Come Together by Marie Force

Chapter Twenty-Six

“Lips that taste of tears, they say, are the

best for kissing.”

—Dorothy Parker

“Oh my gosh, it’s gorgeous,” Brianna said when she got her first look at the outside of his aunt and uncle’s home. “It really is a barn!”

“It used to house cows. They said they could still catch a faint whiff of cow shit years after they moved in. It was a wreck when they bought it, and they did most of the work themselves.”

“That’s amazing.”

“The joke in our family is if you’re going to have ten children, you have to buy a barn.”

“Ten children. I can’t imagine that.”

“I wonder how Gray is making out,” Noah said.

“I’ve got my phone with me, and we’ll ask your aunt and uncle for the Wi-Fi log-in.”

Noah parked behind his uncle’s Range Rover. “I suppose I’ll find out soon enough.”

“It’s going to be fine. She doesn’t have a leg to stand on in this situation, and Gray will certainly tell her that. He’ll make sure she does the right thing.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“I’m always right. I’ve proven that to you repeatedly.”

Grinning, he said, “I walked straight into that, didn’t I?”

She shrugged. “Truth hurts. Take me in and show me this beautiful home. I can’t wait to meet your aunt and uncle, the parents of ten children.”

They got out of the truck and met in front of it.

Noah extended a hand to her and led her into the house. “Hello? Are you guys decent?”

“Just barely,” a man’s voice called.

Noah chuckled and took her coat to hang it on a hook. “Check that out.” He nodded to a row of ten hooks on the other side of the mudroom with names above them: Hunter, Hannah, Will, Ella, Charley, Wade, Colton, Lucas, Landon, Max. A second row was underneath the original: Caden, Callie, Chase, Savannah, Stella, Sarah, Carson.

“That’s adorable,” Brianna said.

“Carson already has a hook, and he was only born this week.”

“His grandfather did that last night.” The woman in the doorway had long gray hair, a youthful face and a warm smile. Brianna immediately noticed her resemblance to her sister, Hannah. “This is a nice surprise.” She came to hug and kiss Noah. “Can’t remember the last time you stopped by out of the blue.”

“It’s been too long. Aunt Molly, meet Brianna Esposito. Brianna, my aunt Molly Abbott.”

“The mother of ten children.” Brianna shook Molly’s hand. “Nice to meet you. I bow down in awe to you—and your sister with the eight children.”

Molly laughed. “A girl has eight or ten children, and it becomes the headline of her life.”

“Not to mention two sets of twins for you guys,” Brianna added as they followed Molly into a cozy kitchen. “That’s a feat in and of itself.”

“Are we talking about my wife’s extraordinary baby-making skills?”

“We most certainly are not,” Noah said.

“Damn, that’s my favorite subject.”

“Brianna, meet my uncle Lincoln. He’s known for being the father of ten children, the CEO of the Green Mountain Country Store and the Beatles’ number one fan.”

“Oh, I love the Beatles,” Brianna said, reaching out to shake hands with the handsome man with silver hair and sparkling blue eyes.

“Then we’ll be best friends,” Lincoln said. “Have a seat. Can we get you some coffee or hot chocolate? My Molly’s hot chocolate is the best you’ll ever have.”

“I can’t say no to that,” Brianna said. “If it’s not any trouble.”

“No trouble at all,” Molly said. “Some for you, too, Noah?”

“I’d love some. Thanks, Auntie. Could we trouble you for the Wi-Fi log-in? We’re waiting for some news.”

“Of course.” Linc helped Brianna log into their Abbey Road network. “All set.”

“Thanks,” Noah said.

“The inn is looking great, you two,” Linc said. “Coming right along.”

“Yes, it’s going well,” Noah said. “We’ve got the plumbers coming in this week.”

“That’s wonderful. Mrs. Hendricks is eager to reopen.”

“Hopefully by late spring, she’ll be back in business.”

Molly made the hot chocolate and brought two mugs topped with dollops of whipped cream to the table.

Brianna’s mouth watered at the smell of chocolate. “That looks wonderful. Thank you.”

Molly put a plate of cookies on the table and took a seat. “The secret is to heat the milk before you add the chocolate.”

