“I had a security system put in when they renovated after the fire,” Victor added. “We’ll lock up and turn it on, on our way out. I’ll show you how to work it when I get back, but in the meantime, the others know what to do if it goes off.”
“Okay,” Basil murmured.
Nodding, Victor turned to Elvi. “Shall we?”
Smiling, she took the hand he held out and headed for the door.
“Well,” Basil said once the door closed behind the other couple. “Would you like to go see the sunroom?”
Sherry nodded and stood up. There didn’t appear to be much else for them to do at the moment. Besides, she had a lot of questions she’d like answered. She lined them up in her head as they walked upstairs.
Elvi and Victor’s room was at the opposite end of the house from hers. It was a large, beautiful room done in shades of cool blue, she saw as they walked through the short hallway next to it, leading to the sunroom.
“Wow,” she said as they stepped out into the sunroom itself. It was lovely, furnished with a large comfortable couch and a chair along the outer walls, and a large television, PlayStation, and music system on a shelving unit against the wall backing onto the house. That wall and the bottom halves of the outer walls were all painted a pale yellow, while large glass windows made up the upper halves of the outer walls, leaving a three-sided view. Sheer blinds covered the windows, allowing sunlight in, but she guessed not allowing anyone to actually see in. She smiled as she peered out at the pretty tree-lined street and the big backyard with its garden and old trees.
“Very nice,” Basil agreed, taking it all in with a smile. “It makes me envy my brother his home.”
“Tell me about it,” Sherry said on a laugh as she moved closer to the back window to look down on the deck in the backyard. She had an apartment in Toronto. It was owned, not rented, and a nice size, but there weren’t a lot of trees anywhere near it or near her store. She didn’t see this kind of greenery often and hadn’t realized how much she missed it until just this moment. Glancing to Basil, she asked suddenly, “So why is this your first trip down here?”
Basil turned to arch an eyebrow. “Who says it is?”
“Elvi said she hadn’t met you before,” Sherry explained, turning her gaze back to the window. “So either you only came when she wasn’t here, or . . .” She shrugged, leaving the rest unsaid.
“Very good deductive reasoning, Dr. Watson,” Basil teased lightly, and then admitted, “I have been meaning to fly up to meet Victor’s new life mate, but business or family always intervened.”
“Fly up?” Sherry asked.
“I live and work in New York.”
“Oh.” That surprised her. She’d just assumed he was from Toronto like her.
“Anyway, I should have met Elvi at the wedding, but I got detained in Europe,” he said wryly.
“Detained?” Sherry asked. “Like pulled over by airport security detained?”
“No,” he said on a chuckle. “I was supposed to fly back the night before the wedding, but a big storm hit. No one was flying. We left as soon as we could but still ended up hitting New York a good four hours after the wedding. By the time we got through traffic into the city, even the reception was over.”
“Elvi and Victor got married in New York?” she asked with surprise.
Basil nodded. “It was a big multi-wedding. Several couples married at the same time. Elvi and Victor were among them.”
“Ah,” she murmured, but then asked, “So what do you do in New York?”
“Ride herd on my children, harass my brother Lucian with long distance calls, and make money for both myself and the council,” he said with a shrug.
She grinned at the harassing his brother bit, but asked, “And working as a lawyer makes you that much money?”
“While I am presently a lawyer, I also run half a dozen companies under one large umbrella company, and manage several investments I have built up over the years.”
“Right,” she said slowly. “I forgot, you’re old so you’re stinking rich.”
“I have a lot of money, but have not noticed it giving off any kind of unpleasant odor,” he assured her.
If she hadn’t caught the twinkle in his eye, Sherry would have thought he’d taken her literally. However, she did see it, so merely smiled and asked, “What kind of lawyer?”
Basil hesitated and then turned and moved to sit on the couch before answering, “Business law mostly at the moment, although I am licensed in criminal, civil, and immigration law as well.”
“Of course, you are,” she said dryly, and shook her head as she moved to sit on the other end of the couch. “I suppose living so long allows you to diversify a bit.”