AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Yes. She has two kids of her own now, and it seems that’s given her a different perspective. It sounds like her husband isn’t a fan of my dad, which means he must be a pretty decent guy.”
“It might be fun for Amelia to meet her cousins,” Charli said, her voice oddly flat.
“As long as they’re nice. I won’t hesitate to leave early if they act at all in a way that’s detrimental to Amelia.”
“You’re not worried about being around your parents?” Charli asked.
“Not really. There’s nothing my dad can hold over my head to make me do what he wants me to.”
“I suppose that’s true.”
She didn’t sound convinced of that, and he wasn’t sure why. Blake could understand why she wouldn’t view his family—particularly his dad—with any fondness. He didn’t view them with any fondness, but they were still his family.
Blake felt like the trip home for Thanksgiving could be a good testing of the waters for possible future interactions with his family. If it went poorly, then that would be it. He could move on with his life, not looking back on the relationship with his family.
All too soon, ten o’clock neared and Blake braced himself for the end of the call. The hour always seemed to speed by, and that night, with a shorter-than-usual time, it felt like they’d barely talked at all.
He kept waiting for Charli to end the conversation—because he never was the one to do that—but it was almost twenty after ten before she said she needed to go. Once the conversation had moved on from his family, Charli seemed to relax, leaving him to wonder what she wasn’t saying about his plan to see them again.
Maybe it was just a general reserve about him dealing with his family again, and to be fair, he also had a significant amount of reticence himself. But as he had more time to consider the situation, the more Blake thought that he needed to do this. He had a strong desire to prove to his family that he had found contentment and joy.
They might look at the life he and Amelia had and conclude he was a failure because he didn’t have a loaded bank account or a fancy house, and he was driving the same truck he’d had for fourteen years.
However, he chose to measure success in his life by how well he managed the blessings God had given him. Namely, Amelia and his job. And hopefully, Charli and Layla.
As long as he provided Amelia with love, security, and a safe environment, and did his job to the best of his ability, he wasn’t worried about anything else. Sure, it would be nice to have a bit more money in the bank, but he hadn’t had to access as much of his savings as he’d thought he would have to with the move.
So, while he might like a bit more financial security, especially because of Amelia, he wouldn’t trade the contentment he’d found for it.
After he’d gotten ready for bed, Blake settled under the covers with his phone to look up flights, knowing that if the trip cost too much, the decision would be made for him. Thankfully, Stan had already told them that the shop would be closed on both Thursday and Friday, so he wouldn’t have to ask for the time off.
If he could find a flight that left late enough in the afternoon on Wednesday, they could head straight for the airport in Spokane once he was done with work. Amelia was going to be off school for the week, but Blake hadn’t had to worry about childcare. Julia had anticipated that, and she had a bunch of things planned to do with Amelia. Though Amelia might have preferred to go to Layla’s, she also really loved spending time with Julia.
The flight availability plus the cost was surprisingly within the schedule he wanted and what he could afford. Did he dare book the tickets without taking more time to think about it?
No. He really shouldn’t.
Blake decided to sleep on it, partly because he was still pondering Charli’s reaction to what he’d told her. He wanted to spend a little time thinking that over, too.
After setting his phone on the nightstand, Blake turned off the lamp, then he spent some time in prayer. The chaplain on one of his deployments had told him to not hesitate to ask God for what he needed. Right then, he needed wisdom and guidance with regards to his family and to his budding relationship with Charli.
He hoped that God gave him wisdom quickly since he couldn’t put the decision off for too long, or he might not be able to get a flight at all. So come morning, if he felt at peace about booking the tickets, he would.
Blake wished that Charli and Layla could go with them, but he was smart enough to know that wasn’t possible. He needed to make this first trip on his own. Well, on his own with Amelia.
They weren’t far enough along in whatever was going on between them for it to make sense for Charli and Layla to accompany them. Plus, he couldn’t ask her to abandon her own family for the holiday. If he did decide to go, it would be just him and Amelia.
It was his prayer that he and Charli would have the opportunity in the future to spend the holidays together. And for the first time since coming back to Serenity, Blake felt like that future was a real possibility.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Charli lifted the serving bowl containing the mashed potatoes for their dinner, then carried it to the large dining table that had been set up with enough seats for everyone who planned to be present that day. Since their parents liked everyone to make the effort to be home for Christmas, they didn’t press for their attendance at Thanksgiving since being home for both holidays required a lot of travel and time off work for some of them to take over a short period of time.
That meant that a few were missing. Lee, Zane, and Skylar had opted to not return to Serenity for the few days around Thanksgiving. Cole, however, had come home. He and Adrian had driven back, arriving late the night before. And Wilder was there, having stayed after Kayleigh’s wedding, ready to take on his ski instructor job at the resort once again.
Of the three not there, Skylar’s absence was the most perplexing, and Charli could tell that her mom was concerned as well. Because this was her first year away at school, Skylar hadn’t missed any significant event with the family yet. Charli had a feeling that one or both of their parents would be going to visit her after this weekend to make sure she was okay.
“I was surprised that Blake went to visit his folks,” Gareth said as Charli set the bowl on the table. “Considering what happened the last time he did.”
