Let It Be

by Marie Force

  “Why’re you working like that when you’re usually done by now?”

  “Because.”

  “Well, that answers all my questions.” She watched him for another minute. “Did something happen?”

  “Yes, something happened. I found out my grandfather is a scum-sucking, piece-of-shit asshole.”

  She gasped.

  He looked up to find her sweet face gone blank with shock. “Not Elmer.”

  “Thank goodness you didn’t mean him.”

  “I mean the other one, the one I’ve never met. The one who kicked my dad out of his family because he wanted to marry my mom rather than work for the family business and now…” He brought the ax down on the imaginary head that apparently wasn’t dead enough yet.

  Lucy approached him and gently took the ax out of his hand, tossing it aside.

  Colton put his hands on his hips, breathing hard from exertion.

  “Now what?”

  “Now he expects my dad to drop everything and come running just because he’s dying and has apparently developed a guilty conscience that he wants to purge before he croaks. And it’s all just so fucked up.”

  “Oh, Colton. That’s so fucked up.”

  “I’m glad you think so, because everyone else is telling him he should go and take us with him so they can see what came of this marriage they were so opposed to. But I’m like, whoa, people. Why in the world would we let him do that when this guy hurt him so badly? It makes no sense to me.”

  “Let’s go inside and talk about it.”

  “I’d rather stay out here and smash things.”

  “Is that helping?”

  “No, but…”

  She took hold of his hand and gave a gentle tug, stopping to scoop up his coat and shirt on the way to the house.

  The dogs followed them in and snuggled up together in front of the fire in the woodstove.

  “You want a drink?” Lucy asked.

  “Yeah, I do. A really big, stiff drink would be good.”

  “Coming right up.”

  She poured bourbon straight into a glass and handed it to him.

  He drank half of it in one swallow, relishing the burn as it traveled through his system.

  “Better?” she asked, watching him warily.

  He couldn’t have her wary around him. “Much better, baby. Thank you. How are you? How’s my little bruiser?”

  “We’re fine, just worried about you.”

  “Sorry. Didn’t mean to come home hot.”

  “Where else should you go when you’re upset?”

  “My dad… He’s like the best guy ever, you know?”

  “I do know. I absolutely know that, and he raised seven amazing sons who are just like him in all the ways that matter most.”

  Colton was appalled to feel a lump form in his throat as tears burned his eyes. He placed his hands flat on the counter and dropped his head. “The thought of someone hurting him that way, especially his own father… It just makes me a little crazy. I was pretending to smash the head of a man I’ve never met on the logs.”

  Lucy laughed as she came to him and wrapped her arms around him, compelling him to lean on her, which he did. Happily. She was his favorite person.

  “What you said about your dad being the best guy in the world…”

  “What about it?”

  “That’s why he has to go to see his father. You know that, right? Deep inside, despite all the hurt, he’s still the dutiful son who goes when his father calls. He wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he didn’t.”

  Colton sighed and sagged into her warm embrace. “How do you do that?”

  “Do what?”

  “Make it seem so logical when it’s anything but to me?”

  “You’re running on emotion. That makes it hard to see the logic.”

  He wrapped his arms around her and held on tight to her, his love, his rock, his everything. “Thankfully, I’ve got you to tell me what I should be thinking rather than letting the emotions take over.”

  “I’m always happy to set you straight.”

  When he’d arrived home, he would’ve thought it impossible that he’d laugh at anything tonight, but he laughed at that. Pulling back from her, he looked down at her adorable face and kissed her forehead, the tip of her nose and then her lips, lingering over the sweet taste of her. “Thanks.”

  “Any time. So does this mean you’re going to Philadelphia?”

  “I guess it does,” he said, sighing.

  Working the night shift at the firehouse after the family meeting had Lucas out of sorts, wishing he was able to spend the evening at home with Dani and Savvy and Dani’s parents, rather than having to stay at work. He and Landon had to do some juggling to cover their upcoming fire department shifts as well as the final days of sales at the Christmas tree farm that Landon managed so they could go on the trip to Philadelphia.

  Before his shift, Lucas had put a rush on finishing the rocking chair he’d made for Ella at Gavin’s request. Now that the juggling was done, Lucas was left with a long night to think about everything he’d learned about his family that day.

  He wanted Dani, and he needed to tuck in his little girl.

  Without worrying about coming up with an excuse for the other guys on duty, he grabbed a radio off the charger and told one of the others he was running home for a minute but would be back. By now, his future in-laws would be settled at the B&B where they were staying, and he could hopefully have a minute alone with Dani.

  “Got it, LT,” his colleague said without looking up from the book he was reading in the lounge.

  They joked that being a firefighter was either deadly boring or the biggest adrenaline rush you could ever experience, with not much in between those two extremes. Thankfully, in Butler, Vermont, it was mostly boring. As he drove the short distance to home, he recalled how he used to yearn for a little more action. Until the Admiral Butler Inn burned to the ground in May and nearly took him—and Landon’s now-fiancée, Amanda—with it.

