“I’m just so angry,” Caleb exploded. “We lost so much time.”
“It was a gift,” Landon said. “Bringing us back here the way she did. Loving us. Bestowing her legacy on us. We have to look at it that way.”
“But we didn’t have long enough,” Caleb cried out before breaking down.
The three brothers huddled together with their arms around one another.
“She gave us our family back,” Xavier said. “And we owe her a debt of gratitude for that. Imagine if we’d never come back.”
“I don’t even want to imagine that. She changed our lives,” Caleb said.
For a few moments they sat with their emotions, absorbing the sanctity of the moment.
“Shall we?” Landon asked a few moments later, holding up the letter. Xavier and Caleb nodded, urging him to go ahead and open Hattie’s letter. Landon cleared his throat.
To my beautiful boys. If you’re reading this, I’ve transitioned to the great slot machine in the sky. Getting you to come here to Moose Falls was the big plan. Dangling Yukon Cider in front of you was just a bonus. And so, my darlings, I have to admit that I tricked you. Gotcha.
The agreement you signed isn’t worth the paper it was written on. I trust the three of you to do what you will with Yukon Cider. I always have believed in you and known you would do the right thing. Youwon’t have to forfeit anything. If you decide that you don’t want to run the company, it’s yours to do with what you will. That’s the benefit of being my grandsons. The choice is yours. I’ve already taken care of Red, and he’ll be set for the rest of his life, along with my beloved husband, Jacques. I want him to travel the world and see all of the things he hasn’t been able to because he was too busy taking care of me, loving me. Maybe it was selfish of me to uproot your lives and bring you all the way to Moose Falls. But perhaps it was just what we all needed. Personally, I believe that it was the smartest move I’ve ever made, and I’ve made some smart moves.
And so I want to remind you to continue to love one another, the women you love, and your precious children. Although I love Yukon Cider, in the end it’s not the most important thing to me, and it never has been. Family is the strongest force known to man. And I’m the luckiest girl in the world to have been a part of yours.
Landon chuckled as soon as he finished reading the contents of the letter. “We should’ve known. Nothing about Hattie indicated that she would ever make us choose between Yukon Cider and another path. I guess we fell for it. Hook, line, and sinker.”
Caleb smirked. “She was always running circles around us, even in her final days.”
“She was generous to a fault,” Xavier added. “All she ever wanted was for us to come back home to Moose Falls so she could spend time with us. She loved hard.”
“She’s given us so much,” Landon said. “Things we can hold on to for the rest of our lives.”
“I’m proud to be a Stone,” Caleb said, puffing out his chest.
“Always,” Landon said. Hattie Stone had taught them more things in a year than they’d learned in a lifetime. And they were better for it.
And now he was free to do exactly what he needed to do. Once they emerged from the room, Landon made a beeline for Bailey.
“Are you all right?” Bailey asked. “I know that couldn’t have been easy.”
“I’m good,” he said, inhaling a steadying breath. “Hattie was a bit of a rascal to the end,” he said with a laugh.
Bailey’s tinkling laughter warmed his heart. “Well, I could have told you that.”
“Come with me. I’ll tell you what happened,” Landon said, grabbing the hand of the woman he loved and sitting down with her in Hattie’s reading nook. Despite his grief, being with Bailey and having her as his other half was life-affirming and wonderful. He couldn’t imagine what his life would be like without her. Since the moment he’d first seen her in the smoothie shop, Landon had been a goner. He wasn’t the same man who’d arrived in Moose Falls all those months ago. Because of Bailey he laughed more, fully believed in himself, and loved harder than he had ever thought possible.
Suddenly the world was their oyster, and Landon couldn’t wait to explore all the possibilities. With the love of his life by his side, there was no way their dreams weren’t going to come true.
