Chapter 24

“How old is this place?” Dennis asked.

Luca laughed.” It was built in seventeen-sixty-six by one Nathaniel Brown and has been added to several times since then. It came into my family in the late twenties. My great grandfather was a rum runner who had product brought in from Canada through boats on the Long Island Sound. His business interests became legitimate in nineteen-thirty five. It’s been in the family ever since. It’s usually passed on to the eldest son. But I’m gay and if I adopt or find a surrogate, my family will still be small. I’m going to give it to my brother Mario who has two boys and one more on the way.”

“It must have been wonderful growing up here.” Dennis sighed.

“It was okay. Papa was a professor of Italian Renaissance history at Yale and Mama stayed home with us. He was a little distant, but he’s better with the grandchildren. My brothers and sister and I enjoyed the property. We got into plenty of trouble exploring the woods. Come on, let’s do this.”