Dad laughed as Gretchen walked away. He seemed younger and even a bit happier just then, as though a weight had been lifted off of him. It was wonderful seeing him looking less like the industry titan that he was and more like a father.
“You came here when you were in college?” I asked Dad.
“I came here when I was your age,” Dad said. “My father took me here a few times. Then I came here on my own in high school when I had a date and then in college when my fraternity brothers wanted to get out of town at Harvard, and we came here.”
“You brought your Harvard friends to Keystone Manor?” I asked.
“I did,” Dad said. “I grew up there so it was my childhood home. And it was large enough so we had lots of spare guest rooms for my friends to stay over for weekends.” Dad smiled, as Gretchen came by with a cup of coffee. Gretchen left, and Dad continued. “Those were the days. Carefree and just starting out.”
Gretchen came back with a heaping plate of spaghetti and meatballs and set it in front of me, while setting a glass of soda in front of me. It smelled delicious. Just plain homemade comfort food.
I looked at my father and said, “Mind if I start? I’m hungry. I didn’t eat breakfast, because I forgot, and I was just finishing my project.”
“No problem, Son,” Dad said. “Go ahead.”
Gretchen came back after I had finished off half of my plate.
“Growing boy, isn’t he?” she said. “Just like you when you were his age.”
“Yes,” Dad said. “He is growing like a weed. All my boys are.”
“Well, bring them by someday, Clay,” Gretchen said. “Cook and I would like to see what the rest of the Keystone clan looks like.” She dropped off a plate in front of Dad and re-filled his cup of coffee. “Now tell me how you like your key lime pie, Clay. Your favorite growing up, as I recalled.”
Dad took his fork and took a piece of the pie into his mouth. He closed his eyes and said, “Tastes as good as it did when I first had it. Tastes like childhood and dreams.”
Gretchen smiled. “Glad it still makes you feel like a little boy.”
“It sure does,” Dad said. “Now Thomas is going to give it a try.”
He grabbed my spoon and used it to spoon a piece into my mouth. It was creamy, smooth, delicate but with the right citrusy tartness. “Delicious,” I said. “Really good.”
“Now he’s had a piece of my childhood, right there, too,” Dad said, grinning at Gretchen.
*****
Memories. Memories of Dad and how he loved to just be a kid at times, filled my head as I sat with my brothers and Kaley, hearing my father’s last Will and Testament being read. It brought tears to my eyes, when I realized how a man like my father was here one moment. Then gone.
Chapter 3
Ash
Dad, Dad, Dad… what a joker. The old man was dead, but he still held our balls in his hands. And looking around the room, it looked like he was squeezing some of our balls pretty tightly.
Big brother Seb was almost blue in the face, as he looked from Sloane to Kaley and back to Sloane when the last provision was read. Then there was Thomas, looking as cool as a cucumber, like the Science genius he was. Calculating, logical, and damned determined. You knew he was already piecing the puzzle together. Where could the clue be?
That was Thomas for you. All business and no nonsense, except when it came to Kaley.
Now Kaley…
Fuck.
She was close to Dad, that was for sure. She had earned his trust somehow, which made me wonder when and how.
Or were we three Keystone kids just too fucked up and screw-ups in our father’s eyes that Kaley had to be in his Will, acting as a sort of caretaker for us?
I looked over at Kaley. Heck, I never took my eyes off of her all night as soon as she walked into Keystone Manor for the reading of the Will. She had only been out of my sight for a day and a half, and I already missed her.
“Kaley,” I said after Dad’s lawyer Mr. Sloane finished reading the first part of the Will. She turned toward me, her beautiful eyes looking happily into mine. For a second my heart froze, and I lost my breath. I had been waiting to see Kaley look at me like that for a long time. With love in her eyes, and with genuine happiness at seeing me.
I walked over to her, taking her hand in mine. “I’m glad you’re going to stay with us at the house,” I said. “Just like old times.”
She smiled and said, “Almost…the Will stipulates that I will be treated as one of you, not as the maid’s daughter.”
I grinned, “Of course, Kaley. You are one of us. You were never just the daughter of someone who worked for us.” I took her hand in mine and squeezed it. “You were always special to me since the first time I laid eyes on you.”
“Careful, Ash,” Thomas walked by on his way to the foyer, escorting Mr. Sloane out. “Remember the 4th rule of the Will…”
I glared at Thomas for reminding me. No biological son of Clay Keystone should have romantic relations with Kaley Crawford. Fuck!
What kind of relationship could I have with Kaley other than a romantic one? I loved her so much it hurt. When I was with her, she was my world. With Kaley, the sun rose and set because of her.
What was I going to do if I couldn’t love her? How could I stop loving her?
As if Kaley could sense the turmoil I was going through, she stepped away from me and went after Thomas and Mr. Sloane. “Mr. Sloane,” she called out. “I’ll walk you to your car. I want to see you out too and say my good-byes.”
And just like that, Kaley had left me standing alone.
Chapter 4
Thomas
Mr. Sloane and I stopped to wait for Kaley to catch up to us at the door.
The look on her face made me inhale a deep breath, catching me by surprise.
She was radiant. Beautiful like a ray of sunlight. Smiling with all the happiness in the world, like an angel.
The love I had for her was boundless at that moment. I felt like I was falling in love with her all over again.
Then I remembered father’s Will.
I clenched my jaw and bunched my hands.
Damn it.
I had to control myself.
I must control myself.
Or I would lose all that is Keystone.
“Following the stipulations in the Will is more of a challenge than you expected?” Sloane said next to me as he watched my face carefully.
He must have noticed how I was looking at Kaley walking toward us. I have to admit, in that moment of weakness, I had let my guard down instead of keeping a poker face as I would usually do. But it was Kaley.
No one else mattered to me more than Kaley. No one else could get to me like Kaley could.
I shook my head and steeled my eyes and froze my face in disinterest, “No, I was just taken aback for a second, Mr. Sloane. I couldn’t believe that after all these years, we would all be back at Keystone Manor, living together until we solved Dad’s puzzles.”