I’d enjoy seeing the lighthouse from that vantage point, I really can’t take the time. At least not now.”
“You’ve got a rain check,” Dan said equably as he gestured her to a chair on the visitor’s side of an antique partner’s desk.
While he opened a scuffed leather barrister’s bag to get the contract, Savannah took the opportunity to study the room in greater detail. One wall was taken up by bookshelves. A quick glance revealed several legal thrillers lurking among the leather-bound law books.
Calligraphically prepared diplomas displayed in simple wood frames hung on another wall, along with lithographed copies of the Declaration of Independence and the Magna Carta. Keeping company with the august legal documents was a needlepoint sampler that read Please Don’t Tell My Mother I’m a Lawyer. She Thinks I Play the Piano in the Local Bordello.
“My sister made that for me when I passed the bar,” he said when he saw her looking at it.
Savannah would have had to be deaf not to hear the lingering pain in his voice. “You must miss her terribly.” She couldn’t imagine losing Raine. It would be easier to have her heart ripped out.
“Every day.” Dan sighed, picked up a pen and began switching it from hand to hand. The light was gone from his eyes, almost, she thought, as if someone had pulled down a dark shade. “When I first came back home, right after the accident, I wasn’t sure I could take care of John. Not just physically, which, in the beginning, was difficult enough, but emotionally.
“Never having been a parent myself, I worried that I might not have the instincts. Fortunately, Karyn and Richard did a great job of grounding their son, so mostly all I’ve had to do is sort of follow along and keep an eye out for the pitfalls.”
“I have a feeling that you’re glossing over your efforts just a bit.”
Savannah considered how, if Kevin had been in a similar situation, he would have been quick to take credit for John’s obvious sense of stability. Just as he’d taken credit for all her hard work and innovation in each of the resorts where they’d worked together, he in a series of upwardly mobile managerial positions, while she’d always been more than content to stay in the kitchen.
“It couldn’t have been easy,” she said. “John’s a very intuitive, open-hearted person. If he hadn’t known he could trust you to be there for him, he could have been devastated.”
She knew, firsthand, how important it was during those tender growing-up years to have someone you could count on. Fortunately, while Lilith had proven all too fallible, Savannah had been doubly blessed in her sister and grandmother.
“Things were admittedly a bit rocky in the beginning,” Dan allowed with what Savannah was beginning to realize was characteristic understatement. “But, as I said, his parents built a strong foundation and John’s a great kid. I only wish his mom could be here to see how well he’s doing.”
“I’m certain she knows.”
“I sure hope so.” The shutters lifted; a brief pain flashed in his eyes.
“Well, whether he got it from his parents, or whether it’s inborn, his never-say-die mentality is definitely contagious,” Savannah said. “I don’t know what I would have done if he hadn’t let me attack weeds instead of your client this past week.”
“Ah, yes.” The harsh lines bracketing either side of Dan’s mouth softened. “He mentioned something about you having developed a real knack for gardening.”
“Since I don’t want to accuse your nephew of being a liar, I’ll just say that he’s overly optimistic. My weeding talents leave a great deal to be desired.”
“Join the club. While I’m still permitted, with supervision, to do some planting, after I created a horticultural miracle last fall he took my hoe away from me.”
“A miracle?”
“See these hands?” He held them up for her perusal.
“Yes.” When her unruly mind threw up a quick,
“You’ve got a rain check,” Dan said equably as he gestured her to a chair on the visitor’s side of an antique partner’s desk.
While he opened a scuffed leather barrister’s bag to get the contract, Savannah took the opportunity to study the room in greater detail. One wall was taken up by bookshelves. A quick glance revealed several legal thrillers lurking among the leather-bound law books.
Calligraphically prepared diplomas displayed in simple wood frames hung on another wall, along with lithographed copies of the Declaration of Independence and the Magna Carta. Keeping company with the august legal documents was a needlepoint sampler that read Please Don’t Tell My Mother I’m a Lawyer. She Thinks I Play the Piano in the Local Bordello.
“My sister made that for me when I passed the bar,” he said when he saw her looking at it.
Savannah would have had to be deaf not to hear the lingering pain in his voice. “You must miss her terribly.” She couldn’t imagine losing Raine. It would be easier to have her heart ripped out.
“Every day.” Dan sighed, picked up a pen and began switching it from hand to hand. The light was gone from his eyes, almost, she thought, as if someone had pulled down a dark shade. “When I first came back home, right after the accident, I wasn’t sure I could take care of John. Not just physically, which, in the beginning, was difficult enough, but emotionally.
“Never having been a parent myself, I worried that I might not have the instincts. Fortunately, Karyn and Richard did a great job of grounding their son, so mostly all I’ve had to do is sort of follow along and keep an eye out for the pitfalls.”
“I have a feeling that you’re glossing over your efforts just a bit.”
Savannah considered how, if Kevin had been in a similar situation, he would have been quick to take credit for John’s obvious sense of stability. Just as he’d taken credit for all her hard work and innovation in each of the resorts where they’d worked together, he in a series of upwardly mobile managerial positions, while she’d always been more than content to stay in the kitchen.
“It couldn’t have been easy,” she said. “John’s a very intuitive, open-hearted person. If he hadn’t known he could trust you to be there for him, he could have been devastated.”
She knew, firsthand, how important it was during those tender growing-up years to have someone you could count on. Fortunately, while Lilith had proven all too fallible, Savannah had been doubly blessed in her sister and grandmother.
“Things were admittedly a bit rocky in the beginning,” Dan allowed with what Savannah was beginning to realize was characteristic understatement. “But, as I said, his parents built a strong foundation and John’s a great kid. I only wish his mom could be here to see how well he’s doing.”
“I’m certain she knows.”
“I sure hope so.” The shutters lifted; a brief pain flashed in his eyes.
“Well, whether he got it from his parents, or whether it’s inborn, his never-say-die mentality is definitely contagious,” Savannah said. “I don’t know what I would have done if he hadn’t let me attack weeds instead of your client this past week.”
“Ah, yes.” The harsh lines bracketing either side of Dan’s mouth softened. “He mentioned something about you having developed a real knack for gardening.”
“Since I don’t want to accuse your nephew of being a liar, I’ll just say that he’s overly optimistic. My weeding talents leave a great deal to be desired.”
“Join the club. While I’m still permitted, with supervision, to do some planting, after I created a horticultural miracle last fall he took my hoe away from me.”
“A miracle?”
“See these hands?” He held them up for her perusal.
“Yes.” When her unruly mind threw up a quick,
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