Page 81 of A Hard Luck Christmas

It certainly wouldn’t do anything for Frankie; Frankie was gone. But Kanon knew it could help him tremendously, get him to quit making self-defeating decisions.

The grass crunched beneath his boots as he got out and wandered down the rows, looking for any kind of marker that might tell him where his father was buried.

When he found it, he was surprised that his father’s headstone was every bit as nice as most of the others. Why Suzanne would spend so much on his burial was a mystery. But according to Kelsey, she knew a different man—and she loved him.

What would his life have been like if he’d known the sober Frankie? Kanon wondered.

Hooking his thumbs in the pockets of his jeans, he read the short epitaph engraved in the gray marble headstone.

“Only love endures.”

His gaze shifted to the grave next to Frankie’s, where he saw Suzanne’s name. He was fairly certain she’d chosen that line—it wouldn’t have been like his father to do it in advance of his death—and she’d been the one to live by it when she bequeathed half her most prized possession to Frankie’s estranged son. Her epitaph, no doubt chosen by Kelsey, read: “A mother’s love, a timeless grace, forever etched in our hearts, time cannot erase.”

He should’ve come back for Suzanne’s funeral, he decided. She was nothing like Heather. She was special, one of those people who would’ve loved him if he’d let her.

Kelsey and Patience were like her—beautiful souls who made life better for others. Even Jack had tried to warn him that it would be a mistake to walk away.

If he stayed, he’d miss out on the big paycheck he’d been offered in North Dakota. But somehow, he felt confident he’d be richer in the end.

Problem was he’d already accepted the job; everything was in motion.

* * *

Patience thought she’d never see the day when her ex-husband and her father would have another Christmas dinner together, but it had been a wonderful afternoon. The two men interacted more with her and Ari than they did with each other, but they were cordial and even laughed a bit as they told stories at the dinner table. Patience had cooked ham, scalloped potatoes, a unique kind of Jell-O salad that was an old favorite of her father’s from when her mother was alive, homemade rolls, green bean casserole, a pomegranate green salad and her mother’s special recipe for cheesecake. Everyone exclaimed about the food, so she felt gratified for having cooked it.

They waited until after dinner to exchange gifts. She’d already given Ari a brand-new puppy—as soon as they got up, so they’d have time to introduce him to Bubba, who’d sniffed him curiously but hadn’t been hostile in any way—and Ari had been over the moon. Although Jack had spent much more—he’d given her clothes, a better phone than the castoff she’d been using since she first got a phone a year ago, and several other things. He’d always been able to provide more than Patience could. But Patience knew her gift could not be outdone this Christmas. For Ari, nothing mattered except her new pet, whom she’d named Hairy Pawter.

Her father didn’t believe in expensive presents. He felt they took away from the true meaning of Christmas. But she gave him a new set of Scriptures with his name embossed on the leather cover, Jack gave him a gift certificate to the diner where he liked to occasionally have breakfast, and he’d given each of them a new book, which was nice because he’d obviously put some thought into choosing what they would each enjoy. He’d given her The Let Them Theory, Jack Atomic Habits and Ari a boxed set of six classics that included Jane Eyre and Pride and Prejudice.

After three hours, it was Jack who left first. He needed to go see his brother’s family, was supposed to have dessert with them. Her father went home shortly after. Carl wasn’t thrilled about the puppy jumping all over him and wanted to watch something on TV and relax. Patience didn’t mind. She was satisfied with the way things had gone.

She was just cleaning the kitchen while Ari played with Hairy when she received a text from Kanon.

Merry Christmas

Her heart hurt when she saw it. But she wouldn’t let herself respond. If he couldn’t give her what she longed for, she needed to stay away.

But when she didn’t answer, he texted her again.