Chapter One #2
“Whatever you say,” Caleb said, taking a sip of his smoothie. He winked at Landon. “In my opinion, that type of nothing is the best kind of something.”
“Let’s just get out of here and head to the office,” Landon said, still confused about the woman named Bailey. She’d said his name, which had thrown him a little bit off-kilter. He wasn’t a stranger to her.
Maybe that part shouldn’t have been so surprising, since everyone in town knew who he and his brothers were before they’d even set foot in Alaska.
To Landon it seemed as if they had all been waiting twenty years for their return.
According to Hattie, not a day had gone by without her hoping for a reunion with her grandsons.
Once they were in Landon’s truck, he quickly changed the topic away from Bailey.
Caleb was like a hound dog whenever he tried to dig up information.
Landon shifted the conversation to their inheritance.
As they both knew, time was ticking away.
In the blink of an eye, their year in Moose Falls would be up.
“So where’s your head at? About Yukon Cider?” Caleb asked.
Roughly ten months ago, they had moved to Moose Falls, Alaska, at the behest of their long-lost grandmother, Hattie Stone.
Although they had received cards, gifts, and checks from her over the years, they hadn’t spent any quality time with Hattie since they were small.
Due to renal disease, she was terminally ill and looking to get her affairs in order.
She wanted Landon and his brothers to take over her hard cider company.
The paperwork they had signed upon their arrival in town dictated that they had one year to decide whether to stay and run Yukon Cider, or sell.
They had to be unanimous in their decision or forgo the inheritance altogether.
With everything changing in the personal lives of his brothers, all bets were off.
It would make sense for Xavier and Caleb to want to stay in Moose Falls, because they were both in love with their partners and setting down roots.
Staying in Alaska didn’t make the most sense for him.
He still had unfinished business in California with Abbott Laboratories.
He missed his former life as a research scientist and working in a lab setting.
He hadn’t been able to forget that he’d been targeted and scapegoated by the lab directors.
They had falsified evidence against him and forced him out of the laboratory.
Landon’s big goal was to return to Abbott Laboratories and restore his reputation as a chemist. Later today he had a Zoom call with his colleagues, Griff Benson and Sonali Patel.
He was hoping that there were more developments that would bolster his case against the laboratory.
They were all working behind the scenes to take Abbott Laboratories down.
“I’m still pondering the matter,” Landon admitted.
All these months later and he still wasn’t sure.
Coming back to Alaska did feel like coming home again, but he wasn’t exactly doing what he’d always dreamed of—being a scientist. “I think we both know which way Xavier is leaning,” Landon said.
“Especially now that he’s in the honeymoon stage. ”
“Literally,” Caleb said, grinning. “He’s living his best life.”
Their older brother, Xavier, had just returned from a weeklong honeymoon in Greece with his wife, True.
The newly married couple had met on the same day the brothers had first arrived in Moose Falls.
True had been working as the manager of Northern Exposure, a tavern owned by their grandmother.
Xavier hadn’t been able to resist True’s challenge to eat the tavern’s wings, which he hadn’t known were ghost pepper wings.
Recently, True had bought the establishment after having her eye on it for years.
With Caleb getting engaged to his own fantastic woman, Sophia Brand, the Stone brothers were coupling up at a rapid pace.
Except him, Landon thought. A sigh escaped his lips.
Being in a relationship seemed as unlikely for him as walking on the moon.
He didn’t dare admit it out loud. His brothers were constantly questioning his single status and none too subtly grilling him about past romances.
Sadly, there hadn’t been any relationships.
Sure, he’d dated here and there, but he’d never had a girlfriend or a serious relationship.
He’d asked himself why dozens of times, never coming up with an answer that made sense.
He wasn’t the best in social situations, which was a bit limiting.
Landon wasn’t naturally outgoing like Xavier and Caleb.
Mostly he thought he was afraid to fall.
He’d seen what happened when love turned to something else, something painful and heartbreaking.
Like with his parents. To this day, neither had found another great love.
Red was a good-looking, charismatic man, while Daisy was a gentle and beautiful soul.
Both his brothers had been in tumultuous relationships before coming back to Moose Falls. Finding romance in their Alaskan hometown hadn’t been on anyone’s bingo card, yet love had bloomed. Seeing them so settled made him believe it could happen for him as well.
“Hey! Did you hear me?” Caleb asked, interrupting his thoughts. “I was asking you something.”
“Sorry,” Landon apologized. “Trying to focus on these slick roads.”
Driving in Alaska wasn’t for the faint of heart.
