“Yes, he intends to sell it.”
“Well, if farming isn’t his thing, I can understand that. How long has it been in the family?”
“Over a hundred years.” His pride surprised Eve, and she wondered how long his family might have been in service at Hedson Park. It seemed an antiquated idea, but in an area with so few jobs, maybe that kind of old-fashioned loyalty continued.
How unsettling it must be for the servants to wonder what would happen to their jobs when her grandfather died. He didn’t have many options. He could either swallow his pride and reinstate a disowned son he hadn’t spoken with in more than forty years or leave it all to a grandson who couldn’t wait to turn his grandfather’s legacy into cash, probably to feed an addiction that was killing him.
“I had no idea that my family had been here so long,” she finally said. “I’m encouraged that he’s going to try to come to dinner. I’d like to recommend that you work with Mrs. Campbell to try to identify triggers for his headaches. Has he been seen by a doctor lately to be evaluated for something else?”
“Only his stroke. You should understand that your grandfather detests doctors.”
Eve watched the servant, considering. Her grandfather hadn’t mindedherevaluating him.
“Does he go there, or does the doctor come to see him here?”
“The only way he will allow one to see him is if they attend here.”
Then maybe he didn’t like the only doctor who would do a house call. Eve would have to think about that. She wasn’t about to let someone who was suffering go unattended, even if that someone had caused her father so much pain.
“I’ll have to see what I can figure out.” She touched his arm. “Thank you for caring for him. I’m sure it hasn’t been easy.”
“I was friends with your father. We attended school together.” Alan turned and entered the room.
Eve stared at the closed door for a few seconds. She’d found someone who could tell her about what her father had been like as a boy. From the hallway window, she noticed Darius and Joe in the back, so she hurried to her room to collect her jacket before joining them.
14
Darius and Joe walked the grounds after checking out the boathouse. The place had a peacefulness, with the sound of the breeze rustling the trees, bird calls, and cattle lowing in the distance. Darius slowly turned around, nodding as he considered the things the bodyguard had said about it as a vacation destination.
“Would you want to live here?” Darius asked.
“Since I’ve always lived in larger cities, probably not long term, but I think a visit to a peaceful place like this would be a nice break. It might even be a good place for rehab patients—”
“There you two are,” Eve called, striding toward them.
Darius extended a hand, and she took it. He looked her up and down.
“It seems you survived the lion’s den.”
“That’s exactly how I described it to my father in a text,” she said with a soft laugh. Her mood was good so the meeting must not have been a bad experience.
“It sounds like it went pretty well,” Darius said.
“Yes, surprisingly.” She slid her arm through his, and they started walking along the river bank. “I think he was prepared to dislike me, but we started talking about his health and that turned everything around.”
“The nurse worked miracles, huh?” Darius grinned at her, inordinately proud that she’d gotten around the old man so easily.
“If my grandfather wanted to see how well my father did and compare me to my cousin Graham, it couldn’t be a bigger contrast, even with the race difference aside. My cousin came across to me as a stereotypical entitlement baby, which I guess would come from having grown up with the expectation of inheriting this place. The real question for me is what my grandfather’s ultimate plan is. But, I guess that’s not really my concern since we won’t be staying here long.” Eve glanced around. “It’s really a beautiful area. I guess I understand why my father remembers it so lovingly. What were you two talking about?”
“Joe was wondering what else the property could be used for if they don’t want to continue farming it.”
“Such as?” Eve asked
“Besides the obvious outdoor sporting center,” Joe said, “I was saying that this could be an ideal location for a rehab center, where the wealthy could come to get away from the pressures that have contributed to their addictions. I had a job once with a pretty well-known Hollywood-type who went to a small-town facility.”
“Anyone we’re likely to have heard of?” Darius asked.
“It’d be a pretty safe bet that both of you would, but I can’t say who. The facility had top-rated therapists. Because it was far away from day-to-day temptations, it gave them undistracted time to deal with their underlying issues. They only took people who were there by choice and not court-ordered rehab, which helped with the success rate because these were people whowantedto get better.”
