by Marie Force
“Daddy,” Ella said, tearful as she moved to hug him. “I’m so sorry they did that to you.”
He held her close. “Thank you, love, but I’ve never been sorry that I chose your mom and our life here. Like I told Mom that day, I haven’t had a single second of regret, even if I missed them. Of course I did.”
“Have you tried to contact your siblings separate of your parents?” Will asked.
“I have,” Linc said as he released Ella. “And never heard back. Until today.”
“What happened today?” Hannah asked.
Linc could see from the haunted way his children looked at him that his story had touched them deeply, which didn’t surprise him. They couldn’t imagine losing each other the way he’d lost his family. “My sister, Charlotte, called to tell me my father is dying and wants to see me.”
“No way,” Colton said fiercely. “No fucking way are you doing that.”
His son’s strong reaction didn't surprise Linc. He felt the same way himself. To a point. “I understand why you’d say that, son, but I haven’t decided either way yet. I wanted to talk to you kids about it before I made up my mind.”
“How do you feel, Dad?” Hannah gave Colton a quelling look. “What do you want to do?”
“Part of me feels the way Colton does, but the other part, the part that’s missed my original family so much over the years, is thinking about going.”
“You know you don’t have to, right?” Lucas asked. “If you decide not to go, you’d have no reason to feel guilty or anything like that. Tell me you know that.”
“I do, son. I don’t feel like I owe any of them anything. After all, they’ve known where I was all this time. They could’ve sought me out, but they chose not to for whatever reason. That’s on them, not me.”
“Do you want to go, Dad?” Wade asked.
“Part of me is curious about why my father wants to see me, and the chance to see Charlotte and my brothers is tempting. I can’t deny that.”
“If you go,” Hunter said with a fierce edge to his voice, “we’ll all go with you. Let them see what came of this choice they forced you to make.”
“You don’t have to do that. It’s four days before Christmas. You’re all busy at the store and with your own families.”
“Try to stop us,” Will said with the same fierceness his older brother had displayed.
“We’d never let you do this without us,” Hannah said. “If you go, we all go.”
The others nodded in agreement that brought tears to Linc’s eyes. “If you wonder why I’ve never regretted my choices, it’s because of you guys. All of you. I’m so proud of this family your mom and I built and the people you’ve grown up to be.”
“I’m going, too,” Elmer said. “I want them to see you had a father after yours turned his back on you.”
Linc smiled at his father-in-law, touched by his support. “Thank you.”
“Did you know what’d happened with Dad’s family, Gramps?” Landon asked.
“I did know, and it was horrifying to me. I can’t for the life of me imagine asking my kids to choose between me and the ones they loved.”
“Even if you gave the man I love a run for his money at first,” Molly said with a grin for her father. “And threatened him with a hunting rifle.”
“I couldn’t make it too easy on him,” Elmer said.
“Mission accomplished,” Linc said.
“This is why,” Hunter said, “you made us all work somewhere else when we were in high school and college before we could come into the business. Isn’t it?”
“It is,” Linc said. “I wanted to make sure the choice to work for the family business was entirely yours and not something that felt like an obligation.”
“He was very insistent on that,” Elmer said.
“And we never knew why until now,” Will said.
“I wanted everything about your lives to be your choice, not mine,” Linc said. “That all of you choose to be involved in the family business is a thrill to me, your mother and your grandfather.”
“It sure is,” Elmer said. “My parents would be tickled pink to see what you all have done with their modest little store.”
“I think we should go to Philly,” Ella said, “and, like Hunter said, show them what became of your life with Mom.”
“It’s four days before Christmas,” Charley said.
Thanks to the catalog, they were enjoying the busiest holiday season in the store’s history. And sure enough, women from all over had come looking for the “models” who’d made the catalog such a hit. Linc’s sons, sons-in-law and nephew had had to keep a low profile lately.
“My sister said my father doesn’t have much time,” Linc said. “And I don’t expect you guys to come. I know how busy this time of year is for all of us—at work and at home.”
“I want to go,” Charley said. “I wouldn’t miss it for anything, but we’ll need to figure out some coverage at work if we’re all going.”
“Let’s work on that in the morning,” Hunter said. “I’ll take care of arranging transport. I’ve driven to Philly before, so I know it’ll be the same amount of time to drive as to fly from Burlington. We’ll go after lunch tomorrow, spend one night and come back the day after?”
After the others nodded in agreement, Hunter said, “Great. Plan to be at the store to leave around two.”
“I have to bring Caden,” Max said.
“You could leave him with Aunt Hannah,” Molly said. “If you think the trip will be too much for him.”
“I don’t want to be away from him that long. So if no one minds, I’ll just bring him.”
“Of course we don’t mind,” Linc said.
“I’m going to bring Callie, too,” Hannah said. “It’s too late for Nolan to plan for a day off at the garage.”
“Gavin will want to come, with the baby due in just a couple of weeks,” Ella said. “He’ll flip his lid if I tell him I’m going away without him.”
