Chapter 13
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
FEELING REAL
GOLDIE
The past twenty-four hours have been unreal.
I stand at the front window of the lake house, chugging coffee like that will help mellow me out.
Outside, two vans are parked at the end of our long driveway, one with a news logo on the side, the other unmarked.
A guy paces back and forth, talking on his phone, while another talks to a camera.
There’s a girl with long wavy hair who has such a big camera in front of her, I can’t even see her face as she snaps pictures.
“Are we in the middle of a scandal right now?” I mutter.
“If so, it’s a boring one,” Dad says, coming up behind me. “Oh, there’s a girl out there now. You think Camden will have any trouble getting through?”
“I’m sure he can handle it. I warned him there were reporters out there.”
The phone has rung off the hook since first thing this morning.
Dad’s cell. My cell. Even the landline we keep because Dad’s too weirded out by getting rid of it altogether.
Most of them want a quote about how the people in town are upset by what we’re doing.
They want drama and I have no idea how they even found out about us.
“Oh good, Milo’s here.” Dad hurries to the door to open it when Milo’s close, and I take the moment to glance in the mirror and check my hair before he comes inside.
In theory, the past few days have been a nice break from Milo.
Except I thought about him ten bajillion times, so it didn’t really feel like a break.
My heart vaults into the ground and does a sweeping up and down motion when I see him.
He looks good this morning. He’s toned down the formal wear considerably since we started working together and while I appreciate him in a button-down shirt or a suit, the sight of him in a T-shirt stretching over his stellar body is… better than I’d like to admit.
It’s mouthwatering, okay?
I will never admit this out loud, not in a thousand years.
But it’s true. My brain is chanting it like a mantra.
“Hey,” he says when he walks inside. “What’s going on?”
His eyes meet mine and do that slide down my body that makes me forget all about the reporters outside.
Which is why I say, “Not much.”
Dad and Milo do a double take at me and then Dad laughs, thinking I’m joking.
“Hey, Milo. It’s been nonstop this morning. Someone is fanning the flames and I didn’t even know a match had been struck.” He looks bewildered. “I’m not sure where all of this is coming from.”
I shake my head slowly. “Me either. You said you talked to everyone, right?” I move next to Dad and close the curtains tighter so we won’t be tempted to stand here all day. “Ope, look at that nasty curtain, chasing our stalkers away.”
He chuckles and sighs, moving to his chair and sitting down. “Yes, I did. I spoke to all the business owners first and then at the town meeting, where everyone and their brother seemed to show up. But the calls we’ve gotten today have been another story.”
“Have you talked to anyone yet?” Milo asks.
“Nah.” Dad waves his hand. “I’m not worried about it. This one is.” He motions toward me. “But Camden and Tully should be arriving any time and I’m too excited to see them to think about that mess out there.”
“Has it slowed anything down at the lodge today?” Milo asks.
“The only thing that’s slowed down is us getting over there,” Dad admits. “Noah said everything is running there as planned.”
“Good.” He nods.
“Sorry if my call worried you,” Dad tells Milo. “I’ve settled down since I left that message this morning.”
“Well, the reporters have thinned out too,” I add, “so that helps.”
A sound at the door grabs our attention and then Camden and Tully are walking inside.
“The hell is going on out there?” Tully asks.
I give Camden a huge hug and then Tully, while Dad fills them in on everything. A little while later, Camden asks to see the progress, and we go out the back way, avoiding the reporters.
We show him the plans once we’re out there, and then take a look at the resort.
“I can’t believe how much has been done already,” Camden keeps saying. “Wow. Wow. This is feeling real, guys.”
“You like what you see so far?” I ask.
“I’m blown away,” he says, glancing at us. “It’s going to be incredible.” His gaze goes back to where dozens of men are at work, and he shakes his head. “Okay. I feel bad that I wasn’t fully invested before. I wanted to be, and I was still going to do it either way, but…now…this…I am in.”
He’s grinning when my dad pounds him on the back.
“You just needed us to do the hard part before you got all in?” I tease.
He pokes my side and I yelp, laughing. “Exactly. No, seriously. I did have a hard time getting the old lodge out of my head. The dark walls and the floral carpeting.” He makes a face.
“Don’t get me wrong, we loved our time over here, but it was more about exploring outside than all that.
” He points to the lodge. “Now, the inside will match the splendor of Lake Superior.”
