Chapter 42
Saturday morning Rory woke before Logan. She watched him sleep. She could still see the handprint on his face. She wanted to touch him, but she wanted him to sleep. They had gotten in the bed late. She could feel him tossing and turning. She eased out of bed to the bathroom.
She was sitting on the patio drinking her coffee when he came looking for her. "Do you always sit out in the open with only a robe on? What will the neighbors think?" He asked.
"Unless Mr. Greenway has a telescope, no one will be seeing me in my bathrobe." She offered him a cheek to kiss.
He obliged. "How long have you been up?" He asked.
"Not long. I wanted to let you sleep. I know you didn't sleep well last night." Rory told him. He sipped his coffee and nodded.
"I just got off the phone with Aunt Ginny. Her and Uncle Ed are coming over for lunch around 12. I'm sorry to spring this on you so soon, but I thought maybe I could fix a salad and fruit platter, maybe a few sandwiches. Nothing fancy" He said.
"Nothing fancy." Rory said. "Your Aunt is the epitome of upper class." Rory said.
"Well, I don't care. This is the way we live and I am proud of it. We have the money to be waited on hand and foot, but we chose not to." He said. "I think she will be proud of me."
Logan was in the kitchen when Rory came down. On Saturdays, she usually dresses casual, in leggings and a long shirt, or shorts and a tee, but this Saturday, she decided to dress up a little. She wore a sundress and sandals. While Logan wore shorts and a polo.
"Did she say who was coming with her?" Rory asked.
"She didn't say, but my guess will be Uncle Ed." Logan told her.
The doorbell rang. Logan held up his hands. He was putting fruit on the platter. "I'll get it." Rory said laughing.
"Aunt Ginny, Uncle Ed, come on in." Rory told them. "Logan is finishing up in the kitchen. Come have a seat." She led them to the living room.
Ginny was looking around. "You have changed this up a bit." She said,
"Yes, Grandma signed the house over to me along with a check to renovate. I used some of my trust fund also, but I got it like I wanted it. Tori, Logan and I are very comfortable here." She walked to the drink cart. "I have some lemonade or water. It's a little too early for a martini,"
"Lemonade," Ginny said.
"Water," Ed said.
"Hey," Logan said as he entered the room. "Lunch will be ready soon, I just put the bread in the oven to warm it."
"So you have moved in?" Ed asked.
"Yes," Logan said. He was watching the reaction from both Ed and Ginny. "I started out eating one night a week, then moved to spending the weekends. We also have made several trips together as a family, so while they were in Nantucket visiting Emily, I moved the rest of my stuff in.'
"I hear Emily's place is wonderful," Ed said.
"It is," Ginny said. "I enjoy going to the island and visiting Emily."
"Yes, she told me you have become a regular." Rory said. Ginny sipped her lemonade and nodded.
"Let's head to the dining room." Logan said.
As they were being seated, Ginny asked. "Are the two of you planning on having more children?"
Rory and Logan exchanged looks. "Aunt Ginny, If and When we decide, we will let the family know." Logan said.
"I assume you plan on adopting Victoria when the two of you marry. I understand her father has not been in her life since conception." Ginny said.
"Yes, I plan to adopt, but can we keep all this quiet for now. Let me and Rory figure this out." Logan said.
After everyone was seated, Logan started. "Aunt Ginny, do you want to start this or would you like me to.?" Logan asked.
"Well, First off, I know I have not been the Aunt to you that I should have been. After your father passed, I didn't want to have anything to do with HPG. He would always call or visit me before the board meeting. He would discuss the items up for vote. We would talk before I gave him my proxy. I told him it was not necessary, but he said it gave us something to have in common." She told him. She dabbed her napkin in the corner of her eye.
"I didn't know that"? Logan said. "Would you like for me to do that also?"
"No, No, you are far too busy, just email the information." She told him. He nodded.
"Uncle Ed?" Logan asked. "What about you?"
"Edwin has my proxy." Ed said. "He has for years. He keeps me informed."
