“I agree. Tonight, before Saryn and her family get there.”
He pulled up and parked in front of the large, two-story ranch house. My parents did well for themselves, but they were far from rich. My father earned more money off real estate he owned across Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, and Oklahoma than he did ranching. It was one reason Roger and I never really showed a desire to get into the ranching side of the family business. I enjoyed it, but I was perfectly fine having Billy, our ranch foreman, run the ranch with our father. Roger, of course, kept a close eye on everything to make sure Billy didn’t obtain too much control. Someday I might decide to take a bigger interest, but for now, my life was Imaginations Unlimited and the two woman who owned me heart and soul.
The front door opened, and our mother appeared. She was dressed in a white dress with red accents.
“Merry Christmas Eve!” she said as she held out her arms for each of us to hug her. “I’ve missed you boys.”
Roger leaned closer to me and whispered, “Looks like someone has already been hitting up the eggnog.”
I chuckled, then hugged my mother after Roger did.
“When did you get back?” I asked.
“The day before your accident, sweetheart. My goodness, I really had hoped you would grow out of this accident-prone thing.”
Roger laughed. “That’s how he gets the women, by making them feel sorry for him.”
Our mother playfully hit Roger in the chest. “Stop that now. And what about you? When are you going to settle down and give me a grandbaby.”
The laugh that came out of Roger nearly made me laugh, too. We walked into the house, and I quickly looked for my father.
“Dad around?”
With a forced smile, she pointed to the study that had always been our father’s home office. “He’s in there, pouting.”
I tried to think back to a time when my mother and father were more loving to each other. The more I thought about it, the more I realized I had never actually seen them show any affection. Maybe the occasional kiss on the cheek or hug, but nothing like what I had seen Evie and Will do. Or Pete’s parents, or Paul’s. And I had always thought Nolan’s parents were a little weird, because they were constantly kissing and hugging.
“I need to talk to Dad about a business deal I’m fixin’ to do. Do you mind, Mom?” I asked.
Before she could answer, Roger held out his arm to her. “Come on, let’s go make a drink and you can tell me all about your trip to…”
“Italy!”
“Right, Italy,” Roger replied as he guided our mother out of the room.
I knocked on my father’s office door and waited for him to call out.
“Come in.”
His voice sounded cold and distant. When he looked up and saw me, though, he smiled and stood.
“You look better than the last time I saw you at the hospital.”
As he walked over to me, I held out my hand. He gave it a shake and then pulled me in for a quick hug.
“You came to the hospital? You hate hospitals, Dad.”
“Well, it’s not every day my son has surgery. When Roger called, I wanted to be there.”
He motioned for me to sit down as he walked over and poured us each a whiskey.
I took the whiskey and said, “You should be used to that from me.”
He laughed. “I never told you this, but when I was younger, much younger, I was a bit of klutz.”
“You?’ I asked before I took a drink.
“Yes, indeed. You remind me a lot of myself when I was younger. I’m glad you followed your dreams, even when I gave you a hard time about it.”
That took me by surprise. “Was ranching not your dream?”
He looked at his glass and swirled the brown liquid in it as if deep in thought. He finished it off and then answered me.
“Honestly, no. I wanted to leave Boerne and join the Marines.”
“The Marines!” I said with a surprised laugh.
“Yes. Your grandfather told me if I did he would disown me, and I’d never be allowed on this ranch again.”
My mouth dropped slightly open. “I didn’t realize that, Dad.”
He nodded. “He also arranged for me to marry one of his best friend’s daughters. Said the match would be good for the two families.”
I was pretty sure my heart jumped to my throat.
“You didn’t want to marry Mom?” I asked.
He stood and walked over to the bar cart, pouring himself another drink.
“What brings you in here, son?”
He didn’t answer my question, and I wasn’t sure if he would answer the next one either.
“Dad, I need to know something, and I need you to tell me the truth.”
