Page 48 of The Journey That Never Ends

She turned away to give the couple some privacy. Looking around the massive kitchen, she decided to take Ronald up on his offer and walked around the house.

The living room had an open plan with a large stone fireplace. Picture windows on either side provided magnificent views of the mountains. Large moose antlers hung above the fireplace, and there were some pictures placed along the mantel.

She pictured up a frame photo and studied the group of men victoriously posing in front of a large downed moose. Setting the picture back on the mantel, she decided to make her way upstairs.

The stairs were as massive as the rest of the house. Black-and-white framed photos of wild animals lined the walls leading up the stairs.

Reaching the top, she walked down a hallway and stopped at a room. Elana stepped inside the large bedroom. Again, it was beautifully decorated, but there wasn’t anything personal like pictures on the wall.

She went through all the rooms upstairs until she came to the master bedroom. Stepping inside, she saw this room was more personal than the others.

The large king-size bed was decorated in cool gray colors, and along the fireplace were pictures of Ronald when he was younger. Stepping closer, Elana realized all the photos were pictures of Ronald and her grandmother.

Picking up a photo, she marveled that he’d kept the photos all these years.

“I always carried a photo of Cecilia with me.”

Elana jumped at Ronald’s voice and spun around.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

She smiled and shook her head. “I should be the one apologizing to you. I had no business in your room.” She looked past him. “Where’s Grandma Cecilia?”

He grinned. “She’s sitting on the porch and enjoying the view.”

Elana smiled. “You do have fantastic views.”

He walked over to the window, shoved his hands in his jeans pocket, and stared out. “I’m sure you have a ton of questions for me.” He threw a look at her over his shoulder.

“What kind of granddaughter would I be if I didn’t?” she joked.

He turned and studied her. “You know, your grandmother values your opinion over everyone else’s in the family.”

Elana blinked, caught off guard.

He grinned. “You didn’t know that. Why don’t we go outside with your grandmother.” He walked over to the doorway and waited for her to exit first.

As she descended the stairs, she pointed to the pictures on the wall. “Are these from your hunts?”

“Some are. Some are just photos I’ve taken on vacation.” He stopped at a picture of a huge bear. “I took this photo on a bear hunt in Alaska.”

She looked at him. “Did you shoot him?”

He slowly shook his head. “No, I didn’t. Once I saw how huge he was, I decided to let him live another day. Now if he had been an elk, he would have been a goner.”

She reached the bottom step. “I like your house. It’s beautiful. Seems like there’s a lot of history in these walls.”

He nodded and walked over to the front door. Jack and Nelson hopped up from where they were lounging at the fireplace and ran over. “It’s been in my family for a while. Every generation has either improved the house or added to it.” He opened the door and waited for her to walk out. Jack and Nelson raced past her.

“There you two are. I was wondering what was taking you so long. You didn’t get lost, did you, Elana?” Grandma Cecilia joked.

“Just taking my time looking at Ronald’s beautiful house,” Elana assured her.

“Come sit.” Grandma Cecilia eased over on the wicker couch and patted her hand on the seat.

Elana sat next to her. Ronald sat in the chair next to her grandmother.

“This is more beautiful than I imagined, Ronald.” Grandma Cecilia looked over at him. “I bet you have coffee out here every morning just to take in the view.”

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