Everyone was quiet, eating, so Rory decided to break the silence. "I assume this lunch is to discuss more than proxies. The Huntzburger Manor?"
"I want her out. I know that she is your mother, but Logan, that house belongs to the Huntzburgers." Ginny said.
"I agree," Ed said. "If you look back on the deeds to the house, it has been passed down from first born son to first born son. When dad retired he signed the manor over to Mitchum. He was Dad's heir. I know after Mitchum's death you had the family by laws changed to read heir instead of 1st son, but the house belongs to you now. You are the heir. The next generation can fight over it." He chucked.
Logan sat there for a moment. He looked up at Rory. "Even if it means my heir is not Huntzburger blood?" He asked.
Ginny went to open her mouth, but closed it when Ed started speaking. "Logan, you know I don't care about blood or no blood. Edwin is not my biological child. It does not change how I feel about him. I adopted and gave him our name. He is my heir as well as India." He looked at Rory. "India is my daughter. I think you may have already met her. She works in the London office."
Rory nodded. She didn't know how much his aunt and uncle knew about their past relationship.
Logan said. "I have an idea about this house. So hear me out before anyone objects." They nodded.
"I propose Honor and her family move in." Logan said. Silence.
"Have you talked to Honor about this?" Ed asked.
"Yes," Logan said. "We talked about it several months ago when I moved back to the United States. The house will still belong to me, as you have pointed out, I am the heir. Honor will remodel to her family's preference, but this will always be the Huntzburger family home."
He looked at Rory. "Rory and I intend to marry. We will remain in the Gilmore family home. She is the last of the Gilmores, or Tori is."
"What about Shira?" Rory asked. Ginny just flipped her hand like it didn't matter what they did with Shira.
"Well, that is probably going to be a problem. She is not going to like my suggestion, but she is too young for the nursing home." Logan said.
Ginny was laughing. "You are going to put her in a nursing home?"
"I should after she slapped me last night, but No," Logan said. He was shaking his head. "I am going to build her a 2000 square foot condo on the back of the property. I am going to buy the wooded area behind the pond and build her a road to come and go."
"She will never go for it." Ginny said.
"I would agree, only I hold several cards," Logan said. "The slap last night. She feels awful. My voicemail is full."
"I don't know if she feels guilty or she is worried you will cut her off." Rory said.
"Yeah, but just in case she doesn't feel as awful as she should, I took pictures. It would take but one call to scare the bejesus out of her. She will think she is going to jail."
This had everyone laughing. "But the selling point will be, I own the property. If I build her a condo, it will be in her name. If something happens to me, the house will go to the Huntzburger heir or her guardian if she is not old enough to make decisions. I will put it in my will that she has a lifetime agreement to live in the condo. As long as she is alive, she will be able to live in that condo. When she dies or moves it reverts back to the Huntzburger empire." Logan explained.
"Again, She will never go for it." Ginny said.
"She won't have a choice." Ed said. "I'm correct in thinking you have control of her money?"
Logan nodded. "Dad left her two million, all the jewelry he gave her that is not heirlooms. I pay the household expenses, along with an allowance each month."
"I can't believe your dad set it up like that." Ginny said.
"He didn't," Logan said. "I did. He left her one million dollars and all the jewelry he gave her per the prenup. I added another million to it and agreed to pay the household expenses."
"I knew their prenup stated that if they divorced after the youngest child finished college she got a settlement." Ed said.
Before Ed and Ginny left, Rory excused herself to go pick Tori up at her moms. When she returned Logan was in his office working. She decides to start working on Tori's fifth birthday party.
After his aunt and uncle left, he went to his office to call Honor. "Hey," Logan said… "They just left. Can you come to the office Monday?"... "That will be fine. I just want to talk with you about all that was said. Run some things by you….you still want to remodel and move into the Huntzburger Manor?"... "Okay, that's what we will talk about, but right now, I have something more important to talk to you about.
"I'm proposing."
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