pounding, I slip my finger beneath the envelope’s seal and pull out a folder. Flipping it open, there’s a letter on top. It’s dated a little less than two years earlier.
Jennings,
It’s late as I write this. Dean went to bed long ago. We’re all exhausted. He and I are in Alaska. Since the bar is here, I wanted an Alaskan firm to represent my estate in the event something ever happens. So, he’s already irritated we’re discussing these sort of things so early into our marriage. But I have to take care of Maris, and now Dean.
All day, Dean and I have been at the lawyer’s office. And we had to call Kara over the one thing I wanted to add to my will. The battle she and I had while I was standing in front of Isler was explosive.
Heads up in case you forgot — that woman has a temper. Don’t take it lightly.
But I won for you. At least I hope you look at it that way. I received Kara’s agreement to tell you about Kevin under certain circumstances: if he was terminally ill and needed medical assistance, if Kara decided to re-marry and that individual wanted to adopt Kevin, if I died (so I could tell you my part of the story), or Kevin asked for the name of his birth father, specifically, so he could find him.
If you’re reading this letter, well, you know what happened. My attorney has had strict instructions on what to do in the event I passed — who to contact and all that bullshit. But if you found out before I passed, I think I was going to give you an antique airplane propeller that’s in Dean’s and my home in Florida. If you’re not a dick to Kara, maybe she’ll be nice and still give it to you.
I chuckle a little even as I wipe my eyes with the back of my hand. “It’s like I can hear you right next to me, Jed,” I whisper into the cold air. I keep reading.
Maris knew from the moment Kara found out she was pregnant, though she didn’t tell me. I met Dean through Kara on my vacation to Florida. Falling for him wasn’t in my plans. But while meeting Kevin was a joy, it was the biggest shock of my life. Remember, all of this was just a few years ago. I’m still not entirely clear on what happened to Kara specifically, but I know their parents are no longer in their lives. It’s a very sore subject for both of them. And when Kara left Alaska, she and Dean moved in together.
I breezed into town to look at some real estate for a winter bar and met up with Kara. I ended up buying the place and met her brother. Honestly, it was love at first sight. I’m in awe when I think about how a vacation, falling in love with a place, and deciding to stay can change your life. But I won’t say it wasn’t a shock for us all.
Family hasn’t been good for her, Jennings. Think about that when you talk with Kara. She came to Alaska and the world changed for her, not all of it in a good way.
I refuse to tell you anything about what I know versus what I lived. That’s Kara’s story to share when she’s ready. I’ll just say she’s a strong woman, Jennings. Decisions were made, right or wrong. I understand her reasoning, I feel your pain.
So many times over the years I’ve been torn between the brotherhood I had with all of you and the love I fell into with Dean.
I apologize, Jennings. Kara was never one to trust easily, but now? There’s few people she has absolute faith in.
My own temper’s flaring a bit because I wish you had just come visit. I wish you had checked your junk mail once over the last thirteen years, but there are too many maybes. Maybe I could have broken a promise to the man I love…no, I couldn’t do that.
This is one secret I had to keep, as much as it burned my soul day after day.
I wish there was something else I could have done to have cleared the way for you. I know you, brother. I knew how you would feel if you truly knew.
Hence our agreement.
You have a single chance at the greatest gift a man could ever have — fatherhood.