Home on Apple Blossom Road (Life in Icicle Falls) Read Online Free Page B

Depp. “Okay, this is seriously whacked out. And what’s left that’s worth searching for?”
    “I promise you, there is something of value at the end of your search,” Aunt Beth told him.
    Dad frowned at her. “If I can continue?”
    She shrugged. “Don’t let me stop you.”
    Dad looked sternly at her over his bifocals, rustled his papers and then said basically the same thing. “There’s another stipulation. Both parties must still be single with no serious commitments. If either is married or engaged at the time, then the bequest goes to whichever one is single to do with as he or she sees fit.” He stopped and asked Mia, “Are you engaged?”
    Her cheeks turned rosy. “No.”
    Dad asked Colin the same question, even though he knew Colin was nowhere near popping the question. Gram had known it, too.
    “No,” Colin said firmly. In a way, he would’ve loved to say yes, just to see Mia’s reaction.
    Dad nodded and continued. “If one of the beneficiaries refuses to participate for reasons other than the aforementioned, then the other is free to search alone and will become the sole beneficiary.”
    That worked for Colin. “You probably have to get back to Chicago,” he said to Mia.
    “This shouldn’t take long,” she said. “But maybe you’d like to return to Seattle and...whoever.”
    As if on cue, his cell phone pinged. He checked the screen. He had a text message from Lorelei.
    Mia raised her eyebrows as he put the phone in his pocket. “Are you sure you’re not with someone?”
    “Being with someone isn’t the same as being engaged,” he fired back. “And how do we know you’re not with someone?”
    “Don’t worry, I’m not,” she said almost bitterly.
    No way was Colin letting her push him out of the picture. “Me, neither, so I’m in.”
    “Me, too.”
    Dad continued, still looking as if he’d been forced to suck on a bushel full of lemons. “There is one more condition. Neither participant may bring in outside help. That means if either of you brings in another person and goes looking with that person, then you disqualify yourself from continuing the search. It must be done by both of you—together.”
    What the hell was Gram up to? “Together, as in...”
    “If you don’t want to do this,” Mia began.
    “You are not making off with my inheritance,” Colin snapped.
    “Our inheritance,” she corrected him.
    “Let’s try and focus here,” Dad said, returning their attention to the will. “Once you two find your inheritance, it’ll be up to you to decide what to do with it. As executrix, your aunt will be able to guide you when the time comes, and I’ll handle the necessary legal matters.”
    What the heck did that mean? Who knew? All Colin knew was that he wasn’t going to back out and leave whatever his grandma had left for Mia to make off with.
    “So, do you both accept the conditions laid out in the will?” his father asked.
    “Yes,” said Mia.
    “Yes,” said Colin.
    “Then I need you to sign this.” Dad pushed a piece of paper loaded with legal gobbledygook Colin’s way.
    He scrawled his name and returned it. “You sure you don’t have to get back to Chicago?” he asked Mia. “You’re something big and important now, right?” At least according to Aunt Beth.
    “I’m not leaving,” she said as Dad passed the paper to her. “Anyway, I can’t think of a better place for a minivacation than Icicle Falls,” she said, smiling at Aunt Beth. “I’ll check into the Icicle Creek Lodge.”
    “You’ll do no such thing,” Aunt Beth told her. “You’ll stay with us.”
    And Colin would stay with Dad. Just like the old days, when everything he ever wanted was here in Icicle Falls, when life consisted of neighborhood baseball games, playing hide-and-seek in his grandparents’ old apple orchard and snarfing down Gram’s apple crisp loaded with whipped cream. He’d ridden his bike around the corner and down the street to his aunt’s place to hang