Page 69 of Bohemia Chills
The Milkweed Mansion dining room cleaned up nicely. The kitchen was still in progress, so we brought in most of the food, but we had a most interesting mix of diners for the holiday: Landon, my mom and grandma, Aunt Ginny and Jay, Gary and Ez, and Annabelle and Andy and their mother, Liza. That Liza and my mother got along so well was a bit of a shock, but I just figured it was the magic of Milkweed Mansion at work.
When the delicious early dinner was over, our guests went out to the grounds to enjoy the sunset and stroll among the oaks, palms and recovering garden. A couple of the roses were blooming, and their scent tinged the air with a soft reminder of Flora’s plantings.
“Too bad your parents couldn’t make it,” I commented to Landon as we sat in the swing he’d hung from one of the trees. We had an expansive view of the house, the gazebo and the river from here.
He slipped an arm around my shoulders and pushed off with his feet so we swung gently. “They like cruising on holidays. And maybe it’s just as well. I’ve had a hard time convincing my dad that Tuscany Towers was not going to happen.”
I laughed. “Would you really have called it that?”
“It’s catchy. If you’d said that to him, I have no doubt there’d be a project right now with that name, complete with a clay tile roof and Italianate trim in carved foam.”
“More work for Gary.”
“True.”
“They seem happy.” I nodded at Gary and Ez, who’d gotten out guitars and were sitting on chairs in the gazebo, strumming and singing a tune.
“Are you happy?”
I looked up at Landon. “Do you have to ask? Is the constant grin on my face not enough for you?”
He smiled the Hearthfire smile. “That’s good. Because I plan to make you even happier.”
“The happiest woman on Earth?”
“Maybe,” he teased.
My tummy did a little flutter. It was too soon to talk about getting married, but I had this wonderful feeling of joyous inevitability when I talked about the future with Landon.
The western sun glinted off the metal roof of the house, and the wind spun its weathervanes and turbines, haunting our beautiful home. Life was sweet with Landon. And the ghosts of Milkweed Mansion were safe with us.
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