“Bring him,” Linc said. “Anyone who feels the need to come is welcome. Just let Hunter know. And you guys… It means so much to me that you want to come.”
“We’d never let you do this without us,” Will said.
Each of them hugged him and Molly on their way out, leaving Linc emotionally overwhelmed by the time he and his wife were alone in the family room.
“Well,” she said, “aren’t they something?”
“They sure are.”
“How do you feel after sharing the story with them?”
“Drained after reliving it, but the kids wanting to come really lifted me up. I didn’t expect that at all.”
“Why not? You raised them to be there for each other. Of course they’d want to be there for you as you take this difficult journey.”
“I’ve never been more proud of them than I was just now. They heard what happened, and all they wanted to know was how they could help.”
“We raised them to be independent and to look out for each other and those less fortunate. Loyalty runs deep in this family, and just as they know there’s nothing you wouldn’t do for them, they feel the same way about you.”
“That makes me one lucky dad.”
“It’s not just luck, Linc. You made sure your kids would never feel the way you did when your father forced you to choose him or the life you wanted. They respect you for that as much as everything else you’ve done for them.”
“I suppose so.”
She leaned her head on his shoulder as she continued to hold his hand. “You know what I think we ought to do?”
“What’s that?”
“Have an early dinner and then turn in to continue reminiscing about the parts of our story that belong only to us.”
“Would this be like a live reenactment?”
Molly laughed, and as always, the sound of her laughter eased the ache inside him. “That could be arranged.”
“Sounds like the perfect evening.” And, he thought, it was j
ust what he needed after this emotionally charged day.
Hunter drove home in inky darkness that came so early this time of year that it seemed like they got about ten minutes of daylight. It was more than that, of course, but since he worked long hours inside, he didn’t get to enjoy it most days. In addition to the darkness, he felt weighted down by the story his father had shared.
With his first child due in late January, Hunter couldn’t imagine ever giving that precious child an ultimatum the likes of which his grandfather had given his father. The thought of that kind of horrific choice made him sick, and knowing now what his dad had given up to have a life with Molly made him admire his parents and their marriage even more than he already had.
You just never knew what some people went through to get to where they were always meant to be. Of course, he’d wondered about his father’s family, understood there must’ve been a rift and had questions about it, but because it seemed like a painful topic, he hadn’t asked about it. To hear the full story had been shocking, to say the least.
He pulled up to the home he shared with Megan, and the first thing he noticed was that she’d turned on the holiday lights he’d strung on their porch and in the shrubs. The inside lights were on, too, and knowing she was in there, waiting for him to get home, made him happier than anything ever had. If he had her, he had everything he needed, so Hunter completely understood his father’s determination to make a life with the woman he’d felt that way about.
The air was crisp and cold, like always this time of year, which had become his favorite time now that he was married to Megan. When it snowed, everything came to a halt for a while—and he got to snuggle in with her and their dog, Horace. He came through the unlocked front door to find her passed out on the sofa in front of the Christmas tree. The lights cast a warm, cozy glow over her pretty face.
In her third trimester, she was tired all the time, but absolutely refused to slow down at the diner. Soon he’d talk to his grandfather, who actually owned the diner, about finding someone to replace her for a few months so she could take time off before and after the baby’s arrival.
He would’ve gotten away with sneaking in if Horace hadn’t jumped up from where he was sleeping next to Megan to bark at Hunter.
“Hush,” he whispered to the dog. “Mommy’s sleeping.”
“Not anymore,” Megan muttered.
“Sorry. I tried to be quiet, but someone wasn’t having that.”
Horace gave a playful yip.
Hunter kissed the top of the dog’s head the way he did every night when he got home. He loved the routines and rituals of having his own family and couldn’t wait for their little one to arrive to make what was already perfect that much better. “How’re you feeling?” he asked as he sat on the coffee table and leaned in to kiss her.
“Pretty good. Just tired and fat.”
“You’re not fat. You’re pregnant.”
“I’m pregnant from head to toe.”
“You’re adorable.” He pushed the blonde hair back from her face, which was fuller thanks to pregnancy. “Did you get the message I left you?”
“I did. What’s up with your parents?”
“You won’t believe it.”
“They’re okay, right?”
“They are, but you know how we never talk about my dad’s family?” When she nodded, he said, “It turns out that’s because my grandfather forced my dad to choose between my mom and his original family.”
“What? Seriously?”
Hunter gave her an abridged version of the story his parents had told them.
“Oh my God. That must’ve been so awful.”
“It was, but he said emphatically that he never regretted his choice because he got to spend his life with my mom.”
“That’s so sweet and romantic.”
“Except for the part where he never saw his mother or siblings again.”
“I can’t even imagine that.”
“Neither can I. If anyone had asked me to choose between you and my siblings…”
“It’s monstrous. Why did he decide to tell you this now?”
“His father is dying and wants to see him.”
