“This is the kitchen of my dreams.” She turned in a circle taking in the twenty-plus foot ceilings with open wood beams over the living room. Native American art and woven blankets adorned the walls.
She came to stand beside him, as he knelt beside the hearth. “This house is amazing. How many square feet is it?”
“It’s about twenty-five hundred upstairs and about the same—maybe a little more—downstairs. The lower level isn’t finished yet, getting closer, but not complete. It took me over eight years to build this much. I work on the rest when I can.” When the flame ignited in the fireplace, Editon stood and brushed bark off his hands. He looked at her and his brow furrowed. “Is something wrong?”
“Your home isn’t at all what I expected. I thought you were a handyman.”
“I am, and I told you I was a handy man. I like to build things and always have a project going. I have a few large things that are going to keep me busy for the next few years.”
“But, how can you afford a house like this? Vine Grove isn’t what you’d call the millionaire capital of the world to have an income for a house like this.”
He laughed. “I’m going to make us that hot chocolate, and we can talk more.”
After the teapot had whistled Editon poured the hot water into two cups. “Would you like a little Bailey?s Irish Cream in yours?” he asked.
“Sure.”
He stirred the cups, handed her one and followed her back to the living room. They sat on the floor in front of the fire. Kady laid her cup down and then warmed her hands in front of the flames.
“This was a great idea. My hands were turning into ice at the shop.”
He took her hands, rubbed them with his, and then blew a warm breath on her fingers.
“Are you going to tell me how you live in a mansion?” she asked with a chuckle.
“It’s not a mansion…I was planning on the house being much smaller, but I was bored, and I kept building. When I graduated from high school and turned eighteen, I became eligible for my grandmother’s tribe’s money. She is a part of the Shakopee Mdewakanton Tribe. I guess, fortunately, it’s one of the richest tribes in the country. She takes pride in our heritage and even named us. My name means, standing as a sacred object.”
“She’s not from Washington State?”
“No. My family moved here from Minneapolis. That’s where she lives. Anyway, she gets her tribal money which is over a million and a half a year.”
Kady’s cup stopped halfway to her mouth. “Did you say million?’
He nodded. “Since Nahko and I are fifty percent Shakopee, we get a share too. After high school, I went to visit Grandma for a few months but liked Washington State better. I moved back to Vine Grove to be with Nahko and our parents. A short time later, Mom and Dad were killed in a car accident.”
“I’m so sorry.” Kady placed a hand on his.
“It seems now like a long time ago. I bounced around here, wasted a lot of time and brain cells. Mainly, I sat around playing video games and smoking dope. Not a time I’m really proud of. I was finally a popular kid in town when I had a perpetual party going on. That was until my grandma showed up on my doorstep. She was not going to have me waste my life or our tribe’s money. That was not what it was for. She put her foot down and told me she didn’t care where, but I was going to college. The tribal money covered a scholarship so I picked Stanford and acquired a master’s in business.”
“A masters…wow. We were both in California at the same time, and we never saw each other.” She shook her head in disbelief.
“I didn’t know where you had gone, or I would have looked you up.”
“Except that, I was in night classes at a community college while you were at Stanford.”
“All education is good. I was fortunate with the opportunity. After college graduation, I came back to Vine Grove. I studied the stock market and made worthy investments in small start-up companies who are not so small any longer.” He laughed. “Grandma also told Nahko and me that she would share her wealth if we would help her make the world a better place. Use this money for good, she told us. This is what we have been trying to do.”
“Your brother owns a bar. How does that fit in?”
“Yeah, well that’s bending the rules a bit, but it makes him happy. He tries to keep the regulars out of trouble, and he likes being social. He spends the rest of his time helping the community here and around the world as I do.”
“Does everyone know about your money?”
“No. Very few.” Editon shook his head. “I don’t invite many people out to my house…mainly only women who are stranded in snowstorms.” He pushed up on his hands and stood. “I’m going to heat up the soup. I’m starving, what about you?”