by Vivian Arend
Hope rose suddenly. “Which is why you want to give me a job to do?”
“One that might put you in close proximity to my mom a lot sooner than if you hit the road and stay away like she suggested? Yeah,” Rafe confessed before lifting blue eyes filled with laughter to Mark’s. “Although, if you mention that specific reasoning in front of her, I will deny it.”
A silent assist was better than no assist at all.
Mark took a moment to look Rafe over. Traces of his brother Ben were there, but more importantly, he had a firm confidence that seemed surprisingly strong in a man of his young years.
Getting to be with Dana meant being in this man’s life.
And in Laurel’s, and Gabe and Allison’s.
The realization was a bolt of lightning. Dear God, he wasn’t just getting involved with Dana, he was running full-out at an entire family.
The seriousness of this thing struck him like icy lightning, but the overall sensation was good. He wanted this—all of this.
He thrust a hand toward Rafe. “Thank you. And I swear, I want nothing but the best for your mom.”
Rafe offered a firm handshake in return, that amused smile flitting around his lips again. “So do we. Still stands to be seen if you’re what’s best.”
Coleman Memory Book
~Becca (Six Pack) Coleman~
* * *
I like being a Coleman. I like being part of something big. Uncle Joel says you can’t build anything with one piece of Lego, and he’s right. We’ve got lots and lots of Legos in the Coleman family, and we like to do things together.
Family is many arms to hold me tight. My sister always by my side. Mommy and Daddy dancing in the kitchen.
We live in the same house that Daddy grew up in. And Grandpa. There’s a doorway in the kitchen that’s all beat up, but when Mommy painted the walls last year, she was real careful not to paint over the marks on it.
She said that’s a piece of history, all the little pencil lines showing how tall my uncles were when they were little like me.
I’m going to be as tall as my daddy someday, but Mommy says even if I’m not, I can still be the best Coleman possible. Because we’ve got love in our hearts and love in our heads.
I think it’s because there’s a lot of love in our house, and it’s like a battery. Every night when we sleep, we get all charged up so we can shine real bright on everyone.
That’s what love is. That’s what being a Coleman is like. Shiny and bright.
* * *
[Images: of a doorjamb with dozens of pencil marks, showing names and ages. Outside picture of the SP homestead taken at night, with golden light shining out of the windows. Two little girls holding hands as they stand beside a haybale.]
22
A podium and seating area had been constructed outside of the high school gym. The same school Daniel had attended, with the same kind of setup in place for his own graduation, and those of his brothers from the Six Pack ranch.
He might possibly be more nervous now than he’d been all those years ago.
Beth stepped in front of him, straightening his tie and smoothing it over his shirt before fixing his lapels. “You can stop fidgeting any time,” she teased.
“I don’t know why I’m so jittery,” he complained.
“Because your son is graduating, and you’re excited.”
He caught her against him and gave her a half twirl, her dark curls flying wildly, before leaning their foreheads together and looking into her eyes. “Miss Beth, your son is graduating, and you’re excited, yet you don’t look like you’ve got ants in your pants.”
Her smile widened, and she trailed her fingers through his hair. “I’m wearing a skirt.”
He snorted, pulling her back to vertical before tugging her close to steal another hug. “You’ve done good. Congratulations on reaching this point. Lance can be proud.”
“We did it together.” She breathed in deep, wrapping herself tighter against him and murmuring softly, “I love the way you smell.”
Electric need slid up his spine, clear and strong. It didn’t matter how many years they’d spent together, the simplest touch of Beth’s hand sent Daniel skyrocketing every time. “Hold that thought for a private celebration tonight,” he ordered.
A bit of milling about was happening as the graduating class—albeit small—gathered to the side of the podium and only partially out of sight.
As ordered, Blake was there, coming forward to solemnly shake Daniel’s hand and give Beth a hug. Travis arrived as well, while the rest of their families gathered in the seating area, taking up a lot of room.
Daniel grinned. “Good thing the organizing committee knew to prepare for a Coleman onslaught.”
“They took out twice as many chairs as last year,” Beth informed him. She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed tight. “I love that your family is here. All the second cousins and twice removed or whatever.”
All Daniel’s uncles and aunts and cousins had come to celebrate. Lance had worked with most of them at the various ranches, which meant it was extra special since they weren’t here because he was a Coleman but because he had put in the time.
Lance had become someone they all knew and liked because of who he was, and Daniel was so proud of him.
“Uncle Mark’s here.” Daniel and Beth’s youngest, who had now insisted his name be shortened to the more mature Rob, slid up and leaned on Daniel’s arm before lowering his voice. “He must still be in trouble, because Auntie Dana is here too, but she’s sitting over there.”
He gestured with his head to the opposite side of the gathering, next to Rafe and Laurel.
Beth folded her arms over her chest. “Robbie,” she said disapprovingly.
Rob held his hands up and attempted an innocent look. “What? I can’t help it if the aunties were talking about it in the yard. He really likes her. I don’t know why she got so mad. I wouldn’t get mad if somebody wanted to build me a house. I feel bad for him.”