He was just getting acclimated to the unexpected twists and turns in the weather.
He’d done his fair share of nervously clutching the wheel as he drove through snow, ice, sleet, and hail.
As of late, though, Landon had mastered this particular skill.
Life in Moose Falls fit him like a glove, despite the nagging worry that he had things that he needed to get back to in California.
“I asked if you’d made a list of the pros and cons about staying or leaving. That might help move you along on the matter,” Caleb said. “I’ve been keeping a list since we got here.”
Landon nodded. He had made so many lists, yet none of them had led him in a decisive direction.
And he only had a few more months before a decision had to be made.
A part of him knew that his indecisiveness was deliberate.
A decision like this one was nearly impossible to make.
“I’ve made dozens of lists,” he told his brother.
“Most times I end up feeling even more conflicted, mainly because I have unfinished business in California. And I’ve teamed up with some former colleagues to try and prove my case. ”
“I hear that,” Caleb said. “For me it’s a lot more straightforward. Now that I’m the spokesman for Yukon Cider and engaged to Sophia, I can’t imagine being anywhere else. Now that doesn’t mean we have to run the company, but it gives me a strong incentive to stay.”
“I haven’t given up on getting my good name back in the research community, not to mention that I can’t imagine being here without Hattie,” Landon blurted out.
Lately it was the huge elephant in the room when he was with his brothers.
Being back in Moose Falls was so tied up in their grandmother.
Despite the lost years between them, they loved her and had all grown close to the Stone matriarch since their return.
“Yeah, I keep thinking she’ll outsmart this disease. I mean, if anyone can accomplish that feat, it would be our grandmother.” Caleb’s voice sounded optimistic.
As a scientist, Landon knew that scenario was extremely unlikely.
Hattie had laid everything out in full detail for them regarding her renal failure.
They’d met with her medical team on several occasions, and there was no doubt that her days were numbered.
She wasn’t going to make a miraculous recovery, no matter how much they all wanted it to happen.
Landon pulled into the parking lot for Yukon Cider and put his truck in park.
Caleb rubbed his hands together. “You got us here with ten minutes to spare before the meeting.”
“Well, you know how much Hattie despises lateness,” Landon said, chuckling.
It wasn’t unlike their grandmother to call someone on the carpet if they weren’t on time.
And she didn’t play favorites either. She would do it to her own flesh and blood in a heartbeat.
He winced at the memory of having been late to one of her meetings.
Ouch! She hadn’t spared his feelings one bit.
Landon knew firsthand that no one in this world wanted to be on the receiving end of Hattie’s sharp tongue.
As soon as they entered the building, they were greeted by abundant signs of the holiday season.
A huge Christmas tree sat in the foyer, adorned with brightly colored bulbs and beautiful ornaments.
Garlands of tinsel hung from the stairwell.
Festive wreaths were all around them, and strings of candy canes decorated the check-in desk.
“It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas,” Landon said, nodding approvingly.
“Thanksgiving was just two days ago,” Caleb wailed.
The brothers wasted no time heading to the conference room.
The side table was laden with a large tray of breakfast pastries—croissants, bagels, Danish.
About a half dozen of their colleagues were already in the room, talking to Xavier, who was in the middle of the group answering questions about his honeymoon.
“Athens was amazing,” Xavier gushed. “We almost didn’t want to leave.” He let out a holler as soon as he spotted Landon and Caleb. Within seconds they were being swept up in a huge bear hug from their older brother.
The Three Musketeers back together again.
For Landon, this was the lure that was pulling him toward making the decision to stay in Moose Falls.
Being around Xavier and Caleb on a daily basis never got old.
Working at the same company as them and alongside Hattie almost made up for not being able to work in a research lab.
Just before the meeting’s start time, Hattie came whizzing through the door on a mobility scooter. Jacques, her romantic partner and majordomo, was two steps behind her.
“Take it easy,” Caleb heard Jacques say in a low voice.
“No time for that,” Hattie quipped as she steered herself toward her position at the head of the table.
She clapped her hands together. “Just in the nick of time. If it hadn’t been for a huge moose in the road, I would’ve been here fifteen minutes ago.
That’s Alaska for you. Always expect the unexpected.
” She let out a throaty laugh. “Let’s get down to business, shall we?
A wonderful idea came to me last night, and I cannot wait to share it with all of you.
” She wiggled her eyebrows and looked around the table, pausing to send Landon a pointed look.
Landon had no idea what Hattie was up to (he usually didn’t), but he knew instinctively that her plans somehow involved him.