Chapter 13
Todd worried there would be questions concerning Philip Porter’s passing, particularly since he’d died so quickly after leaving his house and farm to Todd and Nick. The relief Todd felt was beyond words when no inquiries arose. In fact, Todd realized that not a single person he talked to seemed in the least surprised by the events surrounding Porter’s last days.
It was Stefan, Millie’s grandson and owner of the lumber mill Todd often worked in, who finally told him and Nick that Dr. Porter had been diagnosed with a terminal disease shortly before the Rugers had returned to Elk’s Ridge. Porter doubted he’d live through the summer and definitely wouldn’t live to see another.
That news made Todd feel slightly better but gutted Nick in a much deeper way than Porter’s death. Todd
