“On that note we’re going to head out,” Xavier said. He grabbed True’s hand and held it as they said their goodbyes to Hattie and left the room. True couldn’t remember the last time she’d held hands with someone. It was highly underrated and a seriously romantic gesture. She noticed the way Hattie, Jacques, Caleb, and Landon looked in their direction with huge smiles on their faces. To True, it felt like they were giving them a stamp of approval.
Once they were in the corridor, Xavier pulled her toward him so they were facing each other. “Can I tag along with you?”
“Sure, but we’re not doing anything exciting other than dinner, homework, and some TV time before bed. Kind of boring.”
He placed a kiss on her forehead. “Nothing is boring when I’m with you,” he said, flashing her a pearly smile.
“Aww, that’s so corny, but I love the sentiment.” She pulled him down toward her and planted a kiss on his lips. Her lips didn’t linger long since they were in a hospital hallway with people milling about, but she gave it plenty of sizzle.
“Let’s go,” she said as the kiss ended, and they linked their hands as they walked toward the exit.
At moments like this, she felt coupled up with Xavier, although neither one of them had said anything to make it official. When had anything in her life ever been so right? So seamless? At times it seemed as if she’d known this man for a lifetime.
True was falling hard for him. She had avoided thinking about her feelings toward Xavier and what they meant. Love had never been good to her in the past. She had always fallen flat on her face in relationships after giving her all to someone.
But what if this time was different? Xavier wasn’t anything like the others. He was honest and sensitive, and he had been through his own romantic drama with his ex-fiancée. He had come to Moose Falls to carry on Hattie’s legacy. Although she had never asked him directly, she assumed he would stay in Alaska to run the company after Hattie’s death. She didn’t know exactly what kind of agreement he and his brothers had made with Hattie. Honestly, it wasn’t her business. But she knew that if he ended up leaving Moose Falls, her heart might never recover, because it now belonged to him.
Three days had passed, with Hattie now out of the hospital and making noises about getting back to work. Xavier, Caleb, and Landon agreed to pitch in to do extra work in order to lighten her load. Rest was what their grandmother needed even if she resisted being away from Yukon Cider for a little bit.Maybe she could take up knitting, he thought, chuckling to himself. She might throw something at him if he suggested it.
During his lunch break, Xavier ducked out of work to buy his grandmother some flowers at a local florist shop. He left with a large bouquet of forget-me-nots. Although Hattie put up a strong front, she was a mushy marshmallow on the inside. The flowers would make her smile and forget about being cooped up.
When he arrived at the house, Xavier stopped short when he caught sight of Red pacing back and forth in the foyer. At the sound of his approaching footsteps, his father whirled around, his expression sheepish.
“Xavier,” he said in a clipped tone. Xavier could see the guilt etched on Red’s face. At least he had the decency to feel bad about bailing on Hattie. Being MIA for days and not answering your cell phone was toxic behavior.
“Where have you been?” Xavier wasn’t bothering with pleasantries. Honestly, Red didn’t deserve them. Xavier reminded himself to breathe. Just the sight of his father raised his blood pressure. To be standing here in Hattie’s house after leaving her in the lurch during a medical crisis was mind-blowing.
“I know that I should have been at the hospital,” Red said in a halting tone.
“It’s been days now. You haven’t even checked on her. She could have died,” Xavier said in a trembling voice that showcased his own fears. Hattie’s condition had appeared perilous. Red had been right here in the house when shehad fallen ill, so he’d seen how dire a situation it was. There wasn’t a single excuse he could make to justify his actions.
“I checked in with Jacques. He got me up to speed on Hattie’s condition,” Red said feebly. He was looking all over the place, anywhere but directly at Xavier. “I know that’s not the same as being there with her.”
“Why can’t you look at me?” he asked in a raised voice. “The last time we talked at Northern Exposure, you knew I wanted to get some things straight with you.”
Finally, his father met his gaze. “And I’m still more than willing to answer any questions you might have. I want us to be close.”
Xavier scowled at him. “You did another disappearing act on us. How can I trust you after that?” His childhood had been filled with vanishing acts, times when Red promised to show up and didn’t. Graduations. Plays. Football games. Science fairs. The list went on and on.
“My first instinct was to take off out of fear and anxiety, but I didn’t go anywhere, son. I just stayed away from the hospital until I could gather myself.” He let out a moan. “I have my own demons I’m battling, going all the way back to witnessing my father’s death. Going to the hospital was a trigger of sorts.”
“And what about bailing on your kids?” he asked. The anger was boiling up inside of him like a tea kettle on the stove.
Red drew a ragged breath. “I’ll never stop wishing that I’d been stronger. I felt like a failure as a dad after the divorce. After all, I’d been running away from the hard stuff all through our marriage, never stopping to think about Daisy’s feelings. And then I lost her, along with my children.” He clasped his hands together. “I was depressed for years and barely functioning. I left Moose Falls because I couldn’t bear to be here after losing my family.”
“You didn’t lose us! We wanted you in our lives, but you couldn’t even be bothered to see us.”
“Xavier, I know I’ve let you down time after time, but things are different now.” He clenched his jaw. “I’mdifferent now.”
Xavier wanted so badly to believe him so he could begin to heal the brokenness inside himself. Even though he’d tried to tell himself that he didn’t need a father in his life, it wasn’t true. He remembered vividly the draft day when he’d been chosen as the number one pick by the Cardinals. Although his mom and brothers had been in attendance, he’d looked around the room and seen all the other players with their dads. In that moment he had felt such anger amidst the joy of being selected by Arizona. He wasn’t sure that fury had ever been extinguished. Without him truly knowing, the feeling had festered.
He let out an explosive sound. “That’s not true! You just proved that by not showing up for Hattie when she needed all of us.” He took a few steps toward Red, easily swallowing up the distance between them. “Can’t you see how scared she is? How overwhelming this situation is for a woman who’s used to being in control? She’s your mother.”
“I know that!” Red said fiercely, his dark eyes glittering with anger. “It’s what I’ve always done when things get difficult. I run, Xavier. I’m not proud of it, but it’s the truth. Only this time I stuck around. I’m still here. Don’t you see that I’m not the same man I used to be?”
Xavier shook his head, consumed by disappointment. He had allowed himself to hope that all these years later, things would be different, but Red was still stuck in the past, repeating old mistakes. This wasn’t a person who had turned over a new leaf. And Xavier felt stupid for falling for his changed-man routine.
“I hear what you’re saying, and it’s a damn shame. You’re still the same selfish man who stood your children up when they yearned to have you in their lives.”