“Oh, I’ll have to try that.”

“Knock, knock,” a male voice said from the mudroom. “Is everyone dressed?”

“For now,” Molly said, smiling. “Come in, Dad.”

“I’ve learned to be careful coming in here unannounced,” Elmer said.

“That’s right,” Linc replied. “Your daughter and I are almost empty nesters. You never know what might be going on here.”

“That subject is firmly off-limits,” Elmer said as he took a seat at the table. “Nice to see you, Noah.”

“You, too, Gramps. This is Brianna Esposito. Brianna, my grandfather, Elmer Stillman.”

“Such a pleasure to meet you,” Brianna said. “I’ve heard so much about you.”

“All good, I hope?” Elmer asked with an adorable grin that made his eyes twinkle with delight.

“Of course,” Brianna said, charmed by him.

“I just came from Hunter and Megan’s,” Elmer said. “That little one is a cutie.”

“He sure is,” Molly said. “Did they get any sleep last night?”

“Not much, but they don’t seem to care. They’re madly in love.”

“Happens to all of us,” Linc said with a smile.

A young, handsome man came into the room, carrying a blond little boy.

“Brianna, meet my cousin Max and his son, Caden.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“You, too,” Max said.

“You want some cocoa, Dad and Max?”

“I’m good,” Elmer said. “I had some earlier.”

“I’ll take some, Mom, if you don’t mind,” Max said.

“No problem.”

As Molly got up to make more cocoa, Brianna noticed Noah staring at his cousin’s son. “How old is he, Max?” Brianna asked.

“Almost fourteen months.”

“He’s adorable.”

“Thanks, I think so, too.”

When Brianna’s phone buzzed, she picked it up and devoured Gray’s message before handing the phone to Noah so he could see it.

Noah’s eyes flew over the screen and then flooded with tears when he got to the part where he learned that his son’s name was Elliott.

“Everything all right, son?” Elmer asked.

Noah made a visible effort to pull himself together. “It seems I have a son I’ve just found out about.”

“Oh my goodness!” Molly said.

“When Melinda and I split, she was pregnant.”

“And she never told you?” Linc asked, his expression hardening.

“No, she didn’t. I asked Gray to find her because we never actually got divorced.”

“I figured you would’ve done that right away,” Molly said.

“I should have, but that would’ve meant having to deal with her. That was the last thing I wanted to do. I just pretended like I’d never met her and went on with my life. Gray hired an investigator to track her down, and he was the one who told us there was a child. When Gray and I saw the photos of him, we knew he was mine. He looks just like I did at his age. My mom has a picture…” His voice caught. “His name…”

“His name is Elliott,” Brianna said.

“Elliott,” Elmer said. “That’s a good, strong name.”

“When will you get to see him, Noah?” Molly asked.

“Soon. Gray told her she needs to make that happen, or we’ll sue for full custody.”

“You ought to think about that anyway,” Linc said. “It’s outrageous that she kept him from you for all this time.”

“I agree, but Gray says it wouldn’t be in his best interest to take him from the only home he knows. Even if he’s living with my ex-friend and foreman, Miguel, the guy Melinda cheated on me with. The three of them are one big happy family.”

His words dripped with bitterness, but who could blame him?

“Jeez,” Max said, “that’s completely effed up.”

“Sure is. I need to call my mom and tell her the latest.”

“Use the phone in the den,” Molly said. “Make yourself at home.”

“Thanks. I wanted to show Bri your super-cool house.”

“And I’m dying to see it,” Brianna added.

“After you talk to your mother, I’ll take you on a tour,” Molly said.

“Sounds good.”

Brianna got up and went with him into the den, sitting next to him on the sofa.

After he dialed his mother’s number, Brianna reached for his hand and cradled it between both of hers. She was determined to be there for him every step of the way in this situation, the same way he’d been for her.

* * *

“They seem cozy,”Elmer said, his eyes gleaming the way they did when one of his grandchildren found love.

“Don’t get all crazy, Gramps,” Max said. “You know how Noah can be. If we make too big of a deal about it, he’s apt to decide not to bother.”

“I don’t think he’s going to do that with this young lady,” Linc said. “There’s a real spark between them.”

