Horses whip their tails and cows gaze lazily at us as we drive down the four-lane highway before turning off onto a smaller, two-lane road.
The area is simply breathtaking. The road is bordered with pines that stand tall. They remind me of an army of ants lining both sides of the long driveway.
When the trees recede, the view opens up to hundreds of gray grape vines.
My jaw drops. “Your grandmother owns a winery?”
“It’s small,” Devlin admits sheepishly. “But it pays the bills.”
“How do I not know this?”
He winks. “Because my grandmother didn’t get it until a few years ago. It was my present to her. She always wanted one, wanted to be like the French, so…”
“So you bought it for her,” I muse, my heart warmed by his kindness.
We park and Devlin gets out to tell his grandmother that we’re here.
“Try not to shed a tear, dear,” Nana quips, ruining the moment. “Remember how much you hate him.”
I crane my head around. “If you keep that up, I’ll make sure that you stay invisible forever.”
“Fine. I’m sorry. But you have to admit, it was nice of him to do.”
“It was very nice,” I say. “All right. Let’s get out and I’ll hit you with the antidote.”
Five minutes later and Nana looks as good as new—if by new, you mean dead. And a ghost. Perhaps I should say, she looks perfectly Nana.
Devlin escorts his grandmother out of the charming stone home with vines crawling up the sides, to greet us.
“Blair,” she says, opening her arms. “It’s been so long.”
Devlin’s grandmother has her white hair pinned up, and she’s wearing a long brown cardigan over a green dress. She pulls me into a hug, one that’s so warm and soft I practically melt in her arms.
“Good to see you, Lilly.”
She puts me at arm’s length and studies me. “It’s better to see you. I told Devlin he should’ve brought you by ages ago.”
I admire the view of the country home. “You have a beautiful place here.”
“It’s all because of Devlin. He made my dreams come true.” She gives me a wide smile and then turns her attention to Nana. “And Rebecca”—oops, there went her friendly tone. It’s turnedmore chastising. “What do you think you’re doing returning as a ghost? Trying to ruin your family?”
“Lilly, if you knew what we were up against, you’d thank me.”
“I doubttheyare,” she replies, nodding to me.
Nana shrugs. “My family will come around.”
Lilly tosses back her head and laughs. “Come in, all of you. I was just about to make cookies. Blair, you can help me while Devlin does what he needs to.”
I shoot Devlin a look that silently asks if he wants me. He smiles warmly, telling me that he has enough to go on to do what we came here to.
“All right, then. Let’s make some cookies.”
“Have you ever made crinkle cookies?”Lilly asks.
“No. But I rarely ever bake at all.”
She tsks. “Baking is one of the things that always made me happy. It would make Devlin happy, too, when he’d come home from school to a house that smelled like sugar.”
