Home on Apple Blossom Road (Life in Icicle Falls) by Sheila Roberts Page A

come, Col, but I think you need me.”
    Like he needed a nail driven into his eye. “Where are you right now?”
    “Colin, we’re dishing up dessert,” called Aunt Beth.
    And meanwhile, Lorelei was dishing up a mess. He slipped out onto the front porch, half expecting to see her Kia sitting at the curb. Of course it wasn’t. She didn’t have Aunt Beth’s address. And she wasn’t tracking him, for crying out loud. Except that was what it felt like.
    “I’m in the town square by that cute gazebo. So, where should I come?”
    Not here! “Uh.”
    “Colin, Aunt Beth says to get back to the kitchen or she’s going to give Uncle Mark your piece of cake.”
    He whirled around to see Mia standing at the screen door.
    “I’ll be there in a minute.” Sheesh.
    “All right,” said Lorelei.
    “No, not there.”
    “What?”
    “I was talking to someone else.”
    “That friend ?”
    Colin’s head hurt. “Let’s get you settled someplace.”
    “Where are you staying?”
    “With my dad. But you can’t stay there.”
    “Gee, thanks.” Okay, that hadn’t come out right.
    “No, I don’t mean it like that. It’s in the will.” Well, sort of. This was hard to explain.
    “In the will,” she repeated slowly.
    Yeah, that sounded nuts. This whole thing was nuts.
    “Tell you what, go to Gerhardt’s Gasthaus and check in. It’s three blocks off the main street on Pine. I’ll come see you as soon as I can.” And the way his aunt was nagging him, that was going to be sooner rather than later.
    “Okay.” Lorelei sounded a lot less happy than when she’d first called. “Then let’s meet up for dinner.”
    Crap . “Sorry, I just ate. I didn’t know you were coming.”
    She sighed. “Okay, I guess I’ll get something to eat. By myself.”
    Even though he wasn’t responsible for the fact that she was having to eat alone, he still felt as though he was. Lorelei didn’t cook, but the one dish she sure could serve up was guilt.
    “I’ll see you in a little while,” he promised.
    “If you want to go hang out with your girlfriend, I can take over,” Mia said as he ended the call.
    Yeah, no ulterior motive there. She’d probably be happy to cut him out of his grandmother’s will, just like she’d been happy to cut him out of her life. “I don’t think so,” he said. “We’re in this together.”
    “Suit yourself.”
    “Colin, this friend of yours is becoming a nuisance,” Aunt Beth said as he and Mia came back to the kitchen table. “You know the conditions of the will.”
    “I do, don’t worry,” he said.
    His aunt didn’t say anything else, but she was frowning as she set a slice of cake in front of him.
    Cake with a topping of peaches, melted brown sugar and butter, all smothered in whipped cream—it landed on his taste buds like some kind of magic potion, transporting him to happier times when Sunday supper always ended in some fabulous dessert. After dessert it was cards or, in the summer, croquet or badminton on the lawn or sitting on the front porch with Mia and his dog while the grown-ups visited with passing neighbors. When he hit adulthood, he’d envisioned himself with a family, enjoying apple crisp or peach upside-down cake, sitting on his own front porch or playing games with his kids. So far, he had no family and no front porch, only an apartment with a balcony and a barbecue. What the heck was he doing with his life?
    “So,” Aunt Beth said, “are you two ready for your next clue?”
    It was about time. Colin nodded and shoved away his empty plate. “Bring it on.”
    Aunt Beth produced a pink envelope from her kitchen junk drawer and laid it on the table. Colin and Mia both reached for it. Remembering her earlier comment, he pulled away his hand and let her open it.
    She didn’t read it out loud so he prompted, “What does it say?”
    “‘Go to your favorite haunt and ask for a...’” Her brows knit.
    “A what?”
    She passed the stationery over. “It’s a word