AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“She hasone win, and suddenly,she’sthe master?” Elmer asked, scoffing.
“I am the master.”
“I never knew you were so full of yourself, love,” Linc said.
“Sure, you did. When I am right, I’m right, and I knew if he could see her again, that’d be all it would take. Angie felt the same way, that Lexi had never gotten over Max. They gave her an early Christmas gift of the weekend in Butler and presented it to her as a done deal.” Worn out from her celebrating, Molly dropped into a chair. “I thought I was going to have to drive Max to that reunion myself and make him go, but the wager worked. An Abbott can never resist a wager.”
“Well played,” Lincoln said. “Very well played. But you’re not the master.”
“Not even close,” Elmer said. “But you’ve clearlylearneda few things from the masters.”
“Whatever,” Molly said with an eye roll that encompassed them both. “All I care about is that Max is back with the only woman he’s ever loved, and now there’s a baby, too!” She lifted her hands in the air in a raise-the-roof motion. “Best day ever.”
“Are you planning to tell Max and Lexi how you and Angie shamelessly manipulated them?” Linc asked.
“Oh, um, I don’t think they need to know that.”
“Is that so? How much is our silence worth to you?”
“You aren’t serious,” Molly said.
“Are we serious, Elmer?”
“Dead serious.”
The phone rang, and Molly jumped on it. “It’s Angie!” She took the call and had a good scream with the baby’s other grandmother.
Max had stood silently by as each of his older siblings had found their true loves. Molly had been hoping for this kind of happiness for her youngest child for a long time. This really was the best day ever.
ChapterTwenty-Six
“Love is a better teacher than duty.”
—Albert Einstein
On the morning of New Year’s Eve, Molly called Lucas’s house.
“Morning,” Lucas said when he took the call.
The sound of screaming kids in the background brought a smile to his mother’s face. She’d spent most of her adult life surrounded by screaming kids and wouldn’t have had it any other way. “Morning. How’s it going over there?”
“Business as usual, as I’m sure you can hear.”
“Could I have a word with Mr. Caden, please?”
“Yep. Hey, Cade, phone for you.”
“Is it my dad?”
“Nope. It’s Grammy.”
“I wanna talk to Grammy,” Sierra said.
“After Caden,” Lucas said. “Here you go, Mom.”
“Hi, Grammy,” Caden said. “What’s up?”
“I was wondering if you might like to have a lunch date with your old Grammy. I’m missing you since you’ve been on vacation.”
