Date: Sat, 3 Feb 2024 19:48:50 +0000
From: DJ Warner <djwarner1984@hotmail.com>
Subject: The Inheritance Clause-11

This story contains descriptions of graphic sex between males.
If that kind of thing does not appeal to you, stop reading now.

This story is pure fiction. If this resembles something that happened to
you, it must have been an incredible experience. But it's simply a
coincidence.

All comments are welcome: djwarner1984@hotmail.com
Please donate to Nifty: https://donate.nifty.org/

-DJ

==========

The Inheritance Clause - 11

When the boys came into the dining room, Krantz wasn't there. The muffins
and fruit were on the service table. There was a glass of orange juice at
Dawson's setting and a glass of cranberry juice at Adam's setting. The boys
paused in the doorway. They looked at each other and then looked at the
clock. It was almost 7:30. They moved toward the food. Krantz came in from
the kitchen entrance.

"Ah, good morning. I was about to go searching for you," Krantz said.

"Oh... um..." Adam stammered.

Dawson took charge.

"We fell asleep on the couch in the ballroom during the storm. As you can
imagine it wasn't very comfortable, so we got started a bit late this
morning," Dawson said with authority.

Dawson took a muffin and sat down. Adam glanced at him as he reached for an
orange.

"Perfectly understandable," Krantz said as he brought their coffees over.

Dawson could see a slight grin on Krantz's face. Dawson waited until Krantz
finished and left the room.

"Adam, Krantz definitely knows about us. We should say something to him,"
Dawson said quietly.

"You think so?" Adam said sincerely as he prepared his coffee.

"Yes," Dawson simply said.

Adam sipped his coffee.

"Well, let's say you're right. Why say something? It's none of his
business," Adam said.

"You can never tell what kind of questions will come up at an inquiry. And
this judge sounds like she's not on our side at all. I'd rather get it all
out on the table with Niven and Krantz, so there are no secrets tomorrow,"
Dawson said.

"Oh, now we're telling Niven, too?" Adam started to get testy.

"Adam..." Dawson said softly.

He reached over and gently slid his hand into Adam's. Adam looked toward
his coffee cup and thought about what Dawson was saying. Deep down, he knew
Dawson was probably right. He just liked the way this was only between him
and Dawson. Adam finally looked up at Dawson.

"Ok," he said sheepishly, "but you're going to have to be the one to say
something to Krantz."

"Fine," Dawson said as he gently began to caress Adam's fingers with his
thumb, "Keep holding my hand when he comes back into the room. I'll take
care of the rest."

Adam sighed. He slid his hand more into Dawson's as he reached with his
other hand to take a sip of coffee. After a couple minutes, both Krantz and
Niven walked into the dining room together. Adam flinched slightly and
almost pulled his hand back.

"Oh, good. You're both here. We want to talk to you about something,"
Dawson started.

"We expected you would want to tell us before the inquiry tomorrow," Krantz
said, "Niven and I figured we would cut to the chase and make it easier for
you. We know you two are an item. Niven and I couldn't be happier. But you
do know this will complicate things tomorrow."

"Wait... what?? You both knew?" Adam said in astonishment.

"Of course!" Niven said proudly, "When two people are in love, it's very
difficult to hide it."

"Oh, but Niven... it's not... we haven't... we've only..." Dawson tried to
protest.

"Bahhh," Niven said as she threw her hands in their direction, "whether you
say the words to each other or not, it's as plain as day."

Adam sat back in his chair with his mouth open. Dawson looked at him. Then
he looked back at Krantz and Niven.

"What, exactly, was plain as day?" Dawson asked, trying to understand.

"Well, we both suspected there was something there with the way you
interacted during the reading of the will in the library. You both seemed
to be connected with each other," Niven said.

"But then you told us at lunch that you had only just met. So we thought we
just misread the situation," Krantz added.

"But I kept seeing signs. When you were doing the artwork inventory, I saw
you two together. It was hard to interpret it any other way," Niven said.

"I wasn't convinced until you two were chasing each other and laughing in
the hallway," Krantz said.