“No… No way. He’s not going, is he?”
“We’re all going. Tomorrow. We’ll be gone one night.”
“Why, Hunter? Why would he go there after what that man did to him?”
“Because he needs the closure, I think, and maybe he’s hoping to reconnect with his siblings.”
“What about his mother?”
“She died a few years ago.”
“Without ever again seeing her son. What a tragedy for both of them.”
“I know.”
“Promise me we’ll never let anything come between us and our children. No matter what they might choose that we don’t agree with…”
“That’s an easy promise to make, unless they grow up to be serial killers, of course.”
She gasped and then laughed. “Hunter! They’re not going to be serial killers!”
“I’m just saying. That’s my only line in the sand. Everything else is on the table.”
“Good to know.”
“Don’t worry, honey. I’d never let something like that happen in either my original family or our family. I wouldn’t be able to bear it.”
“Me either. So you’re going away tomorrow, then.”
“You want to come? I’m probably going to rent the same bus that took us to Boston last summer. There’re too many of us to deal with flying.”
“I’d love to go, but I think it’d be too much for me right now. You go, support your dad and hurry home.”
“I don’t want to leave you here alone.”
“I won’t be alone, Hunter. I assume not every member of the family will be going. There’ll be others around if I need anything.”
“You can’t need anything when I’m not here to get it for you.”
“I’ll try my best not to.”
He took her hand and brought it to his lips. “You know I’d never leave you for any reason, even for just a night, if I didn’t really feel like I had to, right?”
“Of course I know that, and you absolutely have to be there for your dad. I love that you were the one who said let’s show them what came of this choice he made.”
“I bet his siblings don’t know he has ten kids.”
“It’s unreal, especially in this day and age when people are so connected. Well, everywhere but here in the cell phone wasteland known as Butler, Vermont.”
“The Butler disconnect probably saved my dad from having to see and hear all the things his family was doing without him.”
“That’s true.” She held out her arms, inviting him onto the sofa with her.
“Move it, Horace.”
The dog whimpered but gave up his space next to Megan.
“The poor guy. I know how he feels. I wouldn’t want another guy moving in on my territory either.”
“I have plenty of love for both of you.”
Hunter kissed her, sighing with the same pleasure he experienced any time she was nearby. “Not sure I can stand even one night away from you.”
“It’ll be fine.”
As he wrapped his arms around her and held on tight to the love of his life, he could only hope that was true.
Chapter Nine
“When you’ve seen beyond yourself, then you may find, peace of mind is waiting there.”
—George Harrison
Hannah arrived home to a large bull moose standing in her front yard, mooing loudly enough to wake the dead, and a younger moose inside her house, mooing back in anticipation of what she’d taken to calling the daily playdate.
In her car seat, Callie, who’d soon be one, joined in the mooing.
Nolan despaired that his baby girl had mooed before she’d talked.
Hannah was secretly thrilled that her daughter was growing up with the same love for animals that Hannah had. “Take it easy,” she sa
id to Fred when she got out of the car.
He came right over to her, nudging her with his cold wet nose. Nolan would lose his mind if he saw Fred that close to his pregnant wife and baby daughter. But what he couldn’t seem to understand was that Hannah knew down to her soul that Fred would never hurt her. How she knew that, she couldn’t explain. She just did. She had such faith in him that she even let him nuzzle Callie, but only when Nolan wasn’t around to lose his shit.
Fred was family. They didn’t need to worry about him.
From inside, Dexter was making a racket and possibly damaging the new steel door Nolan had installed after Dexter had gotten a little too enthusiastic one day and split the wood door right down the middle.
Naturally, Nolan had taken advantage of that incident to remind Hannah of why moose belonged outside and not inside their home. And she’d reminded him that Dexter was part of their family, and as such, he had every right to split the door if the door could be split to begin with.
Nolan had been unamused, but he’d replaced the door anyway. Hannah was well aware that it wasn’t easy to be married to her, but, as she liked to tell him, he knew she was a loon when he married her.
“I had no idea the level of looniness I was signing on for,” he’d say every time she reminded him that he’d taken her on “as is.”
Hannah opened the door to let Dexter and their dog, Homer Junior, into the yard for their daily playdate with Fred.
Callie squealed with delight as the three friends greeted each other with jubilation that filled Hannah with joy the likes of which she’d once thought she’d never experience again. It had taken many years, as well as Nolan, Callie, Homer Junior, Dexter, Fred and the routine that framed their days, to finally recover as much as she ever would from the devastating loss of her first husband, Caleb, in Iraq.
As she sat on the stairs in the cold December chill, holding her baby girl while the animals frolicked, Hannah was filled with contentment. Today, however, her contentment was tinged with sorrow after hearing her father’s story. She’d been curious all her life about his side of the family, about whether she had grandparents, aunts, uncles or cousins. Now that she knew the full tale, she wasn’t sure how she felt about people who should’ve been close family to her and her siblings but were instead strangers.