His brows pulled in tight. “I’m always truthful with you boys.”
“Did you have an affair that resulted in a baby boy being born?”
My father stared at me with a blank expression for the longest time.
“What did you say?” His voice sounded small, unsure. It wasn’t something I was used to. My father always had a strong presence. It was in the way he stood and held himself. And it was in the way he talked with authority and with purpose.
I sighed. “Dad, is Tim Ackerman your son?”
This time he let out a string of curses. “That little bastard told you, didn’t he?”
To say I was stunned by his words was an understatement. “If by ‘little bastard’ you mean Tim, then yes, he told me.”
I watched as he pulled in a long, deep breath and then slowly exhaled.
“Yes. It’s true.”
My eyes closed, and I felt my entire body drop. “Does Mom know?”
“Yes. I told her after Tim was born. I couldn’t keep something like that from her.”
“That’s why she’s always traveling?”
My father turned and faced me. “Truitt, when I married your mother, I wasn’t in love with her. I tried to fall in love with her, and I grew to care for her deeply. She…she never…oh, hell. She never warmed much to me after our wedding. I had a lot of affairs over the first year of our marriage. It’s not something I’m proud of. After I gave up the skirt chasing, your mother and I grew closer. I started to fall for her. After she had you, she fell into a depression and she pulled back. Like her duty of providing me a set of sons had been accomplished. I was lonely and I sought comfort. Tim’s mother told me she couldn’t get pregnant. That she was unable to have kids. Turns out it was her husband who couldn’t have kids and never told her. He knew the moment she ended up pregnant that the baby wasn’t his. She tried to blackmail me for money to get rid of the baby. I said that I would take the baby and she practically laughed in my face. After Tim was born, she invited your mother to the hospital; they were friends.”
He looked down, shame all over his face. “When your mom held Tim in her arms, that was when Fran told her I was the father. Your mother was so hurt and taken aback, she never could get over it.”
“Then why did she invite Saryn and her family over here? I wouldn’t think she would want to see Liliana.”
“She didn’t invite them. I did. I never was allowed to see Tim or have anything to do with him. Fran got a restraining order, said I was stalking her. I thought it best to just pretend Tim wasn’t my son. Even as he grew older, I didn’t attempt to reach out. Then I heard what a little prick he was, and I was glad I didn’t have any contact with him.”
That little bit of information felt like a brick in my stomach.
“When I saw Saryn at the hospital that night and saw how she looked at you, I figured you two were together. Then Ryan confirmed it. I told your mother I wanted to meet my granddaughter. She was free to come home or stay in Italy.”
“And she wanted to come home? Is she going to do something? Start something?”
He chuckled. “No. I think she regrets never being there for you kids. Maybe she’ll look at Liliana as a second chance. I mean, if you two are serious.”
I wasn’t about to share with my father about my relationship with Saryn.
“If she says or does anything,” I said, “we’ll leave, and we won’t be coming back. I care deeply for Saryn and Liliana.”
He raised a brow. “Do you love her?”
“Yes. I do.”
I waited for the lecture, the one where he said we hardly knew each other and we should take it slow. Instead, he smiled and drank down his second whiskey.
“Then don’t let her go.”
There was a knock on the door, and my mother poked her head in. “They’re here.”
I stood and walked over to my mother. She gave me a knowing look. “I spoke with Roger.”
I nodded and kissed her on the cheek. Then I whispered in her ear, “I’m sorry, Mom.”
She patted me on the back. “The past is the past. Let’s move on and start a new path, shall we?”
“Let’s.” I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to feel after my father’s declarations. The fact that he didn’t love my mother when they married. How he’d cheated on her. It put my father in a new light, and I wasn’t sure how I would deal with it.
Whisking away from me, my mother threw open the door. There was the woman I remembered, the one who loved to throw parties. Always the happiest hostess around. Except this time there was something different. She didn’t seem to be playing a part. When she saw Liliana, she bent down and smiled at her.