"And do you really think I don't know which beds are slept in?" Niven said
with a slightly satisfied grin on her face.

Dawson winced as he realized how stupid they were, thinking they were being
discreet. Dawson stared down at the table as he processed what he was
hearing. Adam still sat there with his mouth hung open.

"The real problem is going to be this inquiry." Krantz continued, "The
looks... and the touching... Yesterday, in Mr. Jameson's office, you kept
giving each other these looks. And you kept finding reasons to touch each
other. You were trying to be inconspicuous, but it wasn't subtle."

Adam slowly pulled his hand away from Dawson. The boys stared at Niven and
Krantz.

"Oh, this is bad..." Dawson finally said.

"How is this bad?" asked Adam with a confused look on his face.

Before Dawson could respond, Krantz jumped in.

"Well, are you going to be able to sit next to each other at the inquiry
without touching? Can you sit across from each other without exchanging
those looks?" Krantz bluntly remarked, "This judge is not an idiot. She'll
figure it out."

"Ok... so what? What do we care if she finds out?" Adam asked, innocently.

"Adam..." Dawson said with compassion, "Imagine you know nothing about me
or you or your father or your granddad. You see an old guy, who may not
have all his faculties. He denies any inheritance to his only son. Instead,
he gives half of it to his grandson and the other half to his
paralegal. Then you find out that the grandson has turned his back on the
woman he recently proposed to and the paralegal is his boyfriend. What
would you think?"

Adam sighed and scrunched his face.

"I know it looks bad, but we can explain..." Adam tried to argue.

"Adam..." Dawson interrupted as he reached out and took Adam's hand, "It's
an inquiry, not a trial. The judge can ask any questions she wants. There
is no provision to put up a defense. And she can rule any way she wants."

Adam looked at Dawson with realization in his eyes. He looked at Niven and
Krantz to see if they agreed. The looks on their faces said it all.

"So what do we do?" Adam said dejectedly as his shoulders slumped.

The four of them remained quiet for a few beats. Dawson suddenly looked up
at Krantz.

"Have you said anything about us to Carmen?" Dawson asked.

"No," Krantz said.

Dawson looked down at the table as he thought about it.

"We have to tell her when she gets here tomorrow. She needs to know, so
there are no surprises," Dawson said.

"I think she already suspects," Niven said.

Dawson's head popped up. He looked at Niven.

"Why do you say that?" Dawson said.

"Just intuition. The way she was looking at the two of you in the library
when she was reading clause C. And she looked like she wanted to say
something to me and Krantz when she was leaving," Niven explained.

Krantz nodded in agreement. Dawson sighed as he leaned back in his chair
and looked up at the ceiling. Adam sighed. He began peeling his
orange. There was quiet for a few moments.

"You also have today's tasks to deal with..." Krantz said quietly.

Dawson looked at Krantz. Adam stopped peeling his orange and looked at
Niven and Krantz.

"Tasks? Plural?" Dawson said.

"Yes, two of them," Krantz said.

The boys looked at Krantz expectantly.

"First, Mr. Jameson left instructions to go through his things in the
master bedroom," Krantz said, "His wish is for you to keep what you want,
throw away anything that is no longer needed, and donate the rest to
charity."

The boys both looked down at the table as they thought about Clayton.

"Second," Krantz said and then cleared his throat, "you are to spend two
nights at Rosemary's Point. You have two weeks to do that."

The boys kept looking down at the table. Adam began to think about his
grandmother. Dawson thought to himself that the Rosemary Point task
confirmed a theory he had been mulling over. He still didn't have any hard
evidence, but he thought this added to his suspicions. He was more
confident now that he knew Clayton's purpose for setting up his will the
way he did. But he didn't have any proof. Until he did, he didn't want to
say anything to Adam. So he just kept staring at the table and didn't say
anything.

"Also, the weather is expected to clear up much earlier than they first
said. The rain should stop by noon. If it does, the pontoon boat will be
delivered this afternoon. And I have someone coming to take care of the
tree that was struck by lightning last night. So don't go outside after
lunch. You don't want to come into contact with any of the workers," Krantz
concluded.

