Page 33 of This Time Around
That made it tougher for her to fish for information. To find out if her dad knew anything about the contents of the trunk in the attic. But her time here was limited, so she needed to get to it.
Allie shuffled her feet on the floor and ordered herself to keep her tone casual. “Did you know Grandma left the Rosewood B&B to me?”
He shook his head. “No, but it doesn’t surprise me. She always loved you so much.”
“Right. I mean, I guess there wasn’t anyone else to leave it to.” She stopped, wishing she could take back the words that probably sounded unkind. If her dad weren’t behind bars, she had no doubt he would have inherited the property.
But her father didn’t seem fazed. He sat with his hand covering hers, wearing the same sad little smile he’d worn every time she’d visited him here. “You deserve to inherit it, Allie. I’m glad the old place will stay in the family.”
“Me, too.” Allie cleared her throat, ready to try again. “So, Daddy. Did your lawyer ever talk to you about Grandma’s will? About her assets or anything?”
He shook his head. “Not really. From what I understand, there wasn’t much left. I know that assisted living place ate up a lot of her savings, and all the legal stuff a few years ago?—”
He glanced at the guard, then back at Allie. “I do feel bad about all that.”
Allie nodded, not sure what else to say. Not sure what she could say. She knew he’d been working on another appeal, just like her mom was. That made them both pretty tight-lipped about the details of the crime that had put them behind bars.
Allie tried again. “So Grandma never talked to you about her other assets?”
“You mean like stocks, bonds?”
“Sure, anything like that.”
Her hand felt chilly beneath her father’s warmer one, and she willed him to read her mind, to know what she was driving at. He’d always been so good at that.
But he just shook his head and frowned. “Nothing I know about. Why?”
“No reason. Just being thorough.”
He squeezed her hand again. “That’s my girl. Always dotting every i and crossing every t.”
“Right. That’s me.”
“So have you been back to the place? The B&B, I mean.”
“I have.” Allie glanced at the guard again, trying not to notice the lethal-looking club on his belt. “Did you know grandma turned it into a cat sanctuary?”
“Sanctuary?” Her father frowned. “Like a church?”
“No, not a church. Like a residence for homeless cats.”
He gave a small, fond smile. “She always did like cats. Remember that orange one with the weird ears? And that gray one she had, Stumpy?”
Allie nodded, dimly remembering Stumpy. “That’s right. The one with the white feet and the meow that sounded like a smoker’s cough.”
Her dad laughed, already on his way down memory lane. “I remember she got him as a gift from someone. She never said who, but that always seemed like a pretty weird present.”
“Maybe it was a gag gift,” Allie suggested. Then she grimaced as her brain flashed back on the image of the ball gag she’d found in the attic. “Do you remember if Stumpy had extra toes?”
“Not that I can recall, why?”
“Most of the cats there now have extra toes. I was wondering if maybe they’re all relatives or something.”
He looked thoughtful. “Could be. I don’t know much about the toe thing, but I suppose if it’s some sort of congenital abnormality, it could be recessive. Like you might have a cat with normal paws who carries the gene and produces kittens with the extra toes.”
“It’s no big deal.” Allie shrugged, still trying to figure out how to steer the conversation to the topic of the steamer trunk. “I didn’t mean to go all crazy cat lady.”
“No, it’s very interesting.” He grinned. “Besides, it doesn’t sound like there’s much chance you’ll be making me a grandpa anytime soon. This might be the closest I get.”
