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Chapter Nine
Wayne pulled the reinsback to rear the horses at the tip-top of the Pontiac Trail Head. Penny and Brad scrambled down and rushed to the cliff’s edge, where they gazed out, flabbergasted at the gorgeous, frigid view of the Straits of Mackinac. Wayne assisted Elise from the side of the carriage as Alex hustled out, wrapping himself up in his peacoat as he came. His smile was brighter than Elise remembered it, as though, in the week or so since she’d gone off to California, he had decided to become someone else.
The kind of brother she had always wanted.
“Hey there!” he called as he cranked open the gate. “You can park your carriage out back. Dad has some stables. I guess you know that, though.”
Elise was reminded that Alex was a tiny bit jealous of Wayne and her father’s relationship, which had intensified in the years after Mandy’s death. As widows, they had comforted one another and built a unique friendship. Alex had never had anyone. Not beyond his mother, anyway.
As Wayne took the carriage out back, Alex did something he had never done before: he offered himself up for a hug. Elise hugged him back tentatively as Alex said, “Wow! Look at you. I’m so glad you all made it.”
Elise had spared much of the detailed drama surrounding Alex Swartz in the story she’d told her children.
“Hey! Are you... our Uncle?” Penny asked as she stepped forward with a bright-toothed, California-girl smile.
“I am! And you must be Penny. Wow, you look so much like your mom,” Alex said. “And you must be Brad.” He shook both of their hands warmly as silence fell over them. Finally, he said, “Why don’t we head inside? We’ve got the fire roaring. Tracey should be back shortly with Dad, and the dinner’s nearly finished. Cindy and I have slaved over it the past few hours. I imagine Dad and Tracey will be tipsy as ever since everything took a little bit longer than we planned.”
“It always does,” Penny said with a laugh. Under her breath, she added, “Wow, Brad, look at this place. It’s gorgeous.”
“It’s got something extra. That’s for sure,” Brad said.
Once inside, Cindy rushed over and helped them take off their coats and shoes and insisted they warm themselves by the fire.
“Penny and Bradley!” she beamed as she flung her arms around them. “Welcome to Mackinac, and welcome to the family. My goodness, Bradley, you especially... You have Swartz genes all the way through you.”
Elise was reminded that, when she’d initially met Cindy, she had thought she was cold. How wrong she’d been!
Michael walked over from the living area, chewing on the edge of a cracker. He assessed his newfound cousins then grinned broadly to say, “Look what the cat dragged in. Aunt Elise, you didn’t tell us you had actual rascals of your own.”
“She did, actually,” Cindy said. She playfully whipped him across the back with a kitchen towel as she ushered everyone in.
“Now, Margot, these two are my new cousins...” Michael tried as he trailed off. He turned his eyes toward Brad, who informed him of his name. “Bradley. Yes. Margot, he may be a handsome devil, but I don’t want you getting any ideas, okay? Anything he’s got that you like, I got it ten-fold.”
Margot, who’d burrowed herself near the fire with a cup of steaming hot cocoa, giggled and winked at Brad, who blushed a shade of crimson Elise had never seen. Brad stuttered something and then turned into the kitchen, where he grabbed a beer from his Aunt Cindy’s outstretched hand.
“Thank you,” he said. “I really needed this.”
“I knew the second I looked at you that you wouldn’t be a hot cocoa guy,” Cindy said. “What about you, Penny? Hot cider with a little bit of rum?”
“Delicious,” Penny affirmed. “I’d love some.”
Wayne eased up behind Elise as she poured herself a glass of wine. His hand stretched out across her stomach as he cradled her and dotted a cold kiss across her neck. “You’re freezing!” she screeched as a smile stretched between her cheeks.
“Penny, you know, you really do look just like your mom,” Cindy said, beaming as she passed Penny a glass of hot cider. “Your mom texted me after your play the other night. She said you were a dream. I wish I could have been there. You know, it got me thinking. Your next play out in Berkley? I’d love to go out to see it.”
“My mother? In the great state of California? I don’t know what to make of this new, crazy world,” Michael said from the living area, where he’d curled up beside Margot.
“They’re here!” Alex called from the foyer. “Everyone, hide!”
Elise hustled behind the counter island in the kitchen, where she knelt low beside Wayne. Everyone else took their positions behind the armchair, behind the long, hanging drapes, behind the couches, in the closets. An eerie silence took over the house, one that was occasionally interrupted with giggles from Margot. The front door opened to allow Elise’s father and Tracey’s voices to ring out.
“Got so cold today,” Dean said. “I feel so bad for the trick or treaters...”
Suddenly, everyone in the room burst up from their hiding places to call out: “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!”
Dean looked mesmerized. Beside him, Diesel howled toward the ceiling, which made everyone cackle with laughter.
“My gosh. Tracey! Did you have any idea...”