“You two are so ridiculous,” Max said. “You have a few matchmaking successes, and now you’re suddenly experts.”

“We’ve had more than a few, my dear boy, and we had a hand in this one, too,” Elmer said.

“Why am I not surprised?” Max said, rolling his eyes at his mother.

Molly took it all in, amused as always by her matchmaking husband and father, who did, indeed, think they were the shit for all the successful matches they’d helped to make for their kids. They’d now turned their attention toward the Colemans.

“And from what I hear,” Elmer said gleefully, “Cabot’s shacked up with Izzy at her place, determined to nurse her through her recovery. I saw that coming a mile away.”

“Sure, you did,” Linc said disdainfully.

Not only were they matchmakers but also competitors, each trying to outdo the other in their quest for true love throughout the land.

“What I want to know,” Max said, “is when you’re going to use some of your matchmaking mojo on me.”

“When you’re ready,” Elmer said.

“I’m ready,” Max said emphatically.

“Not yet,” Linc said.

“Why do you guys get to decide that?” Max asked.

“Because, my boy, we’re the experts,” Elmer said, “and you need to trust us on this.”

“Do they honestly believe this BS they’re spewing?” Max asked his mother.

“I think they do, sweetheart. You can’t take issue with their track record.”

“That’s right,” Linc said. “We know what we’re doing, and don’t you worry, my boy, we’re going to take good care of you when the time is right.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it.”

Noah and Brianna returned to the kitchen, and Molly immediately noticed the tears in her usually unemotional nephew’s eyes. She was appalled to know what his wife had done to him, keeping his son a secret.

“You talked to your mother?” Molly asked.

“I did. She can’t wait to meet her grandson, but like me, she’s upset to know he’s already more than two, and we’ve missed so much.”

“Don’t let it make you bitter, son,” Elmer said. “It’s a terrible thing she did, but what matters is now you know, and you can be part of your son’s life going forward. The blessing is he’ll never know you weren’t there at the beginning.”

“That’s true, Gramps. Thanks for that.”

“You wanted to show Brianna the house,” Molly said.

“Yes,” Noah said. “We’re thinking about going into business together, restoring old barns like this one once was and making them into homes.”

“That’s an exciting idea,” Linc said.

“I first started thinking about it when Gray moved into the church, and I thought that was the second-coolest house I’d ever seen, after this one, and how there might be a market for that sort of thing.”

“Especially among the folks who come up for ski season,” Elmer said. “I like it a lot. You’ll do great at that.”

“There’s an old horse barn for sale up by Gavin’s lumberyard,” Max said, referring to his brother-in-law. “You should check that out. The place is crumbling, but the bones are there.”

“We’ll take a look. Thanks for the info.”

“Let’s take that tour,” Molly said. “There’s nothing I love more than showing off this house. Linc bought it sight unseen, not knowing that cows used to live here.”

“No way,” Brianna said, laughing. “What did you say when you heard he’d bought it?”

“I told him he was insane, but it turned out that he was on to something.”

“He was definitely on to something.” Brianna took in the massive family room that occupied half the first floor. “This is incredible.”

“You should see this place at Christmas,” Noah said. “Aunt Molly puts a massive tree at that end, and everything is decorated. It was always my favorite place to be at Christmas.”

“I never knew that,” Molly said, touched.

“We all loved being here.”

“That’s very nice to hear, my friend. We do love a good holiday around here.”

She showed them the smaller sitting room where they spent most of their time.

“This is so cozy,” Brianna said.

“We almost always have a fire going in here, even in the summer, and this is where you’ll most often find us.”

“I love this room,” Noah said. “We’ve watched a lot of hockey games in here.”

Molly took them upstairs and showed them the master bedroom that she and Linc had expanded to include an en suite bathroom after their children left. Max had moved back home after becoming a single father to Caden, and they were more than happy to have the two of them around. Their big barn had gotten quiet after the kids moved out.

“I love everything about this lovely home,” Brianna said.

“The new master is awesome, Aunt Molly,” Noah said. “I hadn’t seen that.”

“You were still in California when we did that.”

“This was Wade’s room.” Molly showed Brianna a closet-size room that had little more than a twin-size bed in it. “He was our loner. I think if he hadn’t had this room to escape to, his siblings might’ve driven him mad.”

