“You think he wanted you to give her painting a good home?” Kane asks.
“I mean, probably. It couldn’t hurt. But I don’t think this is everything.” I brush my fingers over the gold frame, feeling this odd longing. “I wish I’d known her. Things were never the same with this family after she was gone.”
He nods silently as he admires the painting.
“It felt familiar when I saw it. There’s another like this at my parents’ house.”
“Part of a series?”
“Could be. Mom still has a few here and there, hanging around the house. I should probably take this back to the fam.”
“Why don’t you ask your mom if she knows what you’re looking for? Might speed up the search,” he suggests.
His eyes scan my face as it heats.
Oh, if only it were that easy…
The truth makes my heart hurt, which isn’t new.
It’s been this way for as long as I remember.
“My mom and grandfather were pretty estranged before he died,” I say. “She wouldn’t know. She wanted nothing to do with him.”
“Harsh. I’m sorry,” he rumbles gently.
“But I bet she’d love this painting. It was her mother, after all.” I pick it up and tuck it under my arm. “At least we didn’t just get mummified in cobwebs for no reason. Sorry you wasted your time.”
“No waste if it’s important to you, duchess. We’ll keep looking.”
“Hopefully!” I snort.
“Don’t give up. If it takes effort, it must be worth it.”
Yeah, we’ll see.
I’ve had my doubts, but he could be right. Whatever Gramps left has to mean something if he decided to be this cryptic, right?
Right???
He knew me better than my own parents. Sometimes, it felt like my childhood was only real when I’d stay with him.
Losing him tore away a piece of my soul. Especially when he went out as stubbornly as he lived, hiding his illness until the bitter end.
We didn’t even get to say goodbye.
This summer was the first without him, and so many things have changed in less than a year since he’s been gone.
Mostly good things. Hattie and Ethan tying the knot, that was a huge happy surprise, and it’s all thanks to Gramps playing cupid from beyond the grave.
Unlike Ethan, I’m not getting a spouse out of this deal. No way.
For me, this is it.
The very last piece of him, and whatever’s hidden away was something he thought was important enough for me to have.
I desperately want to push through andfind it.
Like maybe it will somehow shake me out of this slump with my designs, my life. My entire world after Leonidas Blackthorn.