“Watch out, he’s getting poetic now,” Tully says, squeezing Camden’s shoulders.
Camden pretends to be annoyed for a second but laughs with everyone else.
Noah comes out to say hi to Camden and Tully, and one of the workers calls me to another room with a question about outlets. When I come back out, it’s just Dad and Noah.
“Where are the guys?” I ask.
Dad’s brow furrows. “I believe they were just going to lunch. I told them to bring us back something.”
“Nice of them to invite us,” I say under my breath.
“I also asked your grandmothers to come. I’d hate it if they heard about my health from anyone besides me, and with all that’s going on outside, I don’t trust that they won’t.”
“That’s probably a good call. When will they be here?”
He checks his phone. “I expect them sometime within the hour.”
“Okay, good.”
I tap away on my phone to my brothers, getting more annoyed with them by the second.
I like eating too, you know. Where’s the loyalty?
No answer.
Grandma Nancy and Grandma Donna are punctual, arriving forty-five minutes later.
My dad goes out to meet them, despite the reporters jumping to attention when he walks out, and I do my best to block them from getting a shot of him.
It requires quick footwork because these people are not messing around—they’re the only ones who stuck around, so they’re serious about finding out what’s going on.
It’s sad if it’s such a slow news day that they’d consider this newsworthy.
I reach the car first and get hugs from Grandma Nancy before rushing around to Grandma Donna.
“You said there’d possibly be activity out front, but I didn’t believe they’d still be here nearly an hour later,” Grandma Nancy fusses.
She hugs Dad and then studies him, a crease forming between her brows. “You look tired, honey. Are you not sleeping?” She loops her arm through his, holding onto him even while Grandma Donna hugs him. “You can take a nap while I make some soup and popovers…”
“You don’t have to—” he starts.
“I most certainly do. It’s been too long since I’ve seen ya and it shows!” She smooths down his shirt and smiles up at him.
“I should’ve brought that sweater I’ve been knitting for ya,” Grandma Donna adds. She looks at me and grins. “I did bring that knitted toaster cover I’ve been telling you about.”
“Great,” I say, with all the enthusiasm I can muster.
We get inside and Dad asks them to sit down with him before rushing off to make food.
He has to swear that he’s not hungry right now before Grandma Nancy will let it go.
They reluctantly sit down and I look at my dad, silently asking if he wants me to stay.
He nods slightly and I sit on the couch next to Grandma Donna.
Grandma Nancy is in the chair closest to Dad.
“I need to talk to you about something,” he says. “I haven’t wanted you to worry and I still don’t, but I want you to hear this from me.” He reaches out and takes his mom’s hand and she goes still, as if she already knows she needs steadying.
I take Grandma Donna’s hand and she pats the top of it. The energy in the room intensifies and I press my nails in the palm of my free hand, trying to hold back tears.
“I have a very positive prognosis and I feel really good about my chances of recovery, but I have cancer,” he says, and they both gasp. “I’ve started chemo, and it’s not been too bad so far.”
Grandma Nancy’s face crumbles immediately and he reaches out for both of her hands, holding them on her knees.
I put my arm around Grandma Donna when her shoulders begin to shake with her tears.
My dad’s eyes are glassy as he looks over at me and Grandma Donna.
“I’m so sorry for this news,” he says. “But please…we have to trust that I’m going to be okay. And if not…then it was my time to go, right?”
“I can’t lose you,” Grandma Nancy cries. “I cannot lose you.”
He gets up and hugs her and we’re all sobbing by now. We all gather around him, hugging hard.
Finally, he clears his throat and wipes his face. “Okay, enough of that. Goldie has been a godsend. She’s taken care of me…more care than I need.” He gives me a pointed look, and I giggle and hiccup. “We have to be positive.”
Grandma Donna pulls one of the many tissues out of her pocket and blows her nose. “Okay, we can do that. Right, honey?” She goes to Grandma Nancy and they look at each other for a long moment before Grandma Nancy finally nods.
“Yes,” she says softly and then a little stronger, “Yes.” She turns to look at my dad and points her finger at him.
“I’ll be positive, but you are not getting rid of me.
I hate to tell ya, but I am gonna be a pain in your wazoo.
You think our girl here has been too motherly?
” She reaches out and squeezes my hand then taps her chest, all while staring Dad down.
“Your mother here will not back down. I am going to make sure you are fed and looked after and I won’t hear another word about it. ”