Laughter began to bubble in Daniel’s chest, but he wrapped an arm around his youngest son’s shoulders and guided him toward the chairs they’d staked out for their immediate family. “Remember our ongoing conversation about girls being confusing?”
“Yeah?”
“That doesn’t ever change, no matter how old we, or they, get,” Daniel said dryly before patting Rob on the back and aiming him at his chair. “Stop gossiping, and get ready to cheer for your brother.”
Only when they sat and Beth leaned her head against Daniel’s shoulder, amusement tinged his voice as he whispered in her ear, “I hope they get that straightened out soon, or Rob is going to be upset all summer. I wouldn’t be surprised if he tried matchmaking.”
A snicker escaped from Beth. “Don’t start me giggling.”
The ceremony began with all the usual pomp and circumstance. The principal made a short speech. Teachers presented a few awards. Then suddenly—
“I’d like to ask the class valedictorian to come forward, please. Lance Coleman.”
Shocked silence for a moment before cheers rang out, and Lance made his way up the stairs at the side of the stage, headed to the podium.
Daniel wasn’t sure if he was coming or going. “Did you know he was valedictorian?” he whispered to his wife.
Beth’s eyes shone as she shook her head.
Lance appeared a lot more comfortable behind the podium than Daniel would’ve been. When his son’s gaze flickered over the crowd before landing on Beth then meeting Daniel’s eyes, though, Daniel smiled in encouragement.
Ahh. His son was hiding it well, but he was nervous as all get out.
Lance cleared his throat then began, glancing over the audience with youthful exuberance and a grin on his lips.
“People say graduation is a turning point. We’re supposed to consider the past years of learning as a base, and now it’s time to leave behind childish things and move into a world where what we do matters. Which makes sense, bu
t also seems confusing. What if there are childish truths we need to hold on to?”
He turned slightly, gaze locking on his grandfather, Mike, and grandmother, Marion. “I’m lucky because I not only have a great family around me, I’ve got a large extended family. The bad part of that means I can never get into trouble without somebody finding out.”
Laughter trickled from the gathered audience as Lance twisted, facing his classmates. “That big extended family of mine has been working on a project over the last while. When I first heard about the memory book, I figured it was kind of like those scrapbooks my mom’s got. The ones with me and my brothers as little kids. There are a lot of pictures in there that are embarrassing, and yet I secretly go through them when she’s not around. We don’t have a lot of them—baby books. And some of you in my graduating class have the same thing, for different reasons.
“Sometimes our parents were divorced. That meant shuffling from one house to another, a week at a time, so not everything got recorded or not everything got put in the book.
“Sometimes—if we’re honest—there weren’t many good memories to record.”
A few heads dipped in agreement, not just amongst the youth, but the gathered parents and grandparents. It was a sad yet relatable truth.
Lance turned to where the teachers were seated. “When I mentioned what my family was up to, my friends and I got to talking and realized that’s where school steps in and fills a need. Teachers. People who make an impact on us and build memories with us in spite of having to be there. The assignments they insist we do, the deadlines we have to meet. The time we spend together. So, thank you to the teachers who stepped in and became our parental figures when we needed it most.”
A spattering of applause grew into a solid rumble. It was clear by the grins on the teachers’ faces that Lance’s acknowledgement was appreciated.
Fingers tightening on the edges of the podium, he took a deep breath and started again.
“But for my memory page, when I look back at the years here in Rocky—when I think about the time with my family and my friends, the one person who stands out is somebody who didn’t have to be there, but chose to be there.”
Beth’s fingers tightened on Daniel’s thigh, and he went very still as Lance deliberately met his gaze across the gathering.
“The first time I saw Daniel Coleman, he gently gave myself and my brothers hell for swimming unsupervised in the coulee below our rental house. And when I say gently, I mean he somehow convinced three strange boys that he wasn’t a danger and that it would be the most fun ever to get out of the deep water and into a section where we were less likely to drown.”
The memory was there for Daniel as well. Sharp and sweet, because it had been the beginning.
Lance continued, gaze drifting over the audience that included the rest of his extended family. “That first chance meeting was followed by more official swimming sessions and then babysitting, but even when I figured out that he was interested in my mom, I never felt as if he wasn’t interested in me. Spending time with me was not a means to an end, but because he thought I was a pretty cool guy.
“Since then, in the childish moments where I felt the world was cruel or unjust, there was somebody who chose to be there, to tell me he didn’t understand why either, but that somehow we’d get through it. Or the childish moments of joy, when everything went right, he chose to be there as well, joining in the laughter and the praise. Those are moments I never want to let go of.”
A subtle silence had fallen over the gathering, heads once again nodding as they all considered the truth of Lance’s words.
He turned again to the graduating class.
“And while this is my world, I know it’s true for each of you, my classmates. In the future, there will be times we’ll be disappointed. There will be times the struggle will be hard, and what we’ll need is someone in our lives who chooses to be there for all the right reasons. Maybe we’ll have to go looking for them. Maybe they’re already there.
“Or maybe the biggest gift we need to give the world we’re stepping into is to be that person for someone else.
