Page 25 of Lost to Thievery
More tears escaped me. Grayson had always been under the impression that his mother would have loathed the man he’d become. He never said it out loud, but I knew.
“You’ve met him?” Owen asked, sitting at the edge of his seat, unable to contain himself anymore.
“Oh, yes. He came by a lot when he was younger, wanting to hear stories of his parents while he helped us fix things on this old house. He hasn’t come around in the last few years, but he still takes care of us.” She smiled lovingly to herself. “Such a sweet boy,” she repeated.
“And unbearably handsome too,” Theresa said, fanning herself. She leaned closer to me. “The smile on that man!” she whispered, fanning herself some more.
“I’ve seen it,” I said, trying to muster a smile for her. It still haunted me in my sleep. “Do you have a way of getting a hold of him?” I asked, beating Owen to it.
“No, unfortunately not. But maybe you could ask Mister Jeffrey, his neighbour,” Theresa said, not noticing how my heart had stopped. “He is in charge of the place.”
Owen and I exchanged a look while we held our breaths.
“He lives here?” Owen asked, barely able to keep his voice calm.
“Not permanently, no. But he still owns his parents’ vacation home. It’s by the lake. I can write down directions for you,” she said and quickly jumped to her feet, heading inside.
Ava
Anhourlater,Owenand I drove down the long winding road to Dianna and Nicholas’s vacation home.
“This is so worth the paperwork,” Owen said excitedly. “I knew we were going to find something here.”
I felt conflicted about our findings. As soon as Owen informed his team of what we had discovered, the FBI would tear the place apart.
I noticed three things when the house came into view. The gardens were absolutely breathtaking. It was wild but contained. It bloomed every colour of the rainbow, in every shape and size. Secondly, I noticed the little welcome sign next to the road as we drove up, and the people milling about.
Welcome to Dianna’s Inn.
The Varons’ vacation home, was now an Inn.
And the last thing I noticed that stole my heart away, was the uncanny similarities between my parents’ house and this one. I still had a vivid memory of Grayson, standing before my house in the middle of the night, looking all kinds of broken.
And now I understood his reaction to it. My childhood home looked almost identical to one of his.
I swallowed back the tears. How was it that there was so much I never knew about him? How was it, that I know more of him now, seeing more of him, after he’d decided he didn’t want me anymore?
I had thought myself lucky that he’d let me into his world. But now I see. He never did. Not with the things that really mattered, anyway.
“Well, fuck,” Owen sighed, staring at the people in the garden, lounging about.
“There might still be something. The placeiscalled Dianna’s Inn.”
Grayson still had some type of connection to it.
Owen’s shoulders sagged. “You’re right.” He took a deep breath before turning to me. “Might as well stay here for the night if you’re up for it?” He looked at me hopefully. “It wouldn’t be too far-fetched to find a secret room or something.”
I nodded. Grayson didlovehis secrets.
The first thing I saw as we walked into the foyer was the large painting of a little girl, black hair braided back, clutching a pink stuffed bunny to her chest, eyes sparkling. I recognised her immediately. She looked so much like Grayson. One of Abby’s front teeth were missing in the painting. She was beautiful and adorable in her purple satin dress. Therealprincess.
“Ah, little Miss Varon. Always stealing the show. She’s the first thing everyone notices when they walk in.” The old man at the reception desk smiled at me, his eyes crinkled. “She’s quite the character, even as a painting.”
I smiled warmly at him, my chest squeezing. “You knew her? When she was alive?”
The man’s smile faltered. “You know about Abby, I see. Are you one of those pesky treasure hunters? The red diamond’s not here, I can assure you.”
“No. No,” I tried to reassure him. “I… know her brother.”
