by Té Russ
The women gasped at his words.
"Isaac Noble," Irene said, glaring at him. "That is a poor joke."
"Yeah, Dad," Ian said. "Not cool."
"I'm sorry," Isaac said, still holding both girls in his arms. "I'm just glad to have all of my kids together. Despite the circumstances."
"We were coming home soon anyway," Isabella said.
"Yeah, for Isaiah's film," Ivy added.
Isabella and Ivy didn't leave Isaac's side for hours. They fussed over him and at him about his eating habits and he fussed at them about staying away from home for so long.
When evening arrived, Isaiah pulled Tessa out of the room.
"How are you?" she asked, as she wrapped her arms tightly around his waist. He returned her embrace, inhaling deeply, taking in the scent of whatever hair products she'd used. She'd told him that she used their family's products but over the last few weeks with her spending more and more time at his place, he'd seen it first hand.
"I'm as good as I can be right now," he said.
"Is there anything I can do for you, Isaiah?"
"You can go home."
At the shocked expression on her face, he pulled her into his arms again, "I'm grateful for you being here, really I am. But you've got to be exhausted. You should get some rest."
"I'm not going to be able rest while you're here worried out of your mind."
"You slept in a chair last night, sweetheart. I can't ask you to do that again."
"You don't have to ask me to do that. I want to be here for you, Isaiah."
"I'll be fine. We're just going to be sitting around during Dad's surgery. Go home, rest and I'll call you when he's out of surgery."
Tessa pulled her lip into her mouth for a second then nodded. "Okay, but if you need me, call me."
He nodded and pulled her into his arms for another hug. When she pulled away, she ran her hand down his cheek before she grabbed her purse and headed out of the hospital.
"You sent her home?"
Isaiah turned to find Isabella standing outside of their father's hospital room. Nodding, he said, "I didn't want her suffering another night in these horrible chairs."
He pulled his sister into his arms and gave her a tight hug. She and Ivy had been stuck to their father like glue since they first arrived.
"You love her, don't you?" Isabella asked.
Isaiah didn't speak, but he nodded his head.
"It's obvious," Isabella said. "You're different with her."
"What are you two out here talking about?" Ivy asked.
"How Isaiah's all in love with Tessa Everett," Isabella said, with a grin.
"Oh," Ivy said, waving her hand. "If that isn't the most obvious thing in the world."
Isaiah rolled his eyes. "We can discuss this later," he said, wrapping his arms around both of his sisters' shoulders. "Let's go back in there with Dad."
The next morning all four of them stood around their father's bed as the nurse prepped him for surgery. Isabella and Ivy hugged Isaac first, followed by Isaiah and Ian.
"Remember our talk," Isaac ordered quietly to both men.
When they stepped back to stand next to their sisters, Isaac looked around at all four of his children.
"I haven't said this nearly enough, but I'm proud of you. All of you. It may not seem like it at times, with the way I'm always fussing...but I am. You all make the Noble name proud."
Isaiah noticed his sisters wiping tears from their faces and he felt a lump of emotion in his own throat.
They followed the nurses out of the room as the rolled Isaac off to surgery.
The only thing they could do now was wait for hours. They all took their turns doing their fair share of pacing the floor in the waiting room, praying that the doctor would return with good news.
The sound of his mother gasping caused Isaiah to look up. Isaac's doctor was heading toward them slowly, his face somber. The closer the doctor got, the more Irene's head shook in denial.
Isaiah didn't want to believe it either.
"...Complications during surgery...tried to revive him...I'm so sorry."
The words felt unreal. But the pain Isaiah felt, as he caught his mother before she crumpled to the floor sobbing, and the way it intensified when he saw his brother holding both of their sisters, who were also inconsolable, told a different story.
His father...Isaac Noble...was gone.
Tessa couldn't go home. So instead, she went to her sister's place. She'd tried to sleep, but all she did was toss and turn, too worried about Isaiah and his family.
Her phone rang and when she saw Isaiah's name, she quickly grabbed the phone, praying for good news. His father should have been out of surgery hours ago.
"Isaiah?" she said when she answered the phone.
There was silence for a few seconds, and her heart dropped.
"Tess..."
The crack in his voice said it all.
"I'm on my way."
Dana was standing in the doorway, when Tessa hung up the phone. Tessa looked up, shook her head and Dana gasped, covering her mouth.
"Go to him," she said. "We'll take care of the bakery."
Tessa nodded and hurried back to Carson City.
When she arrived, Isaiah was sitting there holding Isabella. Isabella saw Tessa first and she patted his knee. When Isaiah saw her, he stood and walked over and hugged her tightly.
"I'm so sorry, Isaiah," Tessa said, her voice breaking as tears filled her eyes.
"He was fine," he whispered. "We spent the whole day, talking, joking, laughing. He was fine."
"Where's you mother?"
Tessa noticed Irene was absent when she arrived.
"They...uh...they had to give her a sedative. She's in a room resting. I...I have to start making the arrangements."
"Anything I can do to help, let me know."
"I just...need you here."
"Okay." she said, squeezing him tighter. "Okay."