“Let’s hold on to the lessons of childhood and make a difference. Let’s do this right. Let’s choose to be the change.”
A round of applause and cheers rose from the audience, but Daniel was already moving, Beth’s hand on his shoulder pushing him toward the aisle.
Lance marched across the stage, not toward the side where he was supposed to wait with the rest of his class but toward the makeshift stairs at the front on a direct trajectory for where his family stood.
They met, Lance damn near running the final steps to throw himself into Daniel’s arms, the tall, strong young man just about bowling Daniel over.
He didn’t care that they were right out there in public, and obviously neither did Lance, because he squeezed Daniel tight, letting go only enough to reach out and grab his mother and pull Beth into the mix as well.
“I love you.” Lance made it a declaration as if it were the final line of his speech. As if nothing was complete without this. “I am so proud to be your son.”
Joy bubbled up, chasing away the tears that were there and the emotion that was strangling Daniel’s throat so tight, he couldn’t speak. Because he needed to speak. He desperately needed to share this truth.
He looked his son in the face. “It has been my privilege to be in your life, and you have no idea how much it changed me for the better. Getting to be your dad—?” Daniel shook his head. “I love you.”
Lance grinned then turned and squeezed Beth as well. “Thanks for picking him.”
Beth laughed. “I did it just for you.”
Lance tucked himself under Daniel’s arm, still holding Beth on the other side, and the three of them made their way back to the family seats only slightly embarrassed to discover the entire ceremony had paused until they sat down.
Lance slid in far enough to accept hugs from his brothers, giving Robbie a noogie as he settled between them. Beth and Daniel once again next to each other.
In the row behind them, Blake leaned forward and laid his hand on Daniel’s shoulder briefly and squeezed.
Beth hung on tight to Daniel’s right hand, his left arm around her waist. Connected. Together. Daniel had no idea what happened for the next half hour of the ceremony because he was in his own little glowing circle of happiness with his wife and his children. His sons—the ones he’d never expected to have, yet who were his to his very core.
He glanced over and found his father’s eyes on him. Mike’s expression was twisted tight, and Daniel worried for a moment until he realized his father’s eyes were full of tears and he was trying not to cry.
Ah, shit. Daniel leaned forward and pinched the bridge of his nose, desperately fighting to regain control before he lost it again.
Thankfully, by the time the rest of the ceremony was done, his emotional level was no longer riding on teary but happy enthusiasm. The entire clan gathered around, taking turns to shake Lance’s hand as laughter swelled around them.
A sharp tug on his sleeve brought Daniel’s attention back to his middle boy, Nathan, who was grinning from ear to ear.
“How come you look like trouble?” Daniel asked softly.
Teeth flashed white. “Not me,” Nathan insisted before leaning against Daniel’s side, comfortable his affection would be accepted and reciprocated. He lifted a hand and pointed to the other side of the gathering. “Just thought you might be interested in watching this.”
Rob was talking earnestly with Auntie Dana.
“Aw, shit.” It wasn’t right that Daniel’s first impulse was to laugh. “Your brother has no idea that he’s dealing with dynamite, does he?”
“Not a clue,” Nathan agreed. Then he shrugged. “Truth is, he gets away with murder when it comes to girls. That whole innocent ‘but I just wanted you to have this pretty flower’ spiel works for him far too often.”
Oh boy. Something to be w
orried about on a day in the future that was not today.
Daniel and Nathan watched as Auntie Dana listened intently to Rob’s rapid words that were accompanied by much hand swinging. She tilted her head slightly as if not quite believing her grandnephew’s argument. But then she laughed, and Rob gave her a quick hug before turning and sauntering away, hands shoved in his pockets and a pleased expression on his face.
“I really wish I could read lips,” Nathan complained.
“It would be entertaining.” Daniel wrapped an arm around Nathan’s shoulder, ready to pull him back toward the family.
“Wait.”
Auntie Dana was on the move. It wasn’t as if she was on a mission, but more on a focused meander that sooner than later brought her into the path of Uncle Mark. They didn’t meet for long, but there was clearly a moment of pleasant conversation before Dana continued on her way, Mark staring after her, his bemused grin growing steadily wider.
“Son of a gun,” Daniel whispered.
Nathan snorted. “See? Robbie’s terrible. And good.”
This time Daniel laughed, tugging his son with him and pointedly ignoring whatever was going on between certain older family members. “He’s a busybody. He got lucky this time.”
“He gets lucky a lot,” Nathan said before jerking upright and blinking hard. “That came out wrong. I didn’t mean it the way it sounded.”
They were nearly at where Beth, Lance, and Robbie were waiting, but Daniel couldn’t resist. He stopped and tugged Nathan into a huge hug, the two of them chuckling the entire time.
Daniel patted Nathan firmly on the shoulder. “I love you.”
“I love you too, Dad,” Nathan said as easy as anything, the words flowing freely in their family. “Can we go? I’m starving. I can’t wait for the barbecue.”
Daniel took Beth’s fingers, holding hands as they walked back to the car. Their three boys milled around them, nearly as active as they’d been eight years ago when he’d first started seeing her.
