Page 78 of Family Bonds- Kelsey & Van

He was ignoring Kelsey's comment. “Did my grandfather drink wine? I got the feeling he was into whiskey and scotch.”

Van hadn’t planned on bringing this up in front of everyone, but since it was brought up innocently enough, he didn’t think it was that big of a deal.

“Barry liked his whiskey and scotch. He had the wine for company. He didn’t entertain often in the past few years, but prior to that he’d have some dinner parties. He liked to have a lot of options on hand. But the last year or so he was just filling the slots up more than anything.”

He wanted to ask why but didn’t think it was the place or if Kyle even knew.

Then Duke said it was time to sit down and eat dinner. He hadn’t touched the salad that was put out like Kelsey and her mother had done. He would pass on that.

Everyone sat at the dining room table, then ate while the conversation flowed.

He didn’t have to contribute and was fine with that. It wasn’t his thing to talk much but rather observe.

“Did you get anything from Christian?” Kyle asked him.

“Kyle,” Karen said. “I thought we agreed to not talk about work.”

“Sorry,” Kyle said. “Ignore me. My wife laid the law down and I broke it.”

He smirked. “No worries. But the answer is no. He said tomorrow.”

Kyle looked at his wife and then smiled. “We’ll talk about it on Friday then.”

The dynamic between the two married couples was something he wasn’t used to seeing.

Not a long-lasting marriage of smiles and warm looks mixed in with the silent conversations they were having that no one seemed to understand but Kyle and Karen.

Yeah, his mother should have had that in her life and he hated that she didn’t.

But she would have never gotten it staying with his father and he wondered more than once why his mother never left if she had this to come back to.

22

INTIMIDATE OR IMPRESS

“Can I help you?”

“I’m Van Harlowe,” he said. “I’d like to speak with the manager if I could.”

“Can I ask what this is about?” the woman said.

He looked at her name tag. He’d told no one he was coming to the hotel today but Kyle. It was a last-minute decision and when he caught the ferry back to Amore Island, he’d meet with his business partner to go over what he discovered.

“Taylor, I own half of the hotel. Barry Elson was my grandfather.”

“Oh,” Taylor said. “I mean we all knew Barry, but I wasn’t aware he had a grandson.”

He could tell by the look on her face that she might not believe him. “If you want to verify with Kyle first, please call him. He’ll be expecting your call.”

“It should be fine,” Taylor said.

He didn’t care for that answer. He would have preferred she verified who he was, but then told himself he wasn’t getting anywhere other than talking to a manager. Ryan Greene was the manager of the hotel. He should be on the premises and Van couldn’t wait to see what happened when the two were introduced.

“I’ll just wait over here while you get Ryan,” he said.

Taylor moved away from the counter and exited through a door. She returned five minutes later with an older man behind her.

“I’m Ryan Greene. Taylor tells me you’re Barry’s grandson. I hope I don’t insult you, but I just called Kyle to verify. This is all news to me.”

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