"Ok," Dawson said as he finally looked up at Krantz, "anything else?"

"Isn't that enough?" Niven said.

Adam snorted as he laughed. Dawson nodded at Niven and Krantz and then took
a sip of his coffee. They left the room. Dawson stared forward, lost in his
thoughts, as he held his coffee cup and took another sip. Adam reached over
and began rubbing Dawson's arm. Dawson suddenly turned to look at him.

"Oh, Adam..." Dawson said with regret, "We won't be able to finish your
swimming lessons today."

Adam didn't say anything. With the rain and the inquiry, swimming would
have to wait. He finished peeling his orange and started eating it. Dawson
quietly started in on his muffin. The boys ate in silence. Dawson got up to
get a second muffin. He picked up the muffin and saw the menu binder.

"Oh, we should fill out the menu," Dawson said as he picked up the binder.

He got back in his seat, put the binder down, and split his muffin open.

"Wait..." Dawson suddenly said.

"What?" Adam said.

"I have an idea, but I don't think Krantz is going to like it," Dawson
said.

He took his communicator out of his pocket. He contacted Niven and
Krantz. He told them nothing was wrong, but he asked them to come back into
the dining room.

"What is it?" Adam asked.

Dawson lay his hand on Adam's arm and patted it.

"We're cooking on the grill tonight and having dinner With Niven and
Krantz," Dawson said and then he winked at Adam.

Adam smiled and shook his head.

"You're right. Krantz is not going to like it," Adam said.

He went back to eating his orange. Krantz and Niven came in.

"What's happened?" Niven said all concerned.

"Nothing's wrong," Dawson said, "It's just... This could be our last night
in this house together, depending on what happens tomorrow. I thought we
should throw out the four-course meal and cook outside. And have a meal
together... the four of us."

Before either of them could object, he continued.

"Niven, can you get four of the best cuts of steak you can get your hands
on? And make whatever side dishes you want," Dawson said as if it was
already decided.

"And a Caesar salad..." Adam chimed in.

"OK, and a Caesar salad... Krantz, can you pick out the best wine we have
to go with that?" Dawson said.

Dawson looked at them hopefully.

"I love it," Adam said eagerly and then plopped a slice of orange into his
mouth.

Krantz looked torn. He looked at the floor for a couple moments. Then he
spoke.

"Thank you, Dawson, that's very thoughtful of you," Krantz said in
acknowledgement.

"I can make a blueberry pie," Niven said, "and we can have it with some ice
cream."

"Well, that's settled then," Dawson said as he sat back in his chair.

Niven smiled at the boys and left. Krantz nodded and he turned and left,
too. Adam leaned over toward Dawson.

"I think that's the first time I've ever seen her smile," Adam said in the
softest whisper he could.

"I know, and you would have thought we told Krantz to club a baby seal,"
Dawson added, "Did you see his face?"

Dawson and Adam started to laugh, but stifled themselves so Niven and
Krantz wouldn't hear. The boys continued eating until they were finished.

"You know what?" Adam suddenly said after wiping his mouth with his napkin,
"Fuck it. We're going swimming."

Dawson looked at Adam.

"The pool's heated. And it's not really raining that much," Adam tried to
justify it.

"Well, all right then," Dawson said with determination.

Adam contacted Niven and Krantz with the communicator. He told them they
would be at the pool if they needed them. The boys then went upstairs and
changed into their suits. They held hands as they left Dawson's room and
all the way down the stairs. When they got outside there was a chill in the
air. They made their way to the pool and were quick to get into the heated
water. Dawson directed them to the wall where they first started their
lessons.

"I'm gonna show you a modified breast stroke. We're going to swim back and
forth on the short width. Then we'll swim back and forth on the long length
of the pool. After that, you should be ready for the lake," Dawson said.

Adam no longer looked nervous in the water. He looked eager.

"Ok, what do I do?" Adam said.

"You're going to move your arms like this," Dawson said.

He demonstrated the stroke above the water, so Adam could see how he
positioned his hands and arms.