  Since then, he had a new appreciation for the boring, the mundane, the routine aspects of life and was just fine with a shift in which they never received a single call. Something about thinking you’re going to die before you ever really got the chance to live did something to a guy’s sense of adventure. He still loved doing the outdoor exploits he and his brothers were known for, but now that he had a fiancée and daughter to think about, he took his safety much more seriously than he used to. That was especially true knowing how Dani had lost the baby’s father in a tragic accident when she was pregnant with Savvy.

  Since he met Dani and Savvy and fell in love with both of them, Lucas had everything to live for. At home, he ran up the two flights of stairs to their cozy third-floor apartment and used his key in the door he insisted she keep locked when he wasn’t home, even though the crime rate in Butler was extremely low. He slept better at the firehouse when he knew they were locked in.

  Savvy let out a scream when she saw him and came toddling over to him on unsteady legs. She’d started walking right before her first birthday in November and, like his niece Callie, had advanced quickly to running. The Christmas tree in the corner was decorated only above where she could reach, which was one of many things about her that delighted him.

  Lucas scooped her up and gave her a squeeze.

  “Lu, Lu, Lu.”

  “Hi, baby.” One of his favorite things ever was the way she recoiled in horror from his identical twin brother. Nothing amused him more than the way she reacted to Landon as she tried to figure out how it was possible that someone else looked almost exactly like her beloved Lu. He kissed her ticklish neck until she screamed with laughter.

  “If you rile her up, you own her,” Dani said from her perch on the sofa, where she was folding a load of laundry.

  He was forever telling her to just stop, take a break and breathe, everything would get done. She was constantly doing something unless he managed to distract her, which he w
as very good at doing.

  Sitting next to her on the sofa, he put Savvy down to toddle about and play with her toys for a few more minutes before bedtime and leaned in to kiss his love.

  “Thought you weren’t coming home tonight.”

  “I wasn’t going to, but I needed a Dani-and-Savvy fix.”

  “We’re always happy to see you. You know that.”

  “Did you have a nice dinner with your folks?”

  “We did. It’s so great having them here.”

  “Maybe by next year we’ll have a place big enough for them to stay with us.”

  “Maybe.” She took a closer look at him. “Is everything okay?”

  “Yeah,” he said. “Except one thing.”

  “What’s that?”

  While she continued to fold clothes, he told her the story his dad had shared earlier. By the time he was finished, she’d stopped folding and was staring at him. “What’s he going to do?”

  “He’s going to Philly tomorrow to see him, and we’re all going with him.”

  “Good,” she said, nodding. “You guys should go. He’ll need you there with him.”

  “That was Hunter’s thought, and everyone agreed.”

  “You agree, don’t you?”

  “I do. Of course I do, but I hate that I have to go without you and my little girl.”

  “We’ll be fine. Go support your dad and hurry home to us. We’ll be waiting for you.”

  “I’m counting on that, baby.”

  * * *

  After a late-afternoon shift at the tree farm that had brought in only a few last-minute stragglers, Landon arrived home to a dark house and tried to remember what Amanda and Stella had planned for the afternoon. He was greeted by Matilda, the yellow Lab puppy Dude had given Stella when she moved in with them, and let the puppy out in the yard, keeping an eye on her as she did her business and then came bounding back in for dinner.

  She bounced with happiness at the sight of her full bowl and dove in, making a huge mess, like she did every time she ate. Thankfully, she also cleaned up after herself.

  He went to the dry-erase calendar Amanda kept on the wall of the kitchen to see where his girls were. Dance class in St. Johnsbury at five p.m. They should be back soon, he thought, even as he tried not to think about them driving the dark, winding, icy roads between here and there.

  Those roads gave him nightmares because he’d seen—far too often—what happened when cars lost control on the curves, especially at this time of year. He’d insisted Amanda get an SUV with four-wheel drive and antilock brakes so she’d be as prepared as possible for driving in Vermont winters.

  When you had everything you’ve ever wanted, the thought of losing it—or them—was unbearable. Six months ago, he’d been single and unencumbered. Now he had a fiancée, a stepdaughter he loved like his own child and a dog who’d quickly worked her way straight into his heart. Life was good, and he was so incredibly grateful for everything he had now.

  Maybe that was why his father’s story had touched him so deeply. Hearing what his dad had gone through to be with his mom pained Landon. If he’d had to choose between Amanda and his family… The thought of that was unimaginable. Anyone who would force their own child to make that kind of choice had to be a freaking monster.

  And that monster was Landon’s grandfather.

  Great.

  He opened a beer and had downed half of it by the time the wash of headlights over the yard reflected inside the house. Excited to see his girls after the long day apart, he went to the door to wait for them. Only Amanda emerged from the car, smiling when she saw him there.

  That smile lit up his world and made everything that was wrong seem trivial compared to the many things that were so, so right.

  “Where’s our girl?”

  She pulled a knitted hat off her head, leaving her dark hair charged with static. “She went to have pizza with Emma, Grayson and Simone after dance class. They’re bringing her home.”

  Matilda let out a loud whine when she saw that Stella wasn’t with Amanda.