“Those blue eyes, my goodness. Aren’t you a pretty little thing.”
Liliana hugged Muke tightly. “Tank you!”
My mother wrapped Liliana up in a hug before standing and giving Saryn a hug and then Evie. Will and Ryan came in and shook my father’s hand. Then it was my father’s turn to see Liliana. He looked slightly taken aback. Clearly, he’d noticed that Liliana’s eyes were the same color blue as his. As mine. As Roger’s.
Lifting my gaze from my father, I met Saryn’s. She seemed at ease, and not the least bit worried. I was going to have to take lessons from her on how she did that.
“Liliana, I’m Nick Carter, but you can call me Pop if you want.”
Liliana smiled that brilliant smile of hers. She tilted her head as she giggled and repeated the word. “Pop.”
My father laughed.
Liliana took it all in and then said, “Pop, this is Muke!”
My father shook the small teddy bear’s paw and replied, “So very nice to meet you, Muke.”
The rest of the evening seemed like a dream. Dinner around my folks’ table, laughter, stories, and then hot chocolate and gifts. On the Christmases my mother was home, that was what we did on Christmas Eve. She made hot chocolate, we sat around the fire, and we each got to open one gift.
With Saryn sitting at my side, her hand laced in mine, everything seemed to be in place. I wasn’t used to things being in place in my life. Everything I touched seemed to falter somehow. Everything with the exception of Imaginations Unlimited.
But with Saryn, things simply felt right. As a matter of fact, everything seemed to be going perfectly, and that made me want to knock on wood. I felt at ease. I was less stressed than usual. I was happy, truly happy, for the first time in years. I knew it was because of Saryn and Liliana.
I glanced over to see Liliana sitting on the floor with my father, Roger, and Ryan. They were teaching her how to play a game. When I looked up and met Will’s eyes, he smiled, then gave me a nod. Evie and my mother were chatting about a charity function, and I heard my mother offering to help out. She even told my mother she’d love to go to the store and see how it all worked behind the scenes.
Before I knew it, my mother was bringing out a large cake with a candle on top.
Saryn smiled and Liliana jumped up. “Cake!”
“I know your birthday isn’t for another two days, but we’re all together, and I didn’t want to miss this opportunity to celebrate.”
I stood and walked over to the dining room table. Saryn had one of my hands, while Liliana tugged for me to pick her up. I reached down and picked her up and held her while I closed my eyes and made a wish, hoping that I wasn’t dreaming.
Saryn
LILIANA RUSHED INTO my bedroom just as the sun began to rise and jumped on my bed. Truitt had snuck out only an hour before and headed to the guest room. Once Liliana had me awake, she bounded quickly to Truitt’s room.
She calmed down some so that Rus didn’t get too excited and hurt his leg more. It had been almost three weeks, and he was getting around a lot better, but I had been a very overprotective doggy mom and still made Truitt use a leash when he took him out. It only took Truitt explaining to Liliana that if Rus got too excited he’d have to have another surgery for her to know she couldn’t get him too excited. I looked at him with my brows raised and wanted to say that the same thing went for him.
Liliana climbed carefully up onto the bed, then looked back at me and giggled. I stood in the doorway to the guest room, watching them. Truitt was asleep, his arm over his eyes as he breathed softly.
“Twuitt!” Liliana whispered shouted. “Twuitt! Santa came!”
Truitt and I had been up until almost two in the morning wrapping presents and simply talking. At one point we sat on the back porch, cups of hot chocolate in our hands, lost in conversation. We talked about everything and anything. Truitt even offered me a job with Imaginations Unlimited doing the interior design work, as well as drawing out plans. I’d never thought about doing anything other than nursing, but the idea of doing something different and working alongside Truitt left me feeling giddy and excited. It didn’t take me long to tell him yes…I’d take the job.
Liliana nudged Truitt harder. I saw him peek an eye open and then close it.