"When you get to this point, your head will dip into the water. That's when
you need to exhale like I taught you. When your arms are in this position,
it will naturally pull your head above the water line. That's when you
inhale. So you need to coordinate your breathing with the arm strokes. You
add the kicking, and that's it. You're swimming," Dawson explained.

Dawson demonstrated the breathing and the arm strokes at the same time,
above the water. After the first time through, Adam copied him and they
cycled through it a few times together.

"I got it. I'm gonna try it," Adam said with determination.

"Wait, let me get to the other side," Dawson said.

Dawson turned and did the modified breast stroke to get to the opposite
side of the pool. Dawson reached the wall and turned around. He smiled and
nodded at Adam.

Adam nodded. He dipped himself into the water, against the wall, until he
was submerged up to his neck. He took in a breath and pushed off. He moved
his arms and kicked. His head dipped into the water and Dawson saw him
exhaling bubbles. His head came up above the water and Dawson heard Adam
take in a breath. Adam did a few more strokes and he reached the other
side. His hand touched the wall and he stood up. As water cascaded down
over him, Dawson could see the big smile on his face. Adam leaned in and
hugged him. They embraced in the water with a light, misty rain falling on
them.

"Thank you, Dawson. I can't tell you what this means to me," Adam said with
emotion.

"You don't have to tell me. I already know," Dawson said as he held Adam
tighter.

They hugged for another minute. The boys began to get a bit chilled from
being exposed to the air. They separated and dipped themselves down into
the warm water, until they were covered up to their neck. They were close
to each other, holding hands between them underwater.

"I'm so proud of you," Dawson said.

"Thanks, I was really nervous that first day. You made it so easy for me,"
Adam said as he looked at Dawson.

They looked at each other for a couple beats.

"Dawson..." Adam said.

Even though he was already looking at him, Adam felt the need to pause to
indicate the seriousness of what he wanted to say.

"What Niven said before... about us... saying the words..." Adam started to
say.

"Adam..." Dawson tried to stop him.

Adam moved in and put his two fingers on Dawson's lips. Water was dripping
off of them as Dawson looked at him with some trepidation.

"I want to say the words," Adam said softly.

"Adam..." Dawson tried to say through Adam's fingers.

"I love you," Adam said with confidence.

He simply said the words while looking at Dawson. He removed his fingers
and then put his hands on Dawson's shoulders as Dawson looked at Adam.

"Adam... I..." Dawson started to say.

A grin formed on Adam's face and he tilted his head as he looked into
Dawson's eyes. Dawson sighed and smiled. He tilted his head.

"You are amazing, you know that? Of course, I love you. How could I not?
You invigorate me in ways I couldn't have imagined. I never thought..."
Dawson started to ramble.

"Dawson..." Adam said firmly, "Stop talking. This is the part where we
kiss."

Dawson smiled a big smile and they began to kiss. They gently mingled their
tongues in their mouths as they pulled each other closer. After about a
minute, they broke their kiss. They kept their tight embrace as Dawson
leaned his forehead against Adam's.

"I started falling for you the day we met. On that porch... I felt such a
connection with you," Dawson whispered.

Adam chuckled.

"For me, it was when that guy at the will reading thought we were a
couple. I guess I felt the connection on that first day, too, but I didn't
know what it was. It wasn't until he introduced the idea that we could even
be a couple that things started to come together in my head," Adam
whispered.

"I'm going to have to thank that guy," Dawson said and started to
laugh. Adam separated their heads. They looked at each other as they kept
their embrace.

"Oh, Dawson, I've never felt so happy. With you... in this place... by
ourselves... It seems so perfect," Adam said.

"Mmmmm," Dawson hummed in agreement.

Both boys began to think about how the outcome of the inquiry could ruin
that. Adam finally shook his head slightly.

"Let's not focus on tomorrow..." Adam said, "I still need to swim the full
length of the pool. Race me?"

Adam smiled when he asked Dawson to race him. Dawson smiled.

"You're on," Dawson said, "Can you make it there and back?"

Adam suddenly let go of Dawson, turned, and pushed off. He began swimming
to the far end of the pool.

