CHAPTER 21
THE HEIRS’ STORY
Rockburg, 2013
If the wish to be a grandparent is a gentle form of revenge, Doc, Mary, Linda, and
Mark would have loved watching their children cope as parents as the heirs and their
families gathered at the Westphalia Inn on December 23. The private drive that brought
the families to the Inn wound through a forty-acre woodlot of maple and pine. It
was a miniature fairyland; green pines were interspersed between maples, black against
the previous night’s snowfall. The maples’ hoarfrost-covered branches and twigs sparkled
in the morning light. Even the adults half expected to see elves peeking from under
the pine trees.
As they stood in line in the lobby to check in, Wally’s sister, Sophie, congratulated
herself that her toddler, Betsy, was strapped f
