I Ran So Far Away - Complete

Chapter 20

"Oh my God, Elliot! The house is looking incredible! Christian showed me the attic area – I can't believe you made all that extra space!" I gushed, hugging Elliot enthusiastically.

"Attic space?" Carrick asked, giving me a kiss on the cheek and passing me a cranberry spritzer. I'd been quite a fan of these when I was pregnant, and since I was unable to drink while breastfeeding, they'd remained my drink of choice.

"I had to change over the roof trusses to support the weight of solar equipment on the roof," Elliot explained. "With newer materials and technology, I was able to reclaim most of the roof space. It's not all useable because of the roof pitch, but it represents an additional twenty-five percent on the original internal square footage of the house."

"We're going to use some as storage, and the idea is to make the rest of it a teenage retreat space for when Teddy is older. It gives us so many options - I can't believe no one thought of it before!"

"It's hard retrofitting roof supports on a house," Elliot clarified. "We had to go back to the drawing board working out how to make trusses strong enough while leaving the center of the building clear. There's a lot of engineering behind it, but basically the roof is twice as strong as before but you have the extra space. We're looking to patent the exact design because this might be a game changer in terms of remodeling and extending existing properties. It will give us an edge in the market."

"If you need a hand with that, let me know. I have a team at GEH dedicated to patents; I'd be happy to task them with helping you with yours."

"I've never patented anything before, so I might just take you up on that, thanks Christian."

"That sounds phenomenal, son. Well done – I'm proud of you," Carrick said, clapping Elliot on the shoulder.

My eyes flicked to Christian, noticing how pleased he was to see his father praise Elliot. If Carrick hated Christian dropping out of Harvard, apparently he'd been worse when Elliot announced he was doing a building and construction course straight out of high school.

"Well I couldn't have done it without Christian," Elliot stated modestly. "Few jobs are big enough to worth investing that sort of R and D."

"Yes, we get it. Christian and Ana's house will be the biggest and best in Seattle," Kate said sarcastically with saccharine sweetness.

"It will be once I'm done with it," Elliot replied, covering the awkward moment.

"Damned right," Grandpa Theo boomed, patting both grandsons on the shoulder.

"Theo! Keep it down – you'll wake our little Teddy Bear!" Adele scolded from the sofa where she was fussing over Teddy. Their first time seeing him, Adele had almost snatched Teddy from Grace's arms the minute she walked in. Grace had sent Mia to finish the lunch preparations while she busied herself taking photos of her mother and grandson.

"Lunch is served," Mia announced, breezing into the room.

We followed them back into the dining room, taking our allotted seats; Elliot, Kate, Mia and Theo on one side of the table, Christian, Teddy in a lay back high chair, me and Adele on the other. We'd just started on a delicious chicken and barley soup when Mia loudly exclaimed, "Whoa! Is that more bling on your finger, Ana?"

I looked down at my ring finger and smiled at the ring Christian had given me an hour or so before.

"Christian gave me an eternity ring earlier at the new house," I explained.

"In the same spot where I proposed," Christian added proudly, taking my hand and bringing it to his lips in a tender kiss.

"Give us a look then," Kate said holding her hand across the table to take mine. "That's sure a lot of diamonds." Looking up at Christian, she continued, "If you give her a push present like that every time, Ana will be up the duff continuously!"