"Cheater!" Dawson yelled.

He then pushed off to try to catch Adam. Adam used the modified breast
stroke to swim to the other side as if he had been doing it for
years. Dawson caught up to him just as he reached the far wall. Adam
touched the wall and stopped. He was breathing heavily as he smiled and
turned to Dawson. Dawson smiled as he hung onto the wall. Adam got a shit
eating grin on his face. He suddenly pushed off and began swimming back
toward the shallow end. Dawson chuckled and he pushed off. They both swam
across the full length of the pool, with Adam ahead the whole way.

When Adam reached the stairs, Dawson had almost caught up to him. Adam kept
his body in the water and turned to Dawson, breathing heavy.

"Ha! I beat you! Maybe you need some swimming lessons," Adam said with
excitement as he laughed.

"You're such a cheater!" Dawson said, laughing.

Dawson swam closer and gently pushed Adam toward the stairs. Adam had his
back to the stairs as Dawson closed in on him. Their heads bobbed in the
water as Dawson moved in to kiss him. They kissed gently as Adam brought
his arms around Dawson's neck. Dawson held him up as they kissed. When they
broke their kiss, Adam nestled his face into Dawson's.

"I don't care about the money. I just want this. I just want to be with
you," Adam said.

"Oh, Adam. I love you," Dawson whispered and then pulled Adam closer.

Adam hung onto Dawson as they embraced. They stayed like that for a few
minutes. Then Dawson began to pull away.

"It's going to be cold when we get out," Dawson said.

"Yeah...," Adam said.

Dawson rolled off of Adam and was bracing himself to get out. Adam simply
jumped up and out of the pool. He shivered while he was moving. He hugged
himself to stay warm as he headed toward the towel rack.

"Brrr!" Adam said as he wrapped himself in a towel.

He grabbed another towel and came to the edge of the pool and held it out
for Dawson. Dawson jumped up and quickly started to get out of the
pool. Adam started laughing as he backed up, teasing Dawson with the
towel. Dawson came toward him with his arms wrapped around himself
laughing.

"C'mon, I'm freezing," Dawson whined as he tried to catch the towel Adam
was teasing him with.

"Awwww, poor baby," Adam said as he dodged Dawson.

The boys kept laughing as Dawson tried to catch the towel. Dawson finally
gave up and went to the towel rack and got another towel. Adam came over
with the towel he teased him with, holding it out for Dawson.

"Why didn't you take this one?" Adam said with a mischievous grin.

Dawson laughed and came up to Adam. He went in to embrace him. At the last
second, he reached for Adam's sides and began tickling him.

"No! No!" Adam protested as he tried to get away.

Adam's towel fell and he dropped the second towel as he ran away from
Dawson. He wrapped his arms around himself as he shivered by the tables.

"You dropped your towel," Dawson said jokingly.

"Ha, ha," Adam said with a smile.

Dawson kept his towel draped over his shoulders as he picked up the two
towels. He held out Adam's towel for him. He came up to Adam and wrapped
him on the towel. He then wrapped the second towel around him.

"Mmmm, is my baby cold?" Dawson said as he planted kisses on Adam's cheek.

Dawson began rubbing Adam's biceps through the two towels. Adam leaned into
his arm as Dawson embraced him.

"Mmm...let's go up..." Adam said.

Dawson squeezed Adam and then released his embrace. The boys turned so they
were side by side. Adam slipped his arm around Dawson's waist as they
started toward the house. They went up to their rooms to change.

Dawson dressed first and went into the bathroom to primp his hair. Almost
immediately after, Adam finished changing. He came into the bathroom. He
tilted his head as he watched Dawson try to fix his hair.

"Here..." Adam said.

He got behind Dawson and looked at Dawson's reflection as he ran his
fingers through Dawson's hair. He dipped his fingers in the gel and then
tweaked Dawson's hair up in the front. He teased it a bit and then
stopped. He looked at Dawson's face in the reflection and then zeroed in on
Dawson's eyes.

"Gorgeous..." is all Adam whispered as he wiped the gel off his hand with
the hand towel.