  Amanda petted the dog and kissed her head. “She’ll be home soon, silly girl. You’ll survive another hour without her.”

  “She’s not sure she will,” Landon said. “You didn’t want to go with them?”

  “I figured you’d be home by now, so I came to see you.”

  He kissed her and hugged her. “I’m glad you did. How was your day?”

  “Crazy busy.” She’d been helping Dani at the warehouse, contending with the rush of last-minute holiday orders. “Your dad is going to be very happy with the company’s bottom line this month. The catalog has been a massive success, as we knew it would be.”

  “People in town are talking about the influx of visitors. Business is booming for everyone, apparently.”

  She put her hands on his hips and went up on tiptoes to kiss him. “It’s due to the hot dudes in the catalog. They’re coming to feast their eyes.”

  He straightened her hair. “Whatever.”

  Laughing, she drew him into another kiss. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing. I’m kissing my best girl. What could be wrong?”

  “Don’t lie to me, Landon. I know you, and I can tell when you’re upset. I saw it the second I came up the stairs to the porch.”

  “I can’t get anything by you, can I?” he asked, smiling.

  “Nope, so don’t even try it.” She took him by the hand and towed him along with her until they were seated on the sofa, facing each other. “Start talking.”

  “You know it turns me on when you get bossy with me.”

  “Everything turns you on.”

  “Only you.” Because he loved her hair so much and took any excuse to play with it, he tucked a strand behind her ear. “I found out today why we never see or hear anything about my dad’s family.” Over the next few minutes, he told her the story of what had happened when his dad brought his mom home to Philadelphia to meet his family.

  “Dear God,” Amanda said. “That’s horrific.”

  “I know.”

  “What brought this on today?”

  “My grandfather—and I use that word very loosely—is dying and has asked my dad to come there to see him.”

  “No way. He’s not going, is he?”

  Landon nodded. “We all are. Tomorrow.”

  “Why?”

  “Because my dad would regret it if he didn’t. He doesn’t have to forgive him, but he needs to go so he doesn’t have to feel guilty for the rest of his life that he didn’t.”

  “I guess I can see that, but it’s outrageous that he’d have the gall to summon your dad there after decades of estrangement.”

  “Agreed.” He linked his fingers with hers. “So, I have to go away for a night tomorrow.”

  “Aren’t you working at barn tomorrow night?”

  “Luc and I arranged coverage there and the farm for the next two days so we can go on the trip.”

  “Ah, okay.”

  “You understand why we’re doing this, don’t you?”

  “Of course, but I just hate that you have to deal with something like this, that your dad has to deal with it, especially at Christmas.”

  “I know. It sucked to see him so emotional over what happened all those years ago.”

  “I’m sure. He’s such an upbeat, positive, happy person.”

  “He is, and to know what he had to give up to have the life he wanted… I just can’t stand that for him.”

  “I don’t know him as well as you do, of course, but from what I can see, he’s been completely content in the life he’s led with your mom and all of you. He loves his family, his work, his community. I wouldn’t pretend to speak for him, but from what I’ve witnessed, he has no doubt he made the right decision.”

  “He said as much. But still… It had to be so painful to lose touch with his siblings. I wouldn’t be able to deal with that.”

  “The good news is you’ll never have to. That won�
��t happen in your family. You guys are so tight. You’d fight for each other no matter what.”

  “I’d like to think so.”

  “You would. For sure.”

  “I bet my dad thought that about his own siblings, too. How’d they let that happen? Their father couldn’t stop them from talking to each other.”

  “Think about the times, Landon. None of the technology we take for granted now. They probably didn’t even know what part of Vermont he’d landed in.”

  “If that’d happened to one of my siblings, I’d have gotten in a car and driven to Vermont and tracked down him or her.”

  “Unless your father was holding something over you, like money or a job or being banished like your brother was.”

  “None of that would’ve stopped me from looking for them.”

  “Just playing devil’s advocate here, but it’s easy to say that without knowing the whole story.”

  “I guess. It’s just hard to picture life without even one of my siblings, let alone all of them. That must’ve been so awful for him.”

  “I’m sure it was, but I’m also sure the beautiful family he created with your mom helped to fill some of the void.” She brought his head to lean on her shoulder and ran her fingers through his hair.

  He wallowed in the pleasure of her touch and the way she managed to calm and soothe him. “Thanks for listening.”

  “Always happy to listen to you.”

  “Will you girls be okay here by yourself tomorrow night? You could stay with Emma and Gray if you don’t want to be here alone.” Amanda and Stella had become very close with Emma and Simone over the last few months.

  “We’ll be fine. We’ve got Matilda to keep us safe.”

  He snorted out a laugh. “As long as a potential robber doesn’t offer her a piece of steak, she’s got you covered.”

  Hearing the word steak, Matilda lifted her head to look at him.

  “Stand down, girl,” Landon said. “No steak tonight.”

  Sighing, she dropped her head onto her paws, looking dejected.

  “Poor baby. First, I came home without Stella, and then you said the word S-T-E-A-K and didn’t deliver. This evening isn’t going well for her.”