A few days later, Tessa sat in a pew next to her sister, several rows behind Isaiah and his family as the city of Sweet Rapids said good-bye to one of their most prominent figures.
"I still can't believe he's gone," Dana whispered to Tessa as she wiped a tear away with her hand. Her other hand was being held by Aiden, who was sitting on the other side of Dana. Their parents were on the other side of Tessa.
"I know," Tessa whispered back. "It all happened so fast. One minute we were sitting around his hospital room and everything seemed to be looking up. And now..." She shook her head and dabbed a tear away from her eye.
"How are Isaiah and his family?"
Tessa sighed and looked ahead at Isaiah, who had his arm wrapped around his mother. He'd become more and more withdrawn, and Tessa believed it was because he was mourning the sudden death of his father and trying to be strong for the rest of his family, while making most of the arrangements for the homegoing of Isaac Noble. She hadn't heard from him since the day his father died and he called her.
"Not well."
"Understandably so. If Daddy..." Dana couldn't finish the words, as tears continued to fall down her cheeks. Aiden's arm slid around Dana's shoulder and he held her close.
The ceremony was lovely, albeit sad.
There wasn't a dry eye in the church when Isaiah, with his violin, and Isabella, on her harp, went up to the pulpit and played a soul-stirring rendition of Amazing Grace.
When the time came for the congregation to go around and pay their last respects, Tessa bent down to hug Irene first then Isaiah. He returned the hug, but she noticed it was stiff.
Not wanting to hold the line of people behind her up, she smiled at him before she continued giving her condolences to the rest of the family.
Once the service was over, the pastor announced that a reception was being held at the Noble Family’s home and all were welcomed. There would be no burial service because Isaac Noble's body was to be cremated.
It was heartbreaking to watch Irene Noble stand and s
ay her final good-byes to her husband. She leaned over the casket, giving him one last sad smile and kiss, before her face morphed into pain. Isaiah and Ian were up gathering her into their arms as they helped her exit the church with Isabella and Ivy following close behind.
Tessa and Dana rode with their parents out to the Noble Estate. When they arrived, Tessa went in search for Isaiah. She found him with his brother and a few other men. He had a sad smile on his face as he listened to stories from one of his father's old friends.
When they locked eyes, Isaiah excused himself. He made his way over to Tessa, and took her hand in his, leading her outside.
"Thank you for coming," he said, quietly. He sounded so...robotic.
"I've been worried about you the last few days."
"I haven't called. I'm sorry–"
"You have no reason to be sorry," Tessa insisted. The pain in his eyes broke her heart. "Like I said before, I just...I just want to be here for you in any way I can."
Isaiah nodded, looking away. "I need time."
"Time?" Tessa repeated.
"Time to help my family get through this."
Tessa opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. She understood he was still grieving, so she tried to choose her words wisely.
"You're so busy being strong for everyone else, trying to help everyone else get through this...who's going to help you get through this?"
Isaiah finally looked at her again.
"Tess–"
She held up her hand. "I understand, Isaiah. I really do. You need to be with your family right now. But just know, whenever you need me, all you have to do is call. I'll drop everything and be here for you because..." She blew out a breath. "Because I love you."
She kissed his cheek, before she whispered in his ear, "My ears are always available to you and so is my shoulder."
Then she smiled at him as she turned and went back into the house.
Chapter 24
"I miss his laugh."
Isaiah turned his gaze from the lake to Ivy, who'd just spoke. She was sitting under a blanket with her head on Isabella's shoulder.
He was sitting on his back porch with his siblings, watching the rain come down. A week had passed since their father's funeral and the family was slowly getting back to normal.
As normal as life would be without the patriarch of their family.
"I miss his hugs," Isabella sighed.
"I miss the way he used to brag about how he made four kids at once." Ian said.
"'By my damn self!'" all four of them said at the same time, sharing a laugh.
"He made sure to let everyone know he didn't need any 'medical help', didn't he?" Isaiah said.
Ian stood, grabbed the bottle of bourbon off of the table. It was a special reserve, their father's favorite. He refilled four shot glasses.
"To Isaac Noble," he said, holding up his glass. Isaiah, Isabella and Ivy stood as well, holding up their glasses as Ian finished his toast. "The best damn entrepreneur, husband, father and man there ever was."
They toasted and tossed back their drinks before sitting back down.
"Remember how he nearly burnt the house down, trying to cook for Mom on Mother's Day that year?" Ivy giggled.
"Oh yeah!" Isabella laughed.
"If Ian hadn't stepped in and cooked, it would have been a complete disaster," Isaiah said.
They spent the rest of the evening reminiscing on good memories of their father.
Ivy sniffled. "What do we do now that he's gone?"
They fell into a somber silence again, all of them staring off into the distance.
"We finish what we started."
Isaiah felt everyone's eyes on him after he spoke.
"It's what he would have wanted," he continued. "We finish the documentary."
He looked around at his siblings and they all nodded in agreement.

"What is this?"
Tessa and Dana looked up to find Janet standing in the doorway of the bakery's kitchen.
Holding a sample of the key lime tarts they'd been giving out for the last week.
