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understand and I sympathize,” I said. “But there’s no way I can leave for South Carolina today.”
    “Why not?”
    He’d never understand. But I had to be honest. “It’s my son’s birthday on Saturday. I can’t miss it.”
    Grandel flushed. He wasn’t a man who people said no to, I could tell.
    “Saturday? Today’s only Wednesday. How about if you come now and I’ll fly you back Friday? Just give me two days—see what you think. You can keep that retainer whatever you decide. Surely your time is worth a quarter of a million a day?”
    He paused and I just stared, not sure if I should slap him for assuming I could be bought at any price or hug him for not walking away from a deal that could secure our future.
    Before I could say anything, he continued, “I’ll even sweeten the pot with a bonus—a savings bond in your son’s name. He can use it for college. How’s ten thousand sound?”
    The air left my lungs so fast my ears popped. I hated that Grandel could buy me—or use David to do it . . . but.... Elizabeth stood behind Grandel, mouthing “one million dollars.”
    It was our future—the firm’s, David’s, my entire family’s and Elizabeth’s. How could I refuse?

    Pea gravel cracked beneath the crutch’s rubber tip as David leaned his weight onto it. The noise sent a startled squirrel darting up a nearby hemlock, turning to make an accusatory skittering sound as if reprimanding David for being so loud.
    “How far is he?” Gram Flora asked from a few yards below him, one hand shielding her eyes from the sun as though she wasn’t almost totally blind.
    “Only to the first bend,” her personal care assistant, Jeremy, answered.
    “David, that’s far enough,” she called. “Ty, go fetch him back.”
    Ty said nothing. Which was why David liked him so much. The sheriff’s deputy rarely said anything unless it would make a difference, and Ty knew full well that David had his mind set on getting to the top of the mountain, all the way up to the lookout at the wishing stone.
    David had been working all summer for this, the perfect birthday present. It was his birthday coming up, but he wanted to do something special for his mom. After all, she’d almost died giving birth to him—a fact he’d only learned about recently. All his life Mom had sacrificed and worked hard to take care of him. Now he wanted to give her something that would let her see how far he’d come.
    He was going to the top of the mountain. But not in his wheelchair. Oh no. He was walking .
    With a little help from his crutches, for sure. But still. He was walking to the top.
    The sun sizzled off the sweat covering his face. A slight breeze—a tailwind, that was good—helped to keep him from feeling too hot despite his exertion. One foot, then the other. It was painfully slow going, but he couldn’t stop. Not with the image of Mom’s smile of pride when she saw him make it to the top on Saturday floating before him. No way he would quit, let her down.
    The second turn of the switch-backed path had him looking back down the ridge to Gram Flora’s house and the smaller cottage known as the summerhouse, where he and Mom had lived ever since they arrived in Scotia a few months ago. Funny. It didn’t seem so long when you looked at the calendar, but it felt like he’d become a whole other person since he’d left D.C.
    Guess he was. He’d found and lost a father in the space of a few days. Almost died himself. Met Ty and Ty’s K-9 partner, Nikki. Moved in beside Gram Flora and Jeremy. And was starting to get to know his mother’s parents—but not his father’s, not as much as he’d like. His dad only had a father left, Old Man Masterson. That’s what his mom called his paternal grandfather, usually accompanied by a sour look on her face like she’d forgotten to check the date on the milk before taking a drink but was too polite to spit it out.
    Forget being a whole other person. He’d entered a whole new world. A