Dawson turned his head and looked at his hair in the reflection from
different angles, trying to decide if he liked it. Then without changing
his expression he leaned back into Adam.

"Do you like your hair?" Adam asked with concern.

"Eh, it'll grow on me," Dawson said, playfully.

"Ugh!" Adam groaned as he slapped Dawson on the shoulder, "that has to be
the worst pun yet."

Dawson smiled and reached for Adam's hands.

"You would know," Dawson said while smiling at Adam's reflection.

He took Adam's hands and wrapped Adam's arms in front of himself. Adam
snickered and started to nibble on Dawson's neck as he hugged him.

"Mmm... Watch out. You'll ruin my new hairdo. My boyfriend did it for me,"
Dawson said, playfully.

"Oh, so I'm your boyfriend now?" Adam said as he leaned his chin on
Dawson's shoulder and looked at their reflection.

"I hope so. Otherwise there's some other guy running around who looks like
you and thinks I'm in love with him," Dawson said.

Dawson turned to face Adam. He leaned his butt against the sink
counter. They embraced and began kissing. Both boys had begun to get hard
from the closeness. Adam ground his growing erection into Dawson's
hardening boner. They both began to giggle. Their lips separated.

"If you're not my boyfriend, maybe you should be," Dawson said as he
hunched his hips.

"Mmmm," Adam groaned.

Adam began making out with Dawson as they really began grinding into each
other. Dawson pushed his groin against Adam as he reveled in the light
flicks of Adam's tongue in his mouth. Finally, they stopped kissing and
kept their faces next to each other, both boys breathing heavily.

"Ok... We should stop," Dawson said.

"Yeah..." Adam agreed.

Neither of them moved.

"So, why are you still holding me then?" Adam said breathily.

"Because you're the one pushing me against the counter," Dawson said
quietly.

They pulled their faces back and looked at each other. They both burst out
laughing and separated. Adam cupped Dawson's smiling face.

"C'mon, gorgeous..." Adam said and then he started toward Dawson's bedroom.

"What are we doing?" Dawson said as he followed him.

"We're going to start going through granddad's room," Adam said.

He reached back and took Dawson's hand. He led him out into the
hallway. They made their way to the master bedroom. They noticed there was
a stack of empty boxes, a few empty laundry bins, a pile of folded canvas
bags, some trash bags, and some cleaning supplies in the hallway outside
the door.

Adam entered the room and opened the curtains of the sliding doors and
cracked the slider open to let in some air. Dawson went into the hallway
and got some boxes and canvas bags. Adam was standing at one end of the
couch when Dawson plopped the boxes and canvas bags onto the bed.

"Can you get the other end?" Adam asked.

Dawson didn't ask what Adam was doing. He already knew. They moved the
couch out of the way. And then they moved the rest of the
furniture. Without saying a word, both boys knew what they needed to do
next.

Adam began sweeping the now vacant space of the sitting area of the
bedroom. Dawson went into Clayton's office. He stood on the rug and put his
hands on his hips. He looked at the pictures of Sarah on the wall for a few
minutes. Then he got to work. He moved the floor lamp and the rocking
chair. He rolled up the rug. He went over to the sliding door and opened
it.

"Hey, Adam?" Dawson called out, loudly, "Help me with the rug?"

Adam appeared in the doorway. They went to the rolled-up rug. Each took an
end. They went out onto the balcony. They lay the rug across the
railing. They each gripped the edge of the rug.

"Ready?" Adam said.

Dawson nodded. They nudged the rug forward and it unfurled over the side of
the balcony. They shook it a couple times. They then began rolling it up as
they pulled it back in. When they finished, they carried the rug into the
master bedroom. They laid the rug down and Adam positioned it where he
wanted it. They unrolled it. They moved the couch to where Adam wanted it
positioned. Adam stood at the side of the bed, put his hands on his hips,
and looked. He began to tickle the dimple on his chin with one of his
fingers.

"Rocking chair next?" Dawson asked.

"Mmmm," Adam grunted as he was still thinking.