After the funeral, Tessa had gone back to work, giving Isaiah the time and space he needed to grieve with his family.
They'd begun giving out the samples of the new desserts they'd created.
And it seemed their mother finally found out about it.
"What. Is. This?" Janet repeated. "Why are these out on the floor? They're not on the menu."
"They're just samples, Mama," Dana said.
"Why didn't anyone tell me about this?"
"Dad approved," Tessa said. She knew she must have sounded about ten years old and it reminded her of whenever they would ask their mother for something and she would say no, so they'd go and ask their father. Which was exactly what they'd done now, as well.
"'Dad approved'?" Janet repeated, walking further into the kitchen.
"Yes," Emmett said. "I did."
Janet turned to her husband. "What's going on, Emmett?"
"What's going on..." Emmett said, "...is that it's time for us to let our girls properly take over this business like we said we were going to do years ago."
Tessa and Dana watched as Emmett walked over to his wife and took the dessert from her hand. Janet opened her mouth to say something, and Emmett placed the tart in her mouth. Tessa felt Dana's hand dig in to her arm as they watched their mother slowly chew. Emmett nodded, a smile growing on his face.
"I'll never forget when you walked in here and all but demanded my parents hire you. My mother loved that passion in you. She taught you everything my parents knew. I understand your desire to hold on to those memories. But it's time we let Tessa and Dana create new ones. Let them add on to the legacy. We've been talking about retiring for a while now." He lowered his voice as he added, "And I know you enjoy our morning activities when you don't come in to the bakery."
Tessa squeezed her eyes shut and looked away, not wanting to remember that morning she'd walked in on said activities as she heard her sister cough down a snicker.
"Look at Isaac and how quickly life can end." Emmett added with a somber tone. "He loved his job, but that's all he ever did. Work."
Mentioning the death of Isaac Noble seemed to be a shock to Janet's system.
"Don't you remember when we were young and all the places you said you wanted to visit? The patisseries in Paris; gelatarias in Rome."
Janet sighed, looking away. "You don't...you don't think we're too old for that type of thing?"
"Hell no, woman," he said, chuckling. "We could pack a bag right now, grab our passports and take off."
Janet looked at Tessa and Dana. "I guess...I have had a hard time loosening the reigns."
"Just a little," Tessa teased, pinching her fingers together.
"I was so afraid of failing. Your grandparents worked so hard to build this place; I just didn't want to let them down. I've been so busy being wrapped up in my fear of failure, perhaps I haven't taken the time to really see how well you girls are doing here at the bakery, on your own."
Janet moved closer to Tessa and Dana. "But your father is right. It's past time we truly let you girls take over."
Tessa and Dana pulled their mother into a hug. "Your desserts really are good," she said.
"We've got a lot more ideas," Tessa said.
"I'm sure you girls will promote them as you see fit."
"So...that's it?" Dana asked suspiciously. "Just like that, you're letting us run things without interfering."
"Yes!" Janet insisted. When Dana's eyes narrowed in disbelief at her mother, she sighed, "Okay, I'll admit it'll probably take some time for me to completely back off. It's not going to be easy. But for now, I'll scale back...twenty percent."
"Eighty," Dana shot back.
"Thirty-five."
"Fifty percent, Mama."
With a huff, Janet acquiesced. "Fine."
Emmett wrapped an arm around Janet. "Don't worry, girls. I'll keep your
mother preoccupied. Especially since we've got a flight to catch in the morning."
"A flight?" all three women chorused.
"Yes, we are going on a month long cruise."
"Emmett!" Janet gasped.
Tessa and Dana grinned as Emmett pulled Janet in to a long, lingering kiss.
"We'll let you girls get to it," Emmett said, taking Janet's hand in his. "We've got to go and pack."
"Have fun!" Dana called out.
They turned to each other, shocked and let out a scream of excitement in the middle of the kitchen.
"Okay." Dana said, shaking her head. "What the hell just happened?"
"I think our parents just officially retired from Everetts’ Bakery," Tessa mumbled.
"Hey, are you okay?" Dana asked, running a hand down Tessa's arm.
"Of course. I mean this is a good thing, right? We've been wanting this for–"
"I'm not talking about the bakery. I saw your face when Daddy mentioned Mr. Noble; when's the last time you talked to Isaiah?"
Tessa sighed, not wanting to think about that. It had been a couple of weeks. "I'm giving him the space he needs. He's grieving."
"People can become distant when they're in pain," Dana said. "You should remind him that you're there for him, Tess."
She missed him so much and she wanted to reach out to him, but she wasn't sure if she should.

"I guess that's a wrap."
Isaiah stood up from where he was sitting on the couch with his siblings to record their final parts of the documentary. It hadn't been easy to get through, but they'd done it.
"How soon until it's ready?" Ivy asked.
They were beginning to make plans to get back in to the normal routines of their lives. Since Isaiah had already been in Sweet Rapids helping with Noble Naturals before his father's passing, he was staying put for the time being. But he would also help with the final production of the documentary.
"I've got a few more shots to do before we go into post production," Isaiah said. "But we're going to get this turned around as soon as possible. I want us to all be able to see the complete film before you have to leave."