Hawkeye chuckled and shook his head. “Fucker ended up barely even breaking a sweat.”
For the first time in too long, Helia smiled. “Okay, Reaper it is, then. Go ahead and make the call.” She paused, then added, “But I don’t want James to get in trouble for taking Roger’s stash from Bacco to HICC. Will you make sure of that?”
Lovell’s expression softened, a sight so rare Monk could count on one hand the times he’d seen it.
“Reaper won’t let that happen,” Lovell said.
“HICC won’t either,” Leo added.
Helia took a deep breath. “Okay,” she said. “Let’s get this thing started. Christmas is coming in hot, and while I doubt it will be wrapped up by then, I’d like it underway enough that we can all celebrate.”
The room started moving, people rose from their seats, some went to the kitchen to make more coffee, a few asked if they could tour the wine caves, Mantis and Stone joined Scipio in a quiet corner to make the call.
Monk turned to Kendall, who was watching the goings-on with an anxious expression, as if unsure where she fit in to it all. “K?” he called. “Go for a walk with me?”
Her eyes darted to Helia, who seemed to know what he needed. Leaning over, she kissed his cheek before rising. “I’m going to give my parents a call.” He gave her hand a squeeze, then turned back to Kendall, who nodded.
A few minutes later, dressed in jackets, hats, and sneakers, they closed the door behind them and headed toward the south vineyard, away from Sundaram. They walked in silence for awhile as their bodies shed the intensity of the past hour. When they reached a trail that led up the steep hill, she asked, “What was it like growing up here?”
“Complicated,” he replied. He paused, and they both turned to look out over the vineyard. They hadn’t made it far up the hill, but they were high enough to see the vines stretching for miles, a patchwork of different wineries. “It’s beautiful, of course,” he started. “And I grew up with a silver spoon in my mouth, so to speak. Never wanted for anything.”
“But Roger was your dad.”
He nodded. “On the outside, it looked like a fucking fairy tale.”
“But was really a nightmare?”
He paused before answering. “Parts of it, yes,” he replied. “Parts of it left wounds so deep I don’t know if they’ll ever even form a scar. Some days it seems like maybe I can heal. Not completely, but enough that it becomes more of a twinge than pain.”
“And the other parts?”
He thought of Helia and the Shaws. “Other parts are good. I met the Shaws when I was fourteen. They showed me what a real family could be.Howa family could be. Because of them, I wasn’t completely fucked up when I enlisted. Those years gave me the foundation to build and be a part of the family I have today.”
He left it at that, and they started back on the trail, climbing toward the top. “We have a meeting with the social worker on January 4,” he said. “I know it’s a lot, but I need to ask you a few questions.”
He waited for her to agree, a small “okay” came after a dozen steps.
“I live at the clubhouse now. I never had a reason to move out. We’ll have to stay there while we sort out next steps, but that’s what I wanted to ask you.”
“If I’m okay about staying at the club?” she asked. “I am. I like your family.”
“They’re yours too when you’re ready for them,” he said. “But that was only part of the question. We’ll need a house,” he continued. “I have enough savings to buy one, and the estate, well, if I wanted, I wouldn’t ever have to worry about money.”
“You don’t want Roger’s money,” she said.
He inclined his head. “I don’t. But I’d make exceptions. And it’s not all Roger’s. Well, legally it is, but it wasn’t what he made or built. There’s a huge chunk of the estate that’s more or less intact from my grandfather. I can use some of that to buy us a house and start an account for your college.”
She stumbled behind him, and he stopped to check on her. “College?” she asked.
He considered pausing but decided this conversation was better had on the move. “You’re one of the brightest kids I’ve ever met. Granted, I haven’t met a lot of kids, but even Leo is impressed, and he’s a certified genius. If college is what you want, we’ll make it happen.” He let that sink in for a few minutes as they reached the top of the hill. The stone bench his grandfather had built decades ago still stood. He’d only been five when his grandfather died, but he remembered coming up to this spot with him. After brushing the seat free of debris, he sat. Kendall hesitated, then sat beside him.
“What I really wanted to talk about is the house, though. There’s not a lot on the market right now because it’s the middle of the ski season, but once the snow melts, we’ll see more. If we know what we want, Stone worked with an agent we can ask to keep an eye on things for us.” He paused again. “What kind of house do you want?”
“One with a roof and walls and running water and working electricity,” she responded. “Other than that, I don’t care.”
He chuckled. It was that or cry. “You can do better than that, K. Do you want to be in town or have some land? There’s not much lakefront property left, but there’s some in the hills or on the rivers that feed the lake.”
She took a moment to answer. “I don’t know. Maybe after we visit, I’ll know. I’ve always been around people, except when my mom took me to other people’s property. I didn’t like those trips, but maybe that was because she left me to figure it out on my own, and it was so different than the apartments I was used to. Maybe I’d like it.” She paused. “But I like the idea of being in town. Close to people, but with our own space. It’s a safe town, right?”
