by Alice Sabo
Jeff leaned out the door. “While we were getting Momma all signed up for that place, Uncle Erwin finally told me about Dad’s will. He’s been holding the land for me all this time.” He shook his head. “I guess he knew I wasn’t gonna want it. Said he’d buy me out. So we got an appointment with the lawyer to set it all up. And he’s gonna pay for an apartment for Jo and me in Asheville now and give me the rest later.” The news came out in a rush.
Jo stood behind him nodding and beaming with excitement. “I’m gonna go to school down there. And I can take accelerated courses.”
“That sounds wonderful,” Bunny said.
“Congratulations,” Ellie said.
“Aunt Sue said changes were coming,” Asher said.
Jeff laughed. “Yes sir, she did.”
“Aunt Sue sees things coming,” Jo added somberly. “She said she thinks the mine might get started up again.”
Asher shivered. He hoped George’s experience would rule out any filming in the mine. And he hoped that if the Jenkinses and Cahills decided to reopen The Heart’s Desire that no one got killed over it. But his thoughts were interrupted as furniture was moved and the kitchen table came out into the living room. It had two extra leaves which Jo had found in the broom closet. Chairs were rounded up, and they managed to find enough to seat them all. Jo ran out to the main house for a high chair for Sharon and a booster for Thomas.
Jeff and Jo loaded the table with a feast. They all took their seats around the steaming platters. Asher felt a sense of closure and of peace. Bobby’s murder and Brent’s disappearance were solved and neither had anything to do with him. The Cahill kids were excited about new possibilities. He was surrounded by family and friends, people he cared about. He was alive, sober and sane and about to start work on a major motion picture. He had two beautiful children that he was going to try to raise as best as he could possibly manage, and with Ellie beside him he thought they would all have a good future. Despite the recent challenges, his life was wonderful. As everyone settled, he stood. All eyes turned to him. He lifted his mug in a toast.
And his phone rang. “It’s Denny.”
“Better take it,” Ellie said.
Asher stepped into the bedroom, expecting a reprimand. “Hey, Denny.”
“Ash! My golden boy!”
“What?”
“You are all over the news. The hero! Ash, my phone is ringing off the hook. The studio is doing the happy dance that they hired you for the movie. And I’ve got a dozen talk shows that want to book you for this week. I need you to decide who you want to talk to. They all want the story. Meth lab, gem mine, secret caves, this is hot stuff. I couldn’t have bought this kind of publicity.”
Asher grinned. “I guess for once, I’ve done it right.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Alice grew up in suburban New Jersey with a brother and three sisters, sidewalks to play hopscotch on and friends to walk to school with. She developed a bad case of wanderlust, which might be blamed on nomadic ancestors or all that speculative fiction she devoured. After attending college in New Jersey and Massachusetts, she finished her Bachelors in Fine Arts at the University of New Mexico. Since that time she has worked a variety of jobs on both coasts and in the middle, Boston, Los Angeles, Grand Junction, Long Beach Island. Now she lives in Asheville, NC, where she gardens and writes.
Other Books by Alice Sabo
Unintended Consequences
Asher Blaine Mysteries:
White Lies
Dark Deeds
A Changed World:
Lethal Seasons
Scattered Seeds (Coming Fall 2015)
