Chapter Three
Amelie glanced down at her watch for what was probably the tenth time in the last five minutes before lifting her gaze toward the entrance of the hotel restaurant once again.
Still no sign of the boys.
A sigh escaped her as she settled back into her chair and resisted the urge to pull out her phone and text them.
Please, Lord, she thought. Don’t let them be getting into anything. At least not on our first night here.
She immediately regretted the thought because experience had taught her that challenging fate where Tyler and Trevor were concerned was never a good idea.
Her sons were good boys. They were kind, respectful, and thoughtful.
They volunteered, earned good grades, and somehow managed to charm almost everyone they met.
Unfortunately, they were also twelve-year-old boys who seemed to view rules as more of a friendly suggestion than an actual requirement.
Individually, they were manageable. Together, they had a habit of finding adventures where none existed.
She was just beginning to debate whether she should call them when two familiar heads appeared near the restaurant entrance.
Relief immediately swept through her.
The twins spotted her at the same moment and headed toward the table.
Both looked slightly flushed from hurrying, and both wore expressions that were just a little too innocent.
Amelie narrowed her eyes.
That was never a good sign.
“Sorry, we’re late,” Trevor said as they reached the table.
“The football game ran long,” Tyler added.
“Overtime.”
“Then we ran into—”
Trevor suddenly coughed, cutting off Tyler’s sentence.
It wasn’t a normal cough. It was a dramatic, suspiciously timed cough that sounded more like he was trying to clear an entire lung.
Tyler looked at his brother.
Trevor coughed again and shot him a very pointed look.
Tyler narrowed his eyes.
Amelie frowned. “Are you okay?” She asked Trevor.
“Yep,” Trevor replied a little too quickly, and he took a drink of his water.
Amelie then looked at Tyler. “What were you saying? You ran into…what?”
“Uh…I ran into a wall.”
Amelie narrowed her eyes. “You ran into a wall?”
“Yeah, you know how he can be a little clumsy. He wasn’t watching where he was going, and bam! He smacked right into the wall,” Trevor explained. “Anyway,” he said. “We made it.”
“Right. We’re here,” Tyler added, and then picked his drink up and took a sip.
Amelie looked between the two, noting how the explanations came just a little too quickly. After twelve years of motherhood, she had developed an almost supernatural ability to detect when her sons were leaving something out.
Still, they appeared unharmed, nobody was chasing them, and hotel security hadn’t escorted them into the restaurant, so she decided not to push.
“Uh-huh,” she said, watching as Trevor shifted uncomfortably in his seat and Tyler suddenly became very interested in the menu. There was definitely something going on, but Amelie fought back a smile, deciding whatever it was could wait.
As they settled into their seats, her thoughts drifted briefly to the football game they had apparently become so invested in.
She still found it amusing how much both boys loved the sport.
Growing up in Norway, football wasn’t exactly the national pastime, but she had made a point of introducing them to it when they were younger.
The truth was, football had always reminded her of Grant, who had taught her the game all those years ago.
Eventually, she had passed on her love of the game to Tyler and Trevor, and now they followed football with an almost alarming level of dedication.
A server appeared at their table, pulling her attention back to the present.
They had ordered dinner, and both boys asked for hot chocolate with extra whipped cream.
The drinks arrived, and Amelie found herself smiling as Tyler and Trevor each wrapped both hands around their oversized mugs. Then, almost simultaneously, they took a sip.
The way they held the mugs, the slight tilt of their heads, and the identical expressions that crossed their faces after taking a sip were so reminiscent of Grant that it nearly stole her breath.
It happened sometimes when she least expected it. A certain laugh, a gesture, or an expression where she would catch a sudden glimpse of the man she loved for most of her life staring back at her through the faces of their sons.
“Mom?” Trevor’s voice pulled her from her thoughts.
She shook her head. “Sorry. What?”
“We asked if we could go snowboarding tomorrow.”
Amelie groaned. “I guess so. But promise me you will not attempt those expert slopes.”
“We promise,” they said at the same time.
Dinner continued with easy conversation and plenty of laughter. They talked about the village, the Christmas market they wanted to visit, and the various winter activities they were determined to convince her to participate in.
