The Bloodline

Chapter 10, The Bloodline

Chapter 10

Dinner had been the same four-course meal his mother had insisted on while he lived in this house. He really hadn't paid much attention to the extravagance, the dinner settings and the state of dress that was insisted on before coming to the dining room. He was the only one not wearing the required semiformal attire, instead having opted for blue jeans and a deep green Henley, which had earned him a raised eyebrow from his father and a chuckle from Craig.

There were a butler and maid who set the courses prepared for every meal, refilled glasses with wine, and cleared everything from the table. It was far different than the simple casseroles Laura often threw together. He missed the clatter and the smiles on his children's faces, the food that was smeared everywhere on the table, on their faces, and spilled onto the floor. It was a sight that would never have existed in his mother's dining room.

At the estate, children had always been banished to the kitchen, where the staff looked after them, fed them, and then ushered them off to bed so the adults could dine in peace. It wasn't until he was older and responsible enough to eat with adults that he was required to be in the dining room for dinner.

The house was now quiet after the small talk from dinner, his two uncles, Noah and Craig, and his father. Then, by some miracle, all three men excused themselves for an after-dinner brandy, disappearing into some part of the house. Andy used that time to slip away and return to his room, the bedroom of his that hadn't changed from the moment he'd packed up his and Laura's belongings after she had the twins and moved them out.

The room was the same, neat and tidy, as if it had been waiting for his return. A four-poster mahogany bed filled the center of a room richly decorated in golds and white. For the first time, he found himself looking at it through the eyes of his wife, as she had seen it. The wealth, the comfort. The plush white chairs placed just so in front of the huge mantled fireplace. The fireplace was lit as if someone had stepped into the bedroom and readied it while he ate. His bag, which he'd left on the sofa downstairs, was sitting open on the bed. He realized as he walked closer that someone had unpacked his things. The envelope, though, was sitting there with his bag, unopened.

He pulled open the large chest of drawers and saw the few items he'd packed folded neatly. The large walk-in closet was open, and he noticed his suit was hanging there alone. What was it about this room that had appealed to him at one time? He walked into the large en suite, taking in the huge walk-in shower with four sprayheads, which could accommodate an entire family. The sunken bath had jets that he couldn't remember ever using. Looking at all the splendor, the gold faucets, the comfort here, left him missing and wishing for the comfort of his home in Montana. He laughed to himself as he thought of what his wife had said, how this wasn't a home, it was a palace filled with art and useless trinkets. She had always worried that Gabriel would touch or break something worth more than the average person made in a lifetime. A home was a place he could relax in, a place that was his, where he didn't have staff catering to his every whim. How right she was.

"It's just for the night," he said to himself, wondering if he should call Laura again, feeling bad for having cut her off earlier, but as he glanced at the clock, he knew it was too late. She'd be asleep or should have been. He'd call in the morning.

There was a light tap on his door. He checked the knob, remembering the lock he knew he'd set. There was something unsettling about being in a place so big, where there were others he didn't know. It had never bothered him until now.

He was startled to see Todd standing in the doorway, still wearing his dark suit, his red and white tie loosened and the top button of his white shirt undone. His white chest hair was exposed. "Do you have a minute, son?" his dad asked.