for Ada as well. She wanted it to chime every fifteen minutes. You can hear it from practically anywhere in the town of Avalon,” she told him.
“We’re going to have to do a lot of exploring so you can show it all to me,” Smoke told her.
They finished their lunch, then took a tour of the mansion. There were six en suite guest rooms, each one beautifully decorated to reflect a bygone era. The charm and luxuriousness of the place made a person feel as if they were royalty when they stayed there.
On the lower level of the magnificent property was a billiards room that Wrigley himself had played in, a very comfortable den with a bar, a fireplace in a room with majestic views of the island, and a wraparound terrace that looked out on Avalon Bay.
They left Mt. Ada, and Smoke took the winding road through the hills, letting Amira drink in everything that could be forgotten if a person didn’t return soon enough. It was so odd to feel so at home in a place, and then to have that feeling disappear over time. She vowed right then and there she’d get back at least once a year, even if she could only take a single weekend. That was better than no time at all.
The two chatted about all of her favorite places as he easily navigated the narrow roads leading over the parts of the island that were paved. Most of the island wasn’t allowed to be touched, making sure to keep it as natural as possible. They didn’t want progress to take away the beauty and charm of the island.
When he came back into town near Descanso Beach, she clapped with joy as she watched a group of deer grazing on the pristine grass. “The deer have no fear of being in town. They really love Doritos. If you want them to literally come eat out of your hand all you have to do is show them that shiny red bag and they practically come running,” Amira said.
“I take it you’ve done that a time or two,” Smoke said with a laugh.
“Maybe just once or twice,” she said with a gleam in her eyes. She’d done it every day she could get over to the resort area. It wasn’t too far from where her grandfather’s home had been. There was a twinge she felt at that thought. They were getting near to her grandfather’s place. She wondered how much it was going to break her heart to see the home that had brought her so much joy as a child and young adult but was no longer accessible to her. Amira loved her parents, but she wasn’t sure she could forgive them for selling the home without first giving her a chance to buy it.
Smoke turned down the street where her grandfather had owned their vacation home, and she felt a lump in her throat that made her unable to speak. Her heart started pounding. She looked down. It was too soon to look at the house, to see if the people who’d bought it had changed everything. It hadn’t been a mansion, but it had always been perfect to Amira. She’d lived in a mansion with her parents. The cozy vacation home on the island had been worth so much more in her mind. Maybe someday she’d be able to get it back.
Smoke stopped the golf cart, and Amira finally looked up. Her eyes widened when she realized they were right in front of her grandfather’s place. There was a small hotel across the street from her grandfather’s home and one on the other side of his place. Had Smoke chosen one of those places to stay in? Were the fates so cruel to her to force her to look at the place she was no longer allowed to be at?
“Smoke, are we staying here?” she asked, her voice a bit choked.
“Yes, we are,” Smoke said. There was love and concern in his eyes. “But only if you want to. I have backup reservations made down the road.”
Those words filled her with so much love she felt as if she’d burst from the emotions flowing through her.
“You know this was my Gramps’s place,” she said, not a question. She finally looked up, and that’s when tears filled her eyes. “I don’t think I can see it.” But it was too late. The place looked exactly the same. The house had been sold two years