It brought light, but more, it seemed to glow beyond what it spread over the table so each petal shimmered.
“It’s—like the desk—it’s beyond. You really have to see it at night for the full effect.”
Eve shook her head at Peabody. “No, you don’t. It’s freaking fantastic.”
“Fweaking,” Bella echoed.
They finished the main floor, and Eve found herself ridiculously touched to see they’d designated a space for Bella to play with a pint-sized table and chairs. A toy box here looked—again in a good way—as if Bella’s great-great-grandmother might have used it.
They went through the second floor. Guest rooms, each very individual, and all murmuring welcome and comfort.
A quilt for a bed here made by McNab’s grandmother, a throw there made by Peabody’s.
Family, Eve thought. The house was full of family.
In the main, where Mavis had gone subtle, Peabody chose bolder in walls of deep green, one made to look like panels behind the four-poster bed.
“I always wanted one,” Peabody confessed. “And with the little fireplace. It’s like sleeping in a castle.”
“Our castle.” McNab put an arm around her.
“That’s the end of the interior tour. We haven’t finished the lower level yet. The work’s all done,” Peabody explained, “but we haven’t finished furnishing or playing with it. We’re still picking up pieces. We’ll have it done, or close enough, by big party time.”
“Let’s go out back.” Bouncing a little, stroking the mound of Number Two, Mavis just beamed. “I wanted that last because it’ll make me weepy. And you guys need more bubbly.”
They trooped down, then out to where Peabody’s water feature spilled and sang.
And Mavis got weepy.
“The birdbath fountain. Look how abso-mag it looks there. Like it was made for that spot. It’s so perfect with the garden, the waterfall, and the sculpture.”
She had to press her hand to her mouth. “Look at us. Leonardo, look at our family.”
The Peabodys had made and shipped the sculpture of Mavis, Leonardo, Bella, and the baby in Mavis’s arms. It glowed with a hint of bronze in the lowering light.
“It’s like a dream. I look out here, and it’s like a dream.”
“Happy cry,” Bella said, and teared up herself in solidarity. “Bella’s.” She pointed to the table and benches by her playhouse.
“And baby’s,” Mavis reminded her.
Bella rolled her teary eyes. “Baby, too.”
Eve didn’t think it sounded sincere, but kept that to herself.
“Here’s what I think,” she said instead. “I think you’ve turned a weird, neglected eyesore of a house and grounds into something special, and uniquely yours. Something that says, yeah, you live here.”
She lifted her glass. “Damn nice job.”
“Damn nice job,” Bella repeated, and got a narrow look from Eve.
“How come you can swear with prefect pronunciation?”
Bella grinned, then hooted before she ran to climb up her slide.
They had more champagne, and bruschetta with herbed-up tomatoes and peppers straight from the garden. Leonardo—with an assist/kibitz from Roarke and McNab—grilled steaks to go with some of Peabody’s fancy potatoes—also from their own garden. As was a mix of grilled vegetables. Peabody took over for those, and Eve had to admit, they weren’t half bad.
As they ate, the sun slid away to an indigo sky, and the lights flickered on.
