Christopher had not only given us a house.

He had given me back the future as a place I was allowed to imagine, rather than a threat I had to survive.

And I sat there on that couch and watched my grandson eat, and I let myself, for the first time in years, simply picture him grown, and safe, and happy — and the picture did not hurt to look at.

That, more than the mansion, more than anything, is what the old man gave us.

Chapter 14 — The Front Door

The next morning, the sun broke for the first time in days through the gray Michigan clouds as Samuel Vance’s quiet black sedan pulled up the long drive of the great stone estate.