“Go away, Rudolph, I’m still sleeping.”
With her hand clasped over her mouth, Liliana giggled.
“It’s not Wudolph! It’s me! Liliana!”
Truitt moaned and said, “No, Rudolph, it’s too early!”
My daughter fell into a fit of laughter on the bed. When Truitt leapt up and started to tickle her, Rus got up. I bent down and gently pet him to keep him calm.
“Shh, they’re only playing, sweet boy. Let’s go potty and get something to eat.”
I glanced over my shoulder once more and saw Liliana sitting on the bed, crisscross applesauce, as she explained to Truitt how Santa had come in the middle of the night and left presents. His attention was one-hundred percent focused on her.
My heart couldn’t have felt fuller. After taking care of Rus, I walked into the living room to find Liliana nearly jumping out of her skin.
“Mommy! Mommy! Pwease!”
I tried not to laugh as I asked her, “Can you find the ones with your name on them?”
“I can!” she declared and promptly set out to find them.
Truitt and I sat on the sofa and watched Liliana open her presents one by one. Every now and then I would drop to the floor and help her with one or explain what something was.
After Liliana opened all her presents, she looked between me and Truitt.
“Did Santa not bwing you any?”
Truitt turned and looked at me, a smile so sweet that it made a warm sensation travel over my skin.
“Your mommy was my present this year,” Truitt said before he leaned over and gently kissed me.
Liliana giggled, then asked, “Do you wuv Mommy?”
His eyes sparkled, and even if he didn’t answer, I saw it.
My phone rang, interrupting the moment.
“Saved by the ring!” I said with a chuckle.
“Hello?”
“We’re dying over here, sweetheart. When are we going to get to show Liliana the playhouse?” my mother pleaded.
“How about right now?”
“Yes!” I could hear my father say in the background.
“Did Ryan stay the night?” I asked.
“He did, and we just finished biscuits and gravy.”
Truitt waggled his brows and licked
his lips.
“Is there more? We haven’t eaten breakfast yet. Liliana was too excited to wait,” I said.
“Of course, I can make more up.”
“Then we’re on our way.”
I hit End and looked at Liliana. “We need to go change really quickly, Liliana. Granddad and Grammy said Santa left you something in their backyard!”
Liliana gasped. “What is it?”
Truitt laughed. “Let’s all get dressed and go see!”
As we walked toward my folks’ house, Truitt carried Liliana, even though I argued against it. I knew his knee was healing nicely, but the man never stopped, and I’d seen the way he limped on his leg last night.
I was relieved when Truitt decided that Rus had to stay, even though Liliana begged. I was impressed he held firm on the rule, yet was gentle about it. There was no doubt he would make an amazing father.
My stomach jumped at the idea of someday having a baby with this man.
“Are your eyes closed?” Truitt asked Liliana.
“Yes!” she squealed in delight as she buried her face into his neck. “I’m not peeking! I pwomise!”
My parents and Ryan were waiting for us at the end of the pathway that led to the house. I was shocked to see that someone had come back and added a few more touches to the outside of the playhouse.
“Who did this?” I asked.
Truitt smiled. “Had to be Jack.”
I shook my head and said, “I’m going to have to give him a big hug and kiss.”
“Over my dead body!” Truitt stated.
We stopped next to my folks, and Ryan peeked at Liliana over Truitt’s shoulder.
“Good morning, pumpkin! Merry Christmas.”
“Uncle Wyan!” Liliana exclaimed.
“Okay, Liliana, close your eyes and don’t open them until we tell you to!” I said as Truitt set her down and I slowly turned her to face the playhouse castle.
I leaned down and said, “Open your eyes, Princess Liliana.”
My daughter let out a scream of delight when she saw the castle. She dashed for the front door before any of us had a chance to even move. My mother and father quickly went after her, followed by Ryan. I turned and faced Truitt, who was watching with a wide grin on his face.
Lucky in Love Page 28
