Page 80 of Silver Brewer

“And you won’t see her until then?” His brows pinch in question.

“No,” I begin. “I plan to still see her.”

“Then what’s the problem?” Charlie asks. He’s the family member who understands a long-distance relationship as his ex-wife lived in New York while he was here. It didn’t end well for them.

“See?” Billy mocks as though he’s an authority on advice. “Win-win.”

“No win-win. I want Letty here, and she can’t be.” I sit up straighter as my voice roughens.

“For six months,” Charlie clarifies. “That’s nothing. The bigger question is, do you want a woman with a baby? A newborn, Giant. Your girls are in their late twenties. You have grandchildren already. Are you willing to start over again?”

Am I? I mean, I want Letty, sure, and I’ll take all that comes with her, but a baby?

“Why is this suddenly so hard for me?” I whisper.

“Guilt,” Charlie mutters. He’s not wrong. Guilt pecks at me because of my girls. I wasn’t there for them as babies, hardly as toddlers, and emotionally distant while they were teens. I’ve done it all wrong with them. “But it will pass, Giant.”

“I don’t know what any of this means. Do I ask her to move in? Should we get married? Do I adopt the baby?”

“Don’t you think that’s a little fast?” Billy snaps.

“You’re the one who just told me there wasn’t a timeline and to put a ring on her.”

“I mean, don’t you think you should talk to her before assuming she’ll do any of those things. Like marry you, for one.”

He’s right, and my shoulders slump. Maybe she doesn’t want to get married. Maybe she just wants a baby. She’s told me over and over she isn’t looking for any commitment from me. My girls tell me plenty of women do this nowadays. Single mom power without the hassle of a husband. Still, Letty seems like she’d like a partner. She’s told me love and marriage, children and happily ever after.

Charlie laughs. “Giant, you should see your face. I’ve never seen you so love-sick and forlorn all in one expression. You’re normally so brooding. I’m Giant. Don’t talk to me.” Charlie throws his voice to sound deep and rough as he mocks me.

“Now, he’s all I’m in love with Letty,” Billy teases with a feminine twist.

The door to the Trophy Room opens, and our father leans in, holding the doorknob. “You boys might want to come out here before your mother finds you.” He winks, as this is something he’d say when he caught us drinking in this room or a girl under one of us. James was the main culprit in his day, and I suddenly feel the loss of him.

“Coming,” Charlie says, always the kiss-up, always the good kid. He’s a politician, so it’s in his nature.

“Seems coming is the problem,” Billy mutters as he stands from his seat.

“Only for you,” I say, standing as well and wrapping a hand around the nape of his neck, tenderly shoving him forward. We all walk out of the room with laughter on our lips but questions in our hearts.

The crowning moment to the holiday is when my nephew proposes to his girlfriend, who just had their son. He gives a toast, acknowledging our dad for his beer-crafting skills and then...

“And to Hollilyn, the mother of my child. Who could have predicted this is how it would end?”

Who could predict, I think—a woman demands I sell her my land and then follows me up a mountain to go camping?

Jaxson nods to his son in Hollilyn’s arms, and she pinkens. Their son is the result of a one-night stand that turned into many nights thereafter.

Would it be so bad to have another baby? Would Letty want to share him with me?

“But if I could have known the path would lead me here, I would do it all over again. I only wish I’d met you sooner, so I hope I’m not too late to ask.”

If we could only know where life would lead.

If only I’d met her sooner… I dismiss the thought. I loved Clara, but I want Letty in a way beyond what I felt with my wife.

Jaxson lowers to his knee before the overstuffed chair where Hollilyn sits, and she breaks into tears. Mati gasps as we all see what’s coming next.

“Will you be my wife and share the rest of my nights with me?”