Let It Be (Butler, Vermont #6) - Marie Force Page 0,59
to leave the older kids with Mom and Dad and run for our lives to a hotel for the night?”
“Do I ever. And wasn’t it just our luck that we’d come home with even more kids?”
“It took us a while to figure out where they were coming from, and by the time we did, we had ten of them.”
“And thank goodness for that. I can’t imagine life without any of them.”
“You say that now that we’re empty nesters. For a while, you wanted to sell them all to the circus.”
“That’s true,” Linc said, unbuttoning his shirt. “I would’ve actually given them away for a few years there.”
“It was fun, though, wasn’t it? Even during the crazy years?”
“Always fun, and even more so now that they’ve grown up to be outstanding adults.”
“With the manners, at times, of the cows who used to live in our barn.”
“That might be an insult to the cows.” Linc sat next to her on the foot of the bed and put his arm around her. “Despite the farting contest and the fact that Colton can sing the national anthem in burps, we did good, didn’t we?”
“We did great, and that’s what your dad will see tomorrow, Linc. He’ll see a man who grew into a smashing success in all the ways that matter most. He’ll see an outstanding husband, father, grandfather, uncle and businessman. He’ll see that you thrived in spite of him.”
“You always did make me look good, Molly Stillman.”
“We make each other look good. None of this happens without both of us, and frankly, I can’t wait for him to meet our ten beautiful children and see what he missed out on.”
Her fiercely spoken words made him love her so damned much. “Want to try for number eleven?” he asked, using his regular pickup line because it always got a laugh out of her.
“Absolutely, but tell the boys no more doubles.”
“I’ll let them know.”
By the time the bus pulled up in front of Lincoln’s childhood home at ten o’clock the next morning, he felt ready for whatever was about to happen. Each of his children had hugged him after breakfast in a show of support that’d nearly reduced him to tears.
Their message was clear: They had his back.
And knowing that made this day a thousand times easier than it would have been without them following him up the stairs to the door, which swung open before he could ring the bell.
Charlotte.
He would’ve known her anywhere, despite the signs of aging that forty years wrought. She wore her silvery hair in the same short bob she’d favored as a younger woman, and her blue eyes sparkled with pleasure at the sight of him. Because he couldn’t remain aloof even if he wanted to, he hugged her.
“It’s so, so good to see you, Linc,” she said before doing a double take at the crowd he’d brought with him.
“This is my family,” he said as they followed him into a spacious foyer that brought back a thousand and one memories of his childhood in this house. “You remember Molly. And these are our kids.” He pointed to each of them, and they waved as he introduced them. “Wade, Colton, Lucas, Landon, Max, Hunter, Ella, Charley, Hannah and Will, and two of our grandchildren, Caden and Callie, our son-in-law, Gavin, and Molly’s father, Elmer. Everyone, this is my sister, Charlotte.”
“I lost count,” Charlotte said, seeming stunned. “Eight?”
“Ten,” Linc said with a proud smile. “Including two sets of twins, Hunter and Hannah and Lucas and Landon.”
“Wow.” Charlotte seemed overwhelmed as she shook hands with her nieces and nephews, while Linc wanted to wail at the absurdity of her meeting them for the first time as adults. “It’s so nice to meet you all.”
The kids were too polite not to return her handshake, but their responses were muted and lacked their usual enthusiasm for new people. Of course, only Linc, Molly and Elmer would know that.
“We weren’t expecting a crowd,” Charlotte said, retaining her friendly, welcoming demeanor. “I had no idea… The website for the store only shows five.”
It pleased him greatly that she’d cared enough to look.
“Five are actively involved in the day-to-day operations. Hunter is our CFO, Will oversees our Vermont Made line, Wade is our health and wellness expert, Charley is in IT, and Ella manages the sales team. The others contribute products and services to the family business. Colton and Max run our maple syrup operation, Landon oversees the Christmas tree farm, Hannah makes jewelry, and