He’d really liked Caroline a lot and had enjoyed the night they’d spent together, but she lived in Boston. He was hours away in Vermont. Unless she relocated to Vermont, she wasn’t going to be the solution to his predicament.
After the holidays, he needed to get serious about dating again. As much as he loved being with his parents and appreciated their help, he didn’t want to live at home forever. He wanted his own home and family and was determined to make that happen. Somehow.
In the meantime, he’d do whatever he could to support his dad through the next few days the way Linc had supported him every minute of his life. That was how families were supposed to work, and Max couldn’t wait for his “grandfather” to see what a great father his son had turned out to be, no thanks to him.
Success was the best revenge, his other grandfather, Elmer, had reminded them earlier, and Linc had been a smashing success as a husband, father, grandfather and businessman.
Max and his siblings would do whatever it took to make sure Linc’s father saw that.
Elmer poured himself a glass of Bailey’s, tossed another log on the fire and sat to enjoy the snap, crackle and pop of the fire that cast a warm, cozy glow over his small home. In the corner stood the Christmas tree that Landon had brought from the farm, as he did every year.
Landon put the lights on for him, and then Ella and Charley decorated it with the ornaments he and Sarah had collected over a lifetime together. Some were from her family, some from his and a great many of them were theirs, made by their kids in school or purchased as mementos from trips or events that make up a life.
His grandchildren took good care of him, always doting on him and making sure he had what he needed. If it were up to him, he wouldn’t have bothered with a Christmas tree since he lost his Sarah. But the kids had insisted he needed it, and because he had a long track record of giving his eighteen grandchildren whatever they wanted, he’d ceded to their wishes. They were good kids, every one of them, and he couldn’t be prouder of them.
His sons, both quite a bit older than Molly and Hannah, had never married or had kids, and had moved out of state years ago to pursue careers in public safety. His older daughter was married but didn’t have children. He was thankful his youngest girls had stayed in Butler to raise their families, which had kept Elmer involved in the daily lives of his grandchildren as they grew up.
The events of the day had brought back so many memories, including the day Molly had stepped off the bus from Mississippi, holding hands with the good-looking young man from Philadelphia, and introduced him as her boyfriend. Elmer chuckled to himself at the visceral reaction he’d had to Linc’s arrival in Butler—and how wrong he’d been about his future son-in-law.
He’d never told anyone how wrong he’d been, but Sarah had known, because she was the one who’d told him he had it all wrong. Elmer had liked Mike Coleman, the man Hannah had married, from the get-go, but he’d been suspicious of Linc Abbott. He certainly understood what Linc saw in his beautiful Molly, but what did a guy with a Yale MBA and a fancy Philadelphia pedigree want with tiny Butler, Vermont, and Elmer’s small-town family business?
Elmer had been hard on the guy for months, waiting for him to show his true colors, but all he’d seen was a genuine young man on fire with ambition and a desire to contribute to the business. And, he’d had to grudgingly admit, he saw how much Lincoln loved Molly.
Then the kids had gone to Philadelphia, where Linc’s father dropped the hammer on him. Elmer would never forget the two of them returning to Butler, looking like survivors of a natural disaster.
They’d arrived at dinnertime, and Elmer had seen from the first second they walked in the door that something was terribly wrong. For one thing, they’d lost the sparkle they both had when they were together. For another, they were unusually quiet. It’d taken an hour or maybe two to get the story out of them, and afterward, the four of them had sat in shocked silence so loud it had roared in Elmer’s ears.
To this day, he still had no idea how a man could do such a thing to his own child. He’d been a bit extreme in his protectiveness of his precious daughters, but never once had he forced them to choose between him and something or someone else they wanted.
“Daddy,” Molly had said that night, taking him aside in the kitchen while Linc was in the living room with Sarah. “I want you to do something for me. It’s something big and important and probably not something you particularly want to do, but it’s something I need.”
“Anything, sweetheart.” At that moment, he would’ve given anything to see her smile again.
“I need you to marry us. Right now. Tonight. I want Linc to know he has a new family, me and you and Mama and Hannah and Mike and the children we’re going to have. We’re his family now, and we’ll never turn our backs on him.”
She was so fiercely beautiful in her outrage and in her love for Linc. “You need a license, sweetheart.”
“We’ll take care of that tomorrow. Please, Daddy. I know you’re still not sure about Linc, but I love him so much, and…” Her eyes filled with tears. “Please.”
He was powerless to deny her this or anything she wanted, especially when she’d been so deeply hurt by people he’d never meet or know. “Of course, love. It’d be an honor, and I like Linc. I don’t want you to think I don’t.”
“But you’re not sure he’s right for me.”
“No, I’m sure he’s right for you. I’m just not sure he’s right for Butler and the life he’s decided he wants here.”
“He loves it here.”
“He loves being here with you. Anyone can see that. I’m concerned about him suddenly getting itchy and deciding a few years down the road that small-town life isn’t for him.” As soon as he said the words, he regretted them, because the last thing his Molly needed was anyone else raining on their parade.
Molly raised her chin defiantly. “That’s not going to happen. He said this is what he wants, that I’m what he wants, and after the way his family hurt him, I just want him to know that he has a home here with me and with us. I think he needs that.”
“I think so, too, sweetheart.”
“You do? Really?”
Elmer swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded. His baby was getting married. Right now, apparently.
“You’ll marry us?”
“I will.”
“And when we leave here to spend the night at our home, you won’t come looking for Linc with the rifle?”
“I’ll do my best to resist that temptation.”
She flung herself at him, wrapping her arms around him and hugging him as tightly as she had in years. “Thank you so much for being the best dad in the whole world. After what I saw at Linc’s house today, I appreciate you even more than I already did.”
Touched by the compliment and the emotion behind it, Elmer had hugged her back, even though his heart was breaking at the thought of his sweet girl getting married and leaving home for good. He knew it was the natural order of things, and she was more than old enough, at nearly twenty-three, but he would miss having her sleeping under his roof and eating dinner at his table every night. “Love you, my sweet girl, and I hope you and your Linc will be happy together forever.”