I call out. My voice is shaky and rough. "Brynn? Where are you?"
My sister-in-law, Jaylee, rounds the corner from the main sitting room. "Smith? What took you so long?"
"My private helicopter is in the shop," I quip. "I had to come from Brooklyn, Jay. I made good time."
"She left." She reaches out to touch my hand. "We tried to keep her here, but she took off. She was torn up about someone named Caroline. Gramps told her a few stories about this Caroline person and Brynn lost it."
"Caroline?" I search her face for another clue. "Who the hell is Caroline?"
"Someone Gramps knew when he was young."
I shake my head as I scroll through the contact list on my phone until it lands on Brynn's number. I call her but it rings straight through to voicemail.
"I don't get how she ended up here." I thumb out a quick text telling her to call me. "She told me she knew where I lived. I was waiting for her at my place."
"She knew you owned this place." She taps her bare toe on the hardwood floor. "She told Gramps that you bought it three years ago. She knew that."
How? How in the ever loving fuck does Brynn know that I bought this place? I caught wind of it when my grandpa called to tell me that Sigrid had reached out to him to give him first shot at purchasing it. The only reason she did that was because he'd stop by here on a regular basis to ask if he could sit in the garden. Sigrid's grandparents and parents never minded, but Sigrid wasn't as accommodating.
"I don't get it," I say aloud. "Where's Gramps?"
"I think he's with Simon and the boys in the kitchen." She gestures down the long, narrow corridor. "You're welcome to stay for dinner, Smith. I made enough for all of us."
"I can't stay," I mutter as I march down the corridor. "I need to find Brynn."
"Here it is." My grandfather's voice startles me from above. "I found it. I knew I'd kept it all these years."
He descends the wooden staircase slowly. He refuses to use the elevator at the back of the house. "You're just in time, my boy. I was going to show Simon and Jaylee a picture."
I move to help him, taking the steps two at a time until I reach him and plant a soft kiss on his wrinkled forehead. "Show me, Gramps. Show me the picture."
"Get me to the bottom first." He pats my hand.
I do. I lead him carefully down the stairs even though he handles them by himself multiple times a day.
"Hello to you too, Smith," my brother calls from the kitchen. "Bring that damn picture in here. We haven't had this much excitement here, well, since never."
"Don't listen to him." My grandpa holds tight to my forearm. "We play poker two nights a week after the kids go to bed. Your brother always loses to me."
I don't doubt that for a second. I've played poker with them. It brings out the best and the worst in the men in my family.
I round the corner to the kitchen and spot Simon immediately. His oldest son, Cameron, is seated next to him at the table, and his youngest, Brett, is on his lap. I lead Gramps over before I bend down and swipe my hand across Brett's brow.
"She's something else." Simon grabs my hand. "This Brynn woman is amazing."
"Hey," Jaylee laughs from behind me. "I'm right here, Simon."
"You know you're it for me, babe." He puckers his lips. "Smith's girl is perfect for us though."
"For us?" I chuckle. "What the hell does that mean?"
"She got that one to stop acting like someone pissed in his cereal." He jerks his thumb at Gramps. "Ignore the word pissed, boys."
I arch a brow. "Brynn's an incredible person."
"She colored with the boys in their coloring books, and…" his voice trails as he looks at his sons before he focuses his gaze back on my face. "She didn't ask me about the chair, Smith. Not one question. There wasn't an ounce of pity in her eyes."
I swallow back the emotion I always feel when he brings up the wheelchair he'll spend the rest of his life in. He got in a car with someone who was just as high as he was. The other guy, the driver, didn't make it when they crashed in Florida. Simon made it out with his life. He's worked hard to recover. I'm still praying for a miracle for him, even though he's embraced his life just as it is now.
