“I guess, I’m just wondering if now is the time to tell the kids the truth...”
Callie snorted. “You can’t be serious.”
“Why not?” he asked plainly, as ifshewas the one being unreasonable. “We’re going to have everyone together, in-person, which means we’ll have a chance to really explain the situation. We won’t have to worry about one of them running off to tell their siblings a half-baked version. Which is what I’ve always been worried about in the past.”
“Really? Because I’ve always worried that our kids are never going to talk to us again after they find out.”
“You’re not giving them enough credit,” David argued. “They’re all adults. They’ve matured a lot. Plus, to be frank, I’m getting really tired of keeping up this farce. Please, Callie. Let’s just come clean.”
Callie shook her head. “No, I’m sorry, but this isn’t the time. The kids have too much going on in their own lives. We need to wait until they are in a more stable place. Taylor’s swamped with work, Mallory has obviously hit another brick wall, and Ariel—well, Ariel seems to be doing alright, but she’s still a busy mom with a lot on her plate. We can’t tell them the truth right now.”
“You’re always going to be able to find a reason not to tell them,” he said. “But we can’t wait forever.”
“We could...”
David scoffed. “Not this again. We’re going to tell them eventually. I’m sorry, but I refuse to go to my death bed with this secret still weighing me down. Not to mention, by keeping this to ourselves, we are lying to them. Over and over again. Doesn’t that bother you?”
“Of course, it bothers me,” she snapped. “It eats me up inside, but that’s not a good enough reason to ruin their Thanksgiving! We have to wait.”
“How long?”
“I—I don’t know.”
“It’s a dangerous game we’re playing here,” he said in a warning tone. “Think about how hurt they’ll be if they found out on their own.”
“Theyaren’tgoing to find out.”
“We can’t be sure of that.” He arched his brows. “I’m already having to field a lot of questions about my prolonged solo trips. Maybe you’re not as stressed about this as I am because you rarely have to lie directly to our kid’s faces, but I’ve been forced to do so on multiple occasions recently. I’m not okay with it.”
Callie filled her lungs and let the air out slowly, calming her nerves before she responded. “That does sound stressful, and I’m sorry you’ve been put in that position but… I’m just not ready. Please, David. Can we give it a little more time?”
He laughed softly and muttered something about them having waited long enough, but after a short silence, he nodded. “Alright, fine. If you want to wait, we can wait. I’m just warning you; it’s not going to be easy to keep this from all our adult children for a full week. They aren’t nearly as oblivious as they used to be.”
“We’ll be fine,” Callie said, mostly to herself. “I’m not worried.”
However, she was worried.
No, more accurately, she was completely terrified.
Chapter 8
“Hannah, will you go tell your brother to—” Ariel’s voice was drowned out when a high-pitched scream came through the phone, forcing Callie to pull the device away from her face to protect her ear drum. She waited a few seconds and then tentatively got back on the call. “Never mind. I’ll do it.”
“Is everything okay over there?” Callie asked.
Ariel let out a weary sigh, a sound Callie recognized as that of an exhausted mother trying to wrangle her kids for a long car ride.
It was Saturday morning, and in less than twenty-four hours, all her children and grandchildren were going to be in Ferndale. She was excited but also boiling over with fear.
“Yeah, everything’s fine,” Ariel said. “I just don’t have Chris here to help me like I thought I would, so I’m trying to get everyone ready on my own.”
“Where’s Chris?”
“He got called on another last-minute work trip,” Ariel said with a dejected voice. “But He’ll be in Ferndale before Thanksgiving. Hopefully, no later than Tuesday or Wednesday morning.”
Callie deflated into the couch where she’d been taking a break from moving furniture when her daughter called. She knew Ariel had been really looking forward to spending the week with her entire family, and she had probably been countingon having her husband’s support with the kids. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. That’s a real bummer.”
“Yeah, it’s not exactly how I pictured this road trip would go, but oh well. I’m hoping this is the last holiday season we have to deal with stuff like this. Oh—oh hold on, mom. Hannah, will you make sure your sister is buckled in. I don’t want to have to climb back there.”
