Page 45 of Glacier

Me: Home now. Going to have dinner and then a family meeting. Miss you too. xoxo.

When I looked up, my dad was watching me shrewdly. His eyes flicked from the phone in my hand back to my face. He sighed, but his expression was soft.

“Guess I know why you called a family meeting. Come on.” He pushed the door open.

The kitchen was full of my family. Sam stood at the stove. Libby sat at the table, laughing at something Gabe was saying, their little one tucked against her shoulder.

Fin came back from the corridor empty-handed, which meant he’d already dropped my bag in my room.

My heart hurt at all the changes coming, but it was also full of love for every person here. Because no matter what, I knew they’d support my decision.

***

We ate dinner and cleared the table.

Dad cleared his throat, his eyes on me. “You called the meeting, sweetheart. Want to tell us what’s going on?”

I ran my hands nervously over the worn kitchen table we’d had since we moved in. It was dinged and scratched back then, but numerous family dinners had added to its history.

“Sweetheart?” Dad prodded.

Sighing softly, I looked up to find them all staring at me.

I cleared my throat and shuffled my feet under the table. I clasped my hands together on the tabletop, unsure of what to do with them. “Glacier asked me to be his Ol’ Lady.”

The words hung in the air between us. No one said anything.

The silence stretched long enough to make my stomach twist. I gulped nervously, my eyes darting between their faces, trying to read something—anything.

Finally, my gaze settled on Fin. My heart ached, but I had to give him the choice. It wasn’t fair to insist he come with me, no matter how much I wanted that.

“You don’t have to come with me if you don’t want to,” I said quietly. “I know you’ve nearly finished school, and you have a whole life here.” I gestured vaguely around us. “Friends. School. Family.”

My chest tightened, but I pushed the words out anyway. “I’ll understand if you want to stay with Grandad and Uncle Gabe.” My voice softened. “I’ll hate it, but I’ll understand.”

Fin’s eyes remained on mine.

“You know all I’ve ever wanted is for you to be happy,” I added gently.

Fin nodded once, his expression giving nothing away.

I knew he needed time to think, so I turned back to my dad and brother. “There’s more.”

Dad’s eyebrows rose.

“They’d like us to expand the feed store and open one in their town. I had a look at the store today, and with a few adjustments, it could work.” I didn’t expand on that as they would know what I meant by adjustments.

Libby and Sam had no idea about the guns we transported. Gabe had always preferred to keep Libby out of it, and I was sure Dad felt the same about Sam.

“I’ll also be running the hardware store next door,” I continued, “although that will mostly be admin as I’ll have a manager.”

The silence was deafening.

“And this is what you want?” Dad finally asked.

My gaze didn’t waver from his. “Yes, Dad. This is what I want.”

“Okay, then.” Dad nodded. “We’ll start making plans tomorrow. Gabe and I will look into making adjustments for the store. How long do you think they’ll take?”