CHAPTER 7AUTUMN LEAVES
Mrs. Franklin’s parental grief was still haunting Ryan on a Friday evening, two weeks before Thanksgiving. He felt drained and, on arriving home, plopped down on the family-room couch and sipped some Irish whiskey. A sporting event on the TV held his attention for all of a minute, and then the world blurred and went dark.
“Oh no, mister, wake up. The gang’ll be here any minute now.”
It was Kelly. Ryan looked up at the clock and realized he had been asleep for at least half an hour.
“Go collect the girls. They’re in the study with Ben,” ordered Kelly, pulling Ryan up by the arms.
The study was a small room filled with floor-to-ceiling, glassed-in mahogany bookcases just to the right of the front entranceway. Ryan dutifully made his way there and peered in. Ava, R