Watching them laugh and tease each other across the table reminded her that, despite all the success she had achieved, these two were still the greatest accomplishment of her life.
◆◆◆
Tyler was practically bouncing in his seat, wondering when he would get a chance to talk to his brother without their mom around.
Since running into that man earlier, he had so many questions, and it wasn’t like they could talk much because they had already been late for dinner.
Now, she was ordering dessert.
But then she pushed her chair back from the table and stood up. “I need to run to the restroom. Watch my purse, please,” she said, looking at both of them.
“Okay,” Trevor replied.
Tyler just smiled.
But the second their mother was out of earshot, Tyler looked across the table at Trevor and immediately knew his brother was thinking the same thing he was.
“Was that man, who I think he was?” Tyler asked quietly.
Trevor didn’t answer right away. Instead, he glanced toward the hallway to make sure their mother hadn’t suddenly reappeared before leaning forward slightly. “I think so,” he said.
Tyler leaned back in his chair and rubbed a hand across his face.
Ever since the encounter in the hallway, his mind had been racing.
It wasn’t just that the man had looked like the photographs their mother kept.
It was the feeling he had gotten standing there looking up at him.
The man had been taller than he’d expected, broader too, and older than the smiling man in the pictures he had seen.
But there had been something undeniably familiar about him.
Something that had hit Tyler the moment those green eyes met his.
“We should look at a picture just to make sure,” Trevor said.
Tyler nodded. “That’s exactly what I was thinking.”
But that was another problem. Both of their phones were charging in the room upstairs.
For several seconds, neither spoke as they both thought about it.
Then Tyler’s gaze slowly drifted toward their mom’s empty chair.
The purse hanging from the back of her chair suddenly seemed a lot more interesting.
Their mother wasn’t the sentimental type in most areas of her life. But there was one thing she had carried for as long as either boy could remember: a single, worn photograph of Grant Carter tucked inside her wallet.
“We shouldn’t snoop in Mom’s purse,” Trevor said, looking a little nervous.
“We’re not snooping. We’re just verifying information,” Tyler argued.
Tyler glanced toward the hallway leading to the restrooms.
“Okay, you be lookout,” Tyler instructed.
Trevor groaned dramatically, asking why he was always the lookout.
“Because you’re better at looking suspicious without actually being suspicious.”
“That doesn’t even make sense.”
“It does in my head.”
Trevor muttered something under his breath but shifted in his seat so he could keep an eye on the hallway.
Tyler reached for the purse. His heart was beating fast, which was ridiculous. It wasn’t like he was robbing a bank. But still, something about going through his mom’s purse felt far more dangerous than any double-black diamond ski run he’d ever attempted.
He pulled the wallet out, and Tyler hesitated for a moment before opening it. Something about the whole situation suddenly felt bigger than it had been a minute ago.
Over the years, Grant Carter had always existed somewhere between reality and imagination.
Their mom had never hidden him from them.
She had answered every question they asked about him.
She had explained that he had been a Navy SEAL, which was pretty cool.
She showed them photographs and told them about the funny things he had done when they were teenagers.
Most importantly, she had never once spoken badly about him.
He took a deep breath and opened the wallet. The photograph was exactly where he had expected it to be.
Trevor abandoned the lookout and leaned over to look at it. For a moment, neither twin spoke.
The picture was old. The edges were slightly worn, evidence that it had been carried around for years.
The man in the picture couldn’t have been much older than eighteen or nineteen when it was taken.
He was standing outside, wearing jeans and a navy sweatshirt, smiling directly at the camera with a confidence that seemed completely natural.
Tyler slowly lifted the photograph and felt his stomach do something strange.
Because the man in the picture was unquestionably the same man they had met in the hallway.
The man they saw was obviously older, broader through the shoulders, with a few faint lines around his eyes. But it was him. There was no question about it.
Tyler looked from the photograph to Trevor and back again, and neither of them needed to say the words out loud. They both knew.
“It’s him,” Tyler said quietly, and Trevor nodded, his usual quick wit completely failing him for once.
The realization settled heavily between them as they sat there staring at the picture. Somehow, seeing the photograph now felt completely different from how it had felt an hour ago.