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Clapping, she wrapped her arm around mine, and we headed upstairs. She showed me to my room, which happened to be next to my father’s room.
“The door to Beck’s room is always unlocked. You go in there anytime you want, sweetheart, and look through whatever you’d like. Maybe you’ll learn a bit more about him.”
“Thank you, Stella.”
Her eyes looked like they were pooling with tears, but she quickly turned away. “Get settled. This room has a connecting bathroom, so it’ll be all yours. Come down when you’re ready.”
She left the room with a gentle smile and quietly shut the door behind her, and I made a decision right then and there. I would never do anything to hurt that woman. Ever.
After putting my clothes away in the dresser and hanging up the rest, I took everything out of my bathroom bag. When I pulled the cologne out, I stared at the bottle for a moment before putting it down on the counter. Taking a step back, I reached for the light and turned it off, then made my way downstairs, where Stella and Ty were just walking into the family room with trays. One had mugs of steaming hot chocolate, and the other held small plates and a platter full of cookies.
“Perfect timing,” Ty said as he set his tray down. I rushed over and took the tray of mugs from Stella.
“Sweetheart, will you put a couple more logs on that fire?” she asked me.
“Yes, ma’am,” I replied, quickly setting off to do her bidding. When I was finished, I sat on the sofa. Stella handed me a mug.
“What do you want to know about Beck?” she asked.
I drew in a breath and exhaled. “Wow. I don’t know. Everything?” I said with a laugh. “What was he like as a kid? What made him want to go into the military? Things like that, I guess.”
Stella took a drink and set her mug down. “He was an amazing baby, I can tell you that. His two older brothers were a pain in my ass growing up. From the time they were born, screaming their heads off. Both had colic, and both demanded so much of our attention. Do you remember when Ty took off his diaper and drew on the wall with his poop?” Stella asked Ty.
“What?” I asked, then gagged as the picture entered my mind.
Ty shuddered. “That was the most disgusting thing ever. When your father was born, and we realized we had another boy, I thought for sure Stella was going to demand they put him back!”
Stella chuckled. “It’s true. I wanted a little girl so badly. But it turns out I got plenty of little girls when the boys started marrying.”
“We sure did.”
Stella shook her head and continued, “When your daddy was born, he was the perfect angel. He never cried and was always smiling. We used to kid each other and say the two older ones would behave when they got older, and Beck would become a hellion.”
“Is that what happened?” I asked, reaching for a cookie.
They both laughed, and Stella said, “No. All four of them were hellions. And then add on the fact that the two oldest rode bulls. And your father was his own kind of daredevil, forever trying new things. He rode a motorcycle—I’m not sure if you knew that. We still have it. He used to go with their grandfather to a lake up in the mountains, and all the boys would fish. Your father hated it. Said fishing was boring. When he was little, his tackle box was full of toy cars. The other boys would fish, and he would play with his cars.”
I couldn’t help but smile.
Ty talked next. “Their grandfather would tell them tales about when he was in the military. Beck would listen to him, and then come home and tell us he was going to be a soldier like his granddad. I thought it was cute…until the day he came home and told us he’d joined the Marines. He never could tell us much about what he did or where he was going.”
“Some months,” Stella said, setting her cookie down, “we wouldn’t hear from him at all. He might call for five minutes or so, but it was just long enough to say hello, tell us he was okay, and that was it.”
“You two must have been so proud of him.”
They both nodded.
Ty cleared his throat. “We were. So very proud. I don’t think he knew about you, son. If he had, he would have told us. I know that for a fact.”
Stella nodded. “I agree. He did hint about a girl he was seeing, but as we said earlier, he didn’t share much. Sounds like he shared about the same with his brothers.”
“Except for Tanner,” I added.
