Suddenly Psychic (Glimmer Lake #1)(31)

It was all natural but carefully managed, just like the land where Russell Lumber still logged. Jack ran the logging company statewide, and Robin was proud of her brother’s work. He’d taken Russell Lumber into the twenty-first century with sustainable practices. Conservation hadn’t been high on the list of Gordon Russell’s priorities, but Jack had made the company his own.

Because of Jack’s good business management, Grandma Helen was living—and would continue to live—very well. Robin parked in front of a house that could only be described as a luxury mountain estate.

Russell House was a combination of granite rock and cedar, three stories looking over Glimmer Lake with a sloping lawn leading down to the water’s edge where a boathouse and dock dominated the shore. If Robin hadn’t grown up visiting, she would have thought it was a small hotel.

Robin rang the doorbell before she walked in. “Grandma Helen?”

She looked right, but her grandma wasn’t in the front parlor where the light warmed the room, so Robin turned left from the grand entryway and walked through the dining room and into the kitchen.

Helen looked up from her cup of coffee. “Robin!” She held out a wrinkled hand. “I wasn’t expecting a visit today.”

“I know.” Robin set the brownies on the kitchen table. “But I baked these, so I thought I’d bring you some.”

Helen’s eyes lit up. “They smell like they have walnuts.”

“They do, but I cut them up really, really small, so you should be able to eat them and not bother your teeth.”

Helen motioned Robin down. She bent over and her grandmother kissed her cheek. “You’re such a good girl.”

Robin turned her face and kissed Helen’s wrinkled cheek. “I learned it from the best girl.”

“Get some coffee,” Helen said. “Your mother just brought up more of the little pod things.”

Grandma Helen loved her coffee, but Grace and Robin didn’t love her making it on her old percolator. They’d bought her a single-serve coffee maker, and Helen had grown to love it.

“How many cups have you had today?”

“Enough to keep my heart going,” Helen said with a tiny bite in her voice. “Don’t you worry about me.”

“Have you been painting anything?”

“Just a few watercolors.” Helen’s complaints about aging weren’t wasted on her wrinkles or her glorious sweep of grey hair. They were reserved completely for arthritis and fading eyesight. She’d had to stop painting with oils in her seventies. The fumes gave her an awful headache. She’d switched to acrylics for a time but had eventually settled on watercolors, painting more and more landscapes through her eighties. Though she no longer finished many pieces, she still enjoyed it, and she liked taking her easel outside. She just sat instead of standing.

“And what have you been drawing?” Helen asked. “Anything new?”

Robin smiled. “This and that.”

“Oh?” Helen looked surprised. “That’s good.” Helen had never approved of Robin moving back to Glimmer Lake. She’d told Robin to stay in the Bay Area and keep working on her art. But when Austin had been born, all Robin had wanted was the familiar. She wanted her friends and her family. Wanted cold clear air and wide-open skies.

There was no excuse for stopping her art. She’d just gotten busy.

“Have you been sleeping well?” Robin brought her coffee to the table.

“Yes. It’s finally getting cold.”

“I know you like that.”

Helen was a mountain girl through and through. Her family had lived in Grimmer before the dam was built. Her father had been a rancher who worked in timber during the off-season. She loved the cold weather and the snow.

“Is your little heater working?”

“Perfectly.” When Helen hit ninety and Carla retired, she’d moved into Carla’s old room, which was on the first floor, just off the kitchen. It made for a comfortable living area, but it also meant that most of the house was unused.

“Mom says we need to hire you some full-time help.”

“Oh, I don’t know if I want anyone puttering about the place,” Helen said. “Where would they stay?”

Robin laughed. “Grandma, there’s like seven empty bedrooms upstairs. This place could be a hotel.”

Helen’s eyes sparkled. “That’s a good idea. Do you and Mark want to move in?”

“You want to come live at our house?”

“And leave my view?” Helen gestured to the lake in front of the large bay windows that surrounded the kitchen table.

“I didn’t think so.” Robin smiled. It was an old argument. “But you know Mom is right. You need someone to keep you company.”

“Someone who likes to garden might be useful,” Helen said. “I can’t do as much of the gardening as I used to. And the lawn service only maintains. They don’t know how to prune the hedges properly. And there’s a drip in the bathroom upstairs. I heard it last night.”

“I’ll ask around. Maybe someone Austin’s age would be good.” If they could be responsible. And would actually help out. And not throw parties at the giant, fancy house.

Okay, maybe not someone Austin’s age.