Chapter 37 #2
“Mom’s probably baking something new to lure everyone into her gingerbread house and bet you Dad’s asleep in front of the TV.” Reid laughs lovingly.
I can’t help it, I know I’m giving him the tired bitch face, or whatever the fuck they call it. But I’m frustrated and keeping my cool has never been a strong suit.
A turn on my heel in the snowy gravel and I head off to the main house.
“Love you too!” Reid hollers.
I flip him off over my shoulder and keep walking. The biting April wind whips through the Swiftwater Valley, but the incoming spring sun warms my face, and I do my best to stay fucking optimistic.
Reid’s assessment was spot on. Cecelia’s pulling something sinful and cinnamon from the oven and Walter’s nowhere in sight.
“Greyson, dear!” Cecelia’s face lights up at seeing me in a way Meredith’s stopped doing the day Dad died.
I accept her hug, bending down to her aging frame.
“What are you trying to kill us with now, Cecelia?” My chin motions towards the baked goods steaming on the counter.
“Oh, you boys are so dramatic, worse than the girls, I swear. I don’t see how feeding my family is trying to kill them.” Hands on her hips, I can’t help but smile.
“It might be the pounds of butter and sugar we each consume every year because you’re such a talented baker.” My compliment is genuine, but she slaps my chest anyway.
“To what do I owe the pleasure of seeing you in the middle of the day?” Cecelia asks.
It’s now or never.
“There’s something I need to discuss with you and Walter,” I say matter of fact.
She registers my sincerity, gives me a dip of her chin and scuttles from the kitchen to the den, waking Walter from his nap.
They emerge from the den and Walter nods once and turns down the hall, Cecelia and I following wordlessly. He leads us to his home office, and shuts the door behind us, despite us being the only ones in the house.
He takes his seat behind the grand desk, Cecelia sitting in a more comfortable chair beside him. I haven’t seen Walter in business-mode in years, and he’s still got that undeniable don’t-fuck-with-me boardroom presence.
“Floor’s yours, son,” Walter says.
For the third time in fewer hours I lay out my case, but this time, it lands.
Walter’s fingers are steepled beneath his chin, eyes narrowed, taking in my every movement. Cecelia’s fighting back tears and I’ve never been more unsure of anything in my life.
“Let me tell you a story, Greyson.” Walter puts his hand on Cecelia’s knee, and she leans closer to him like a magnet. They have the kind of love you hope to have after forty years.
“Sam was in Cecelia’s stomach, just passed the twenty-week mark and found out we were having a third boy.
On top of that, James was starting kindergarten, and he was extremely nervous he wasn’t going to make any friends.
Cecelia was a wreck, sending her baby boy off to full-day school for the first time, with Reid on her hip.
Imagine her delight, when after the first day of school, James burst from the elementary school with the biggest smile painted across his face and told Cecelia he’d made a best friend. ”
I remember that day well, kids were bustling around at recess excited but unsure, and I was sitting in the shade beneath the jungle gym when James plopped down next to me.
Without asking, he started playing in the gravel like I was, and soon enough we’d dug a decent sized hole.
That’s all it took. We’ve been ride-or-die ever since.
“It wasn’t long after that you were at the ranch any chance you got. You took to ranch life immediately, absorbing everything like a sponge. You never once excluded Reid, and soon the three of you were the bane of our existence.” They smile wistfully, reminiscing on happier times.
“When Sam arrived that New Years Eve, your folks couldn’t get you over here New Years Day fast enough to meet him. It was clear you gained a little brother that day as well.”
Cecelia sucks in a sob, and Walter pauses to comfort her and collect himself. I can’t deny my eyes have filled with tears as well.
“We watched you grow up just the same as our boys, every tooth lost, every success and every challenge.” Walter grows serious, and Cecelia switches to comforting her husband.
“You boys were still young when we accepted the ranch wasn’t salvageable as a functioning cattle ranch. We sold off the remaining livestock and equipment and with that money, expanded the main house, started Swift Property Management, and bought the bones of what would become the Cascade Hotel.
“With the future of the ranch up in the air, we wanted to protect as much of the land as we could and keep it in the family. We had the land assessed and put portions into a trust to protect it in the event we had to sell off parcels in the future.
“Obviously we protected the main house, the stables, barns, and entryway. And as you well know, we protected a plot of land for each of our sons to build a home on someday. All I know is life works in mysterious ways, because during the time we were working with the attorneys, you lost your father.” Walter pauses, and shards of glass slice through me the way they did when I found out he’d died all those years ago.
“And there was an eleven-year-old boy left alone with an absent mother, who we’d come to love like our own blood.
You see, son, you were already a beloved member of our family, one of our boys.
So, when it came time to finalize the land trust, we added one more plot of land to be protected.
” Walter meets my eyes, love shining back at me.
I don’t dare look to Cecelia or I’ll fall apart.
Finding my voice, I manage, “I don’t understand.”
Walter smiles one of those smiles you only get from a dad.
“Then let me repeat myself. We protected a plot of land for each of our sons to build a home on someday.”
“But I’m n—”
“You are, dear. You always have been,” Cecelia says through tears.
The truth rolls over me like an avalanche.
Everything they’ve done for me over the years was because I was their son, not because they pitied me, or were being kind to their children’s friend. They truly love me.
Memories flash rapid fire as the realization sinks in. It’s no wonder they’ve always called themselves Harper’s grandparents and never once waivered in their devotion to her.
This is why they lovingly accepted Mia and Everly, my future wife and daughter.
“Your land is where the original house sits. We’ve maintained it since the new main house was built.
It’s yours to do with as you see fit, son.
Renovate it, keep it the same, tear it down, whatever you want.
The only thing it’s missing is a stable for Pickle, but Pickle’s welcome to stay at the main stables if you choose not to build one. ” Walter chuckles.
The parents I never knew were really mine round the desk and I stand to thank them. How do you thank someone for changing your life and protecting you for over thirty years?
From our history, they’re waiting for a handshake. What they get is the biggest hug I’ve ever given, connecting with the parents I owe everything to.