“That’s great,” Brianna said, chuckling.

They went back downstairs and rejoined Linc, Elmer, Max and Caden at the table. The little guy was now sitting on the lap of his delighted great-grandfather.

“This place is spectacular,” Brianna said. “I’m incredibly impressed that you did most of the work yourselves.”

“It was a labor of love,” Linc said with a warm look for Molly.

“It was a good thing I loved him when he told me he’d bought this place,” Molly said. “I had to break it to him that he’d bought a falling-down piece of crap.”

“All I saw the first time we came here was potential,” Linc said.

“Sure, you did,” Molly said, laughing. “It was a mess, but we made it work.”

“They were young and in love and determined,” Elmer said. “And look at what they built together.”

“A barn and ten children,” Noah said.

“We didn’t plan the ten children. That just kind of happened.”

“And we have a deal about not discussing how that happened,” Elmer said, glaring at her and Linc, who laughed the way they always did when he said that.

“We have no idea how it happened,” Molly said. “Especially the two sets of twins.”

Elmer covered his ears with Caden’s hands. “Make it stop.”

Brianna laughed hard, which made Molly happy. Her sister, Hannah, had told her about Brianna’s ex-husband’s murder as well as the hell he’d put the poor girl through before they split.

“We’ve got to go,” Noah said. “I thought I might take Bri up to see Colton and Lucy and the sugaring facility. I also want to take her to meet Hannah and Dexter.”

“Make sure you call before you go up to Colton’s,” Molly said. “According to Lucy, he likes to run around naked up there.”

“Dear God,” Noah said. “He really is feral.”

“We did what we could with him,” Linc said as Brianna laughed helplessly.

“May I use your phone again?” Noah asked.

“Our phone is your phone.”

While Noah went to call his cousin, Molly placed her hand on Brianna’s arm. “We’re here for you and Noah if there’s anything at all either of you needs.”

“Thank you so much, Mrs. Abbott.”

“It’s Molly—and he’s Linc, and he’s Elmer.”

“And I’m Max,” her youngest son said with a cheeky grin.

“Your family is very kind and welcoming,” Brianna said. “I’ve appreciated that more than you know in the last few days.”

“We were sorry to hear about your ex-husband,” Elmer said.

“Thank you, but I don’t feel right about accepting condolences for him. We had a very acrimonious split more than a year ago, and while I wouldn’t wish what happened to him on anyone, I’m relieved to no longer be married to him.”

“It’s a strange mix of emotions, I’m sure,” Elmer said.

“It is,” Brianna said with a sigh.

Noah returned to the kitchen. “Colton assures me he’s fully clothed and would love to show us his mountain.”

“You’ll enjoy that,” Molly said. “But I apologize in advance for my son.”

Brianna laughed. “Thank you so much for showing me your gorgeous home and for the delicious hot chocolate.”

“Come any time. We still do Sunday dinner, Noah, and you’re always welcome.”

“Thanks, Auntie.” He hugged her, Linc and Elmer and gave Max and Caden pats on the head. “Good to see you guys.”

“You, too,” Linc said. “We’re looking forward to meeting Elliott.”

“I am, too. You have no idea how much.”

“That boy has hit the father jackpot, son,” Elmer said. “He’ll find that out soon enough.”

“Thank you, Gramps,” Noah said gruffly.

Molly walked them to the mudroom and waved them off as they drove away.

“It seems our Noah is rather smitten,” Elmer said when Molly returned to her seat at the table. “And with a lovely young woman.”

“She is. I love that they’re talking about going into business together.”

“Weren’t they fighting constantly a few weeks ago?” Max asked.

“That they were,” Elmer said with a chuckle. “But your father and I conspired to see if there might be some sparks under the animosity, and lo and behold, look at them now.”

“You’re so full of yourself, Gramps,” Max said with a chuckle.

“What can I say? I know love when I see it brewing.”

“I can’t with this,” Max said. “Unless you’ve got something brewing for me, that is.”

“Not yet, my boy, but your day will come, and when it does, I predict an epic love for the ages.”

“As I said, I’ll believe it when I see it,” Max said.