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“Don’t worry, Luce,” Gabe reassured her. “It could be a good thing. I’ll explain later. It might help us with discovering Lex’s identity eventually.”
Amy sat on the piano bench. “Do you really like the piano, Lex? Dad asked my advice after he told me that he’d heard you playing at night. I told him that you couldn’t sleep sometimes and that it would be really nice if he could get you a piano.”
“I love it, Amy,” Lex answered, still feeling dazed. “Would you like me to play another Christmas song?”
“Sure,” Amy answered, smiling knowingly. “Maybe you can teach me how to play sometime too.”
Lex snorted.
“I knew that she had an ulterior motive,” Gabe said dryly, rolling his eyes at Lucy.
Everyone began laughing.
Chapter Nineteen
It didn’t take long for the winery furnishings to be unloaded before they all ate lunch. Mom and Dad decided that everything should be stacked against the walls and covered for now because of the deck construction that would be happening the following week. It would be easier to wait until the workmen were done traipsing through the building so that the flooring and windows could be cleaned first.
By the afternoon, everyone was messing around, adding items to their new rooms. Zane decided to move all the sheet music and musical equipment upstairs into his room, which left a considerable amount of space in the conservatory. Caleb didn’t want to leave his room, but Amy insisted on taking him upstairs to the attic where she’d left some of her first toys, so he could choose some other items to fill his shelves. Once she was finished bringing down some items for Caleb, Lex was ready to roam around the attic for a while and look for a few things to fill his own. They’d also left the walls blank in his room, so while he was at it, he picked out some pictures that he seemed to be fascinated with.
Mom had laughed, surprised by how much Lex seemed to appreciate antiques. “Those were some of the war prints that were hanging on the walls in the hallway when the place was used as a respite for wounded soldiers during and after the civil war. Since there were no battles fought in Wisconsin, we served as a sanctuary.”
Mom pursed her lips. “Tell you what, why don’t I clean them up for you first and then you can hang them wherever you’d like. You know, Amy, if you want to take Lex into that closet under the staircase, there’s a storage area in back where we stacked a bunch of framed portraits and images against the wall when the roof began leaking. You have plenty of wall space in that room, Lex. Why don’t you see if there’s anything else in there that you’d like?”
“Sure,” Lex replied, looking surprised. “As long as you don’t mind. Amy said that some of these are really valuable.”
Mom’s look was arrested. “Lex? Valuable or not, what’s the use of having art if it’s not appreciated by someone. The fact that you’re interested in displaying these images tells me that you’re the person I should gift them to, alright? Whatever you like is yours. And I mean that. Even if you move away some day, you can take anything that we’ve given you along.”
Amy couldn’t believe the look of longing she saw on Lex’s face at that moment. Even if he still intended to leave, he was going to have a much harder time doing it now.
By the time Mom had cleaned up the two frames and their discolored glass, Lex had found a slew of smaller black and white paintings that he was really excited about.
Mom smiled widely. “You found the inked watercolors I see. The artist was actually there on scene during that battle. My grandfather used to tell me stories. I wish I would have been more interested when I was young. One day we’ll have them cleaned up by a professional, because they’re actually kind of faded. You know where those would look good and also stay protected from the light, Lex? On those shelves surrounding the fireplace with a little artificial lighting strung inside. You’ll get a lot of sunshine in that room.”
Lex grimaced. “Will you help me hang everything and put them on display when we’re done cleaning them up?”
“I’d love to,” Mom replied, smiling and handing over a bag. “Come here. I’ll show you what to do. Since these frames are so ornate, they’re a little dusty too. Amy can polish after we apply a dab of this stain to each of them.”
A few hours later, Mom had her hands on her hips, staring around Lex’s room with approval. “Alright, Lex. What do you think?”
He grinned. “I think everything looks great.”
“Those extra thin USB lights we got for Zane really came in handy for the insides of those shelves,” Amy said. “I’m glad we bought a lot of extras.”
“Harry knows much more about this stuff than I do, but luckily, I remembered how we connected them in Zane’s room, and your TV ground fault also contains some USB plug ins,” Mom said. “When we do more rewiring in this house, I think we’re going to have to include them automatically in our wall plates.”
“Harry disappeared again this afternoon to be with Eve,” Amy said.
“I can’t blame him,” Lex replied. “Eve’s going back to school and then they’re both going off on tour, so who knows when they’ll get to see each other again.”
“Harry’s entering the Air Force Academy early next year,” Mom said, appearing concerned.
Lex grimaced, “I didn’t realize he was leaving so soon.”
“We’re sure going to miss him,” Amy admitted. “Zane will probably be so popular, he’ll be touring again after Christmas. As it is, he’s off practicing with Danny in her studio almost every day now.”
“Well, thankfully, we’ll still have Lex and Caleb,” Mom said, looking thoughtful. “So maybe we won’t feel quite as lonely. Although Harry spends so much time at the airport with Izzy and hanging out with Eve, we hardly see him anymore, anyway.”
At that moment, Amy was pretty sure that Dad had told her that Lex had thought about leaving.
