side, he opened the door for Abra. She stood with the straps of bags over each shoulder and a covered tray in her hands.
”Sorry, I didn't have enough hands to open it myself.”
He just grinned at her, leaned over the tray to kiss her. ”I was about to call you.” He took the tray, angling so she could get by him. ”I thought you'd be here before this-but I did, with great effort and canniness-manage to save some eggs for you.”
”Thanks. I just had some things to deal with.”
”Is anything wrong?”
”What could be wrong?” She set the bags aside. ”h.e.l.lo, Barbie. h.e.l.lo.” Better to hedge, she decided, than dump distressing news on a family party. ”Pies take time.”
”Pies?”
”Pies.” She took the tray back, walked with him to the back of the house. ”From the sound of it, everyone's settled in.”
”Like they've been here a week.”
”Good or bad?”
”Good. Really good.”
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