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He couldn’t look at her. Couldn’t see the hurt on her face.
“The bakery is yours,” Grandma said, lifting her hands to display the remodeled bakery. “Look at all you’ve done with it.”
Grayson ventured a glance up at Robin, which turned out to be a big mistake. Her eyes had glossed over with unshed tears. “I didn’t know you didn’t know about the lot,” he said.
“That’s our fault.” Grandpa straightened the stack of paperwork on top of the envelope. “We’ve been so busy making plans for the move.” He put a hand on Robin’s arm. “It wasn’t intentional.”
Grayson looked at Grandpa. “You’re moving?” Apparently, Robin wasn’t the only one out of the loop.
Grandpa took Grandma’s hand across the table. “We took that trip to Florida after my heart attack, and let me tell you, coming back to a late Minnesota snow brought a few things into clarity for us.”
“I got to spend time with my sister, and we had sunshine—it was glorious,” Grandma said. “So we decided—why not move?”
Grayson sat back in his chair. “You’re moving to Florida? Permanently?”
“We are. You kids are grown and…off on your own.” Grandpa said it without accusation. “Quite frankly, I’ve been too old to be running this bakery for a while.”
“Don’t even get them started on our winters,” Robin said. She let out a breath. “I mean, I knew you were moving, but I don’t know—I guess I thought everything would somehow stay the same.”
Grayson ran his fingers over the envelope. “You’re really giving this to me?”
Grandma closed her eyes, opened them, and continued. “Like Robin said—when we spoke at Christmas, you mentioned hoping to finally buy a piece of land in Oregon, have your own ranch.” She offered him a sad smile. “And since then, your friend seems to be moving forward with his intent to sell. It’s the perfect solution as we prepare for the move.”
He stared at the map. Swallowed. No, the last thing he wanted to do was sell that lot of land. That would be saying goodbye to every dream his parents had had. It wasn’t the perfect solution. But it was a solution.
And it wasn’t something he’d ever thought he could do.
“If you want to get it listed while you’re here, we have a few real estate agents we can refer you to.”
He studied the pair and looked at Robin.
She looked away.
He shook his head. “Let’s talk about it later.”
Grandpa put a hand on Robin’s shoulder. “It’ll all work out.”
Movement across the intersection caught Grayson’s eye. Outside the library, a two-legged—what?
Book?
Yep. A person-sized book wandered along the sidewalk, zigzagging like his cattle dog searching for scent. Petite arms protruded from the costume, the oversized book covers something akin to the mascots he’d seen at Mariners baseball games in Seattle.
Except those were the Mariner Moose mascot and assorted costumed cohorts, including a hot dog, ketchup bottle, and relish jar racing down the warning track. But a book? Complete with a tasseled bookmark sticking out the top?
Wow.
“Looks like the library has a new release.” Grandma pointed past Grayson’s truck toward the library.
Robin joined them at the window, her distress forgotten. “Oh—”
The book faltered, paused, staggered.
“Oh dear.”
“Whoisthat?” Grayson asked.
Robin leaned closer to the glass like she was deciding which éclair to select. “Based on the size of the book—more novella than epic tome—I’d guess that’s Beth.”
