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Lex grimaced, glancing at Zane, who slapped him lightly on the back.
“Don’t worry,” Zane whispered. “I think that’s a good thing.”
Chapter Seventeen
Since Mom was trying out all kinds of new recipes for the winery menu, lunches had been especially good lately. Dad would usually fire up the grill in the evening and they’d all have something like burgers or barbecued chicken since Mom was kind of wearing herself out between getting the winery ready to open and taking care of the household with three other mouths to feed.
Izzy was a big help, but not too skilled with helping with the meals, so that’s where Amy stepped in. Mom had started letting her experiment with cooking before the boys had shown up, but there hadn’t been much time for that lately.
But Amy didn’t mind. Life had been a lot more interesting with Zane, Lex and Caleb around.
Lex especially. For some reason, even after his promise to stay through Christmas, she still felt like he needed someone, so she tried to do as many little things as she could to make him feel like this was home.
They ate some fancy chicken salad sandwiches without crusts for lunch along with a lot of salad, some fruit with jello and had their choice of several desserts.
Amy grinned because Harry, Zane and Lex each ate four sandwiches.
“Despite the fact that they were small, I’m thinking that you must have liked the sandwiches?” Mom asked the boys.
“I don’t think there’s anything that we haven’t liked,” Lex admitted, grinning.
Looking pleased, Mom laughed. “I’ll have to modify the sizes for the menu, although chicken salad is mainly a woman’s choice at lunch. Most men usually want something a little more substantial.”
“Wait until next week,” Izzy said, cupping a hand over her mouth conspiratorially. “Mom’s going to be experimenting with roast beef, you guys.”
Amy noticed Caleb’s eyes going wide. She’d been just like that herself at one time, excited by every little thing. The thought nearly brought her to tears. What if Eve hadn’t helped Harry, and Harry hadn’t told Jake Loughlin abouther? Amy remembered being scared to death when a bunch of people had come swarming through her foster parents’ house that day. Jake had known who she was because Harry had sent him, he said. He was going to take her to be with Harry, to a place where they’d be safe.
That place had been with the Giordanos. Izzy had made her feel like she belonged right away. They stood from the table, and before she started helping everyone clear the dishes, Amy rushed over to Izzy, and hugged her tightly.
Izzy seemed surprised, hugging her back. “Is everything alright, Amy?”
“Everything’s fine. I was just remembering the first time that Harry and I met Mom and Dad. I love you.”
“Geez, I love you too,” she answered softly. “I’m sorry I haven’t been spending as much time with you this summer.”
“That’s alright. Mom’s been keeping me busy. It’s been kind of exciting, actually, with the boys here now,” Amy replied.
“It has, hasn’t it?” Izzy agreed before patting her gently on the back. “Come on. Let’s get these dishes in the kitchen.”
Soon all the lunch dishes had been cleared from the table and everyone settled back in their seats to hear what Dad had to say when he finally appeared with Jake after spending the last forty-five minutes in his office.
“Okay, guys. I just thought we should have a family meeting and go over everything that we’ve discovered in our investigation since Jake is here with us today. Unfortunately, it’s not much. The good thing is we’ve been going over every bit of surveillance footage for the road to the house and we haven’t noticed any curious strangers around the area.” Dad heaved a sigh. “We can’t keep all of you under guard like prisoners. I think what we’re going to do is begin going places as a family to start. We can go out to eat every once in a while—maybe do things like go to the beach and get ice cream at the concessions. Mainly though, we’ll stay close to town. We have the winery opening soon, so there will be a lot more strangers on the property.”
“What about school?” Harry asked.
“Caleb will go for sure. He’s a little behind but we’ll hold him back a year since he’s so young, and hopefully, he’ll catch up soon. Lex is going to stay here at home for a while. Probably for at least a year. As soon as I’ve got him doing a little more with his reading and writing, I’ll start looking for a reliable tutor.” Dad looked at Lex. “Doc Donnelly thinks that you’re only about fifteen or sixteen, Lex. Everyone thought you were a little older, I gather?”
Lex grimaced. “I did too. There’s not a whole lot I remember about when I was really young.”
“I’m sorry to say that we do believe you were being drugged for a very long time,” Dad said, looking grim. “We’ll talk more about what the doctor found when we’re alone. Okay?”
“Sure,” Lex replied. “He’s told me just about everything, I think.”
“Just the same, there are a few other things you’ll need to be careful about,” Dad said, turning to Zane. “I’m excited for you, Zane. I have a feeling you’re going to succeed. You’ll be coming home again before Christmas, and we’ll all be able to celebrate the holidays together.” Dad suddenly turned to Amy and winked. “I know how much the holidays mean to you, sweetheart.”
Amy nodded excitedly, glancing at Lex, who squirmed uncomfortably as he gave her a rueful smile.
“There’s another thing I’d like to do.” Dad paused. “Why don’t we make this family arrangement as legal as possible? If anyone gets nosy and asks, you’re our cousins. Meanwhile, you can all use the last name of Giordano. Adoption takes a while in cases like all of yours, but Lucy and I want to be your guardians. We won’t stop investigating the past of course, and I know that Zane is probably too old to be adopted, but how about if Lucy and I sign an agreement, officially welcoming each of you into our family. No matter what happens in the future, each of you will always have a place here in this house.”
