“And that’s what you want to do?” Joseph asked.
“I’m not exactly excited about it, if that’s what you’re asking, but that’s the plan.” All their plans had changed when Hunter died, and his father turned his sights on Linc as the new heir apparent. What Linc wanted didn’t seem to matter, but since he didn’t have a viable alternative, he’d gone along with his father’s plan for him, albeit reluctantly.
“Huh,” Joseph said.
“It’s okay to say what you really think.”
“Then I’ll just say life is short. You should do what makes you happy, not what’s expected of you.”
“I couldn’t agree more, but I’ve yet to find anything that makes more sense to me than the family business.”
“Maybe you haven’t been looking in the right places.”
“I suspect that might be the case, which is why I jumped at the chance to spend the summer somewhere I’ve never been, working on something meaningful.”
“The work you’ll do here will mean so much to so many. We have a hundred and fifty families who were displaced by the storm lined up to get the first group of new houses. Many of them will be first-time homeowners, and they’re so excited.”
“It’s a wonderful thing you’re doing.”
“I think so, too, but it’s turned out to be far more stressful than we expected due to the rigid deadlines that come with federal funding. It’s giving me gray hair.”
Linc figured Joseph to be in his late thirties, and sure enough, he had a few grays in his otherwise dark hair. “It’ll be worth it in the end when those families are happily settled.”
“Keep telling me that.” Joseph hooked a left onto a dirt road that led to the campsite where a bunch of tents had been set up. “Y’all have your own tents, but you’ll share the bathrooms,” he said, pointing to a building to the far left.
In another large tent with open sides, a group of people bustled about.
“Food,” Joseph said when he saw Linc looking at the larger tent. “My wife, Keisha, and several of the other wives are in charge of feeding the volunteers. Keisha also runs the business side of things for my company, while taking care of our kids.”
“You all are busy.”
“You have no idea. Come meet my bride and the others.”
Lincoln got out of the truck and followed Joseph into the tent. “This is Lincoln Abbott from Pennsylvania by way of Yale. Linc, this is my wife, Keisha, our daughter, Jasmine, my business partner, Desmond, his wife, Charity, and their daughter, Shanda.”
Linc shook hands with the adults and bent to say hello to little Shanda, who was about three. “Nice to meet you all.”
“You, too.” Keisha had a warm, welcoming smile, golden-brown skin and bright brown eyes. Her braided hair was captured in a high ponytail to keep it out of her way while she worked. “You have no idea what you’ve signed on for around here.”
“That’s probably true, but something smells really good.”
“We’re going to work you hard, but one thing I can promise is that you’ll eat like a king,” Joseph said.
Linc’s mouth watered from the aromas coming from the pans. “Sounds like a fair deal to me.”
Chapter Three
“A dream you dream alone is only a dream.
A dream you dream together is reality.”
—John Lennon
Linc smiled as he remembered his arrival in Mississippi and the warm welcome he’d received from Joseph and Keisha, who were his and Molly’s good friends to this day. They’d made a lot of good friends that summer, people they’d stayed close to in the ensuing years. That summer had been all about heat, hard work, good food, great friends, life lessons and love.
Speaking of love, Molly came back to the kitchen with their grandson, Caden, in her arms. The little guy chirped with excitement at the sight of Linc, who reached for him.
Molly handed him over.
Linc snuggled the sweet-smelling baby and kissed the top of his head. “Where’s your daddy, pal?”
“In the shower,” Molly answered. “He said he’ll be down in a few minutes for the family meeting.”
Max had come home from work at midday to take Caden to an appointment, and so Molly could go into town for her weekly lunch with Linc and Elmer. Under normal circumstances, Max would be on his way back to work—either at the mountain with Colton or the tree farm with Landon.
But since Linc had received that bombshell phone call, nothing about this day was normal for any of them.
“Are you okay, Dad?” Hunter asked.
Linc glanced at his son. “I’m okay. Of course it’s upsetting, but it’s nothing to worry about.”
“That’s good,” Hunter said, visibly relieved.
It was astonishing, really, how much it still hurt, even after all this time. As he held his grandson close, he tried to tell himself that the family he’d created with Molly had more than filled the void of the one he’d lost. But it hadn’t. Not completely. How could you ever “replace” the people you’d grown up with? He simply couldn’t imagine any of his children being estranged from him and Molly or one another.
When the kids were younger and squabbling the way siblings did, Linc was forever reminding them that the best friends they’d ever have in their lives were the people right in their home. His children had heard that often enough that they’d taken it to heart and remained “thick as thieves,” as Elmer liked to say, as adults.
Lincoln counted that as one of the greatest achievements of his life, because he knew all too well that it didn’t always work out that way, that the bonds of family could be far more fragile than they appeared.
Over the next half hour, the kids trickled into the barn. First Ella, then Landon, Colton and Will. Hannah came with baby Callie, and Lucas showed up still wearing his fire department uniform. He’d been so thankful to return to work after being sidelined for almost two months following the fire at the inn. It was a relief to see him healthy, strong and in uniform.
Max came downstairs, fresh from the shower and immediately took note of Caden snuggled up with his dad. He was such a great dad to his little boy.
“What’s on the docket?” Charley asked, her cheeks red from the cold.
“I’ll tell you when Wade gets here.”
“I’m here,” Wade said, coming in with Elmer right behind him.
“That’s all of us, Dad,” Hunter said, always the leader of the pack.
“Let’s go in the family room,” Linc said, taking note of the unusual apprehension in his children’s expressions and posture.
He followed them into the large but cozy room they’d decorated with multiple sofas when everyone still lived at home. They’d spent a lot of time there together, watching movies and sports and playing games.
Caden snuggled into Linc’s embrace as if the little guy knew he needed some extra love just then.
Molly sat next to him, her hand on his leg. As she had from the very beginning of their journey, she was worth every sacrifice he’d made to be with her.