Dawson went back to the office, slid the slider mostly closed, and got the
rocking chair. He brought it to the edge of the rug.

"There, I think," Adam pointed.

Dawson put the rocking chair where Adam pointed. Without talking, he went
back to the office to get the floor lamp. When he returned, Adam was moving
one of the chairs. Dawson put the lamp down on the edge of the rug for Adam
to place. He moved to get the other chair. Adam placed the lamp and Dawson
figured out where the chair went, so he placed it. Adam stood back and
looked as Dawson began placing the tables. He now knew, instinctively,
where Adam wanted them. Dawson finished and went to stand by Adam.

"What do you think?" Adam said.

"I think you're in the wrong career. You may be good at marketing, but I
think this is your calling," Dawson said, "I like it."

Adam patted Dawson's shoulder as a way of saying thank you. He left the
room. Dawson didn't know where he was going, but Adam was in a zone and
Dawson didn't want to disrupt that.

Dawson collected the ceramic animals remaining on the armoire and put them
in a box. He took Clayton's wallet and a few other personal items and added
them to the box.

Dawson opened the top drawer of Clayton's armoire. It had socks and
underwear in it. He pulled the drawer out and put it on the bed. He put the
socks and underwear from the drawer into one of the canvas bags he had
placed on the bed earlier. He left the canvas bag on the bed. He put the
drawer back into the armoire.

Dawson opened the next drawer. It had t-shirts and pajamas in it. Dawson
pulled that drawer out and put it on the bed. He began collecting the
clothes and putting them into another canvas bag.

Adam came back into the room. He had some light-colored shear
curtains. Dawson came over and the boys replaced the curtains. The newer
curtains made the room brighter. Adam put the original curtains into one of
the laundry bins in the hallway. Dawson went back toward the bed.

Adam came over to help Dawson, who had finished emptying the second
drawer. Dawson picked up the empty drawer from the bed and moved toward the
armoire when Adam gestured into the open space where the drawer was
supposed to go.

"What's that?" Adam asked.

"What?" said Dawson.

Dawson put the drawer back on the bed. He bent down to see the inside of
the armoire. He could see some plastic bags with pieces of paper inside
them. They were on the back panel inside the armoire. He pulled the top
drawer out and put it on top of the other drawer on the bed.

The boys kept pulling the drawers out and putting them onto the bed until
they could see the back panel was covered with a number of plastic
bags. Dawson reached in and was able to remove one. They were stuck to the
back panel with double sided tape. He handed the bag to Adam and reached in
for another one.

Adam unsealed the bag and he could see they were all from the same type of
note paper with messages on them. He leaned on the bed, took one out, and
read it to himself.

"They're love notes. To my granddad, it think. This one says: C -- I can't
wait to see you when I return on Tuesday. I will be back late. When I slide
into bed with you, I won't wake you. In the morning, I'll show you how much
I missed you. Te amo. -- Q," Adam read out loud.

Dawson had retrieved another bag and pulled out one of the notes. He read a
couple to himself. Then he began reading one out loud.

 "C -- The night we skinny dipped in the lake keeps running through my
mind. You sent me to places I never knew existed. You made our first time
so special. My heart is forever yours. Te amo. -- Q," Dawson said.

Adam looked at Dawson. Dawson looked up when he finished reading.

"If C is for Clayton, who is Q?" Adam said as he flipped over some of the
notes to see if there was more information.

"I don't know. They sound like they were really in love, though, don't
they? She signed them all with 'I love you' in Spanish. Maybe she was
Hispanic?" Dawson said as he read another note to himself.

"Mmm," Adam said as he looked at another note.

"I think we can rule out your granddad having an affair while your
grandmother was alive. This paper is not that old. Your granddad must have
had a girlfriend at some point after your grandmother died," Dawson mused.

"Mmm... And why did granddad keep it a secret?" Adam asked with a curious
look on his face.

"I don't know. Maybe she was married?" Dawson said as he got down on his
knees in front of the armoire, "Yet another mystery to solve."

==========

If you liked this story, tell me: djwarner1984@hotmail.com
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-DJ