****Steph****
I woke up the next morning and got ready for what I was sure
was going to be an emotional day. We were all going to meet in the family room
and then walk over to the ranch. Once everyone arrived there we were then going
to walk to the family cemetery. I looked one last time in the mirror and
couldn’t help but notice how tired I looked. I hadn’t slept much the last
couple of days and I wondered if I was this tired, how tired the Davila and
Hobble families must be.
I had hoped to get some sleep the night before but all I did
was think about how George had reacted to reading the letters. He had been
grateful and I was glad that I had shared them. I had been surprised that he
had hugged me but what baffled me was how he acted after we hugged. He seemed
to almost be in a hurry to get away from me. I knew he was going through a lot,
but I had made up my mind while lying awake, staring at the ceiling, that maybe
we were just meant to be friends. Or at least that’s all he was interested in
since even though we had almost kissed once, he hadn’t shown any indication of
wanting to do anything like that again.
I walked out into the family room and saw George standing
there wearing a suit. I knew it was probably wrong to think it during such a
solemn occasion but I couldn’t help but notice how amazing he looked in it. He
noticed me walking into the room and he sadly smiled at me as he walked over to
where I was standing. I tried to hide my surprise as he reached out and grabbed
my hand.
“Thank you again for sharing those letters with me. I
understand why you wanted to share them, but I can also understand why you kept
them to yourself for a while. I’m. . .touched that you shared them with me,
trusted me enough to share them with me.”
“Like I said last night, you don’t have to thank me, but
you’re welcome.” I heard footsteps on the stairs and was stunned when he
continued to hold my hand for a moment as people made their way downstairs. As
Charlotte, Trev, and Ethan made their way into the family room, George let go
of my hand and walked over to Trev and Charlotte. They spoke for a moment
together and it was hard not to notice how devastated they all looked.
“This is going to be the hardest day. Charlotte keeps
mentioning having to go to the cemetery and being there for the first time in
so many years. It’s like this has opened up the wound that was made when their
dad passed away.”
I nodded. “It has.” I couldn’t help but notice that it
seemed to reveal their different levels of acceptance of it also; Trev being on
one end, George on the other, and Charlotte being somewhere in the middle. They
stopped talking and Trev walked outside by himself. Charlotte walked over to
Ethan and he put an arm around her to comfort her. I started walking into the
foyer and felt a hand on my back. I couldn’t help but be puzzled by the change
in Geroge’s behavior. He had been almost distant the last several days, which I
understood, but now he seemed to be doing the complete opposite. He kept his
hand on my back until we walked out of the house and we were all bombarded by the
clicking and flashing of the paparazzi cameras. Thankfully the police were
still present and helped us make our way across the street to the ranch.
We walked inside and even though the house was jammed full
of family members, it was very quiet. As we made our way to a corner of the
family room we heard their mom’s voice.
“Did you have any problems getting into the ranch?”
“No, having the police out front has really helped with
that.” George informed her.
“Yes, I’m so glad that they agreed to do that.” I noticed
her look over at Charlotte and she started hugging her. She whispered something to her and then gave
her one last big squeeze before letting go. She moved to Ethan and shook his
hand while saying something to him. She then hugged Trev and then George and
whispering something to each of them. She moved over to me and started hugging
me. I could feel tears starting to fall and tried my hardest to not let them
escape from my eyes. I wanted to be here for them, offer them support, not the
other way around.
“I’m so glad that you got to know her and that she got to
know you. She often mentioned how she enjoyed writing to you.” She said and
then gave me one last squeeze before we stopped hugging. She pulled away and
looked at all of us before turning to join her brothers and sister.
A few minutes before we were to walk to the cemetery, their
grandfather appeared in the hallway and the little chatter that had been
occurring, stopped. He looked back and forth between the family room and living
room where everyone had gathered and then spoke.
“I suppose it’s time.” We all quietly walked out of the
house and walked towards the back of the ranch. There was a walkway that led
from the back of the property to the family cemetery which allowed the family
some semblance of privacy from the paparazzi. We walked into the back of the
cemetery and over to the chairs that had been placed near the gravesite. As we
approached a row of chairs George motioned for Trev to go first and then as he
moved into the row, he reached down and gently held my hand. Charlotte and
Ethan filled the remaining seats in our row and we waited for the service to
start.
Eventually a minister came up and spoke for several minutes
and then I was surprised that their grandfather got up. I figured either their
mom or one of the uncles or aunt would speak. He walked up to the podium and
stood their silent for a moment. He eventually took a big breath and spoke.
“Fifty years ago a beautiful, feisty woman from the city
moved to Appaloosa Plains. She didn’t know a thing about living in the country
but she had always had a dream to move there; and being the brave woman that
she was, she listened to her heart and moved here. After some convincing, and
some pretty bad horse riding on her part,” There were several chuckles. “I was
fortunate enough to have the opportunity to propose and then marry her forty
nine years ago. I had always hoped that I would one day marry, have a couple of
children, and hopefully one day some grandchildren; providing them with the love
and support that I didn’t have growing up. I never could have imagined though
that forty nine years later that we would have four wonderful children,
fourteen amazing grandchildren. . .I’m
sorry, she would want me to include another in that number and I would have to
agree with her. . .” He paused and briefly looked at me. “. . .fourteen
grandchildren and one “adopted” grandchild, and one great grandchild soon to be
born.” George reach over and grab my hand and squeeze it.
“I have been blessed more than I could ever tell all of you,
and it was all because all those years ago she threw caution to the wind and
made her dream a reality. I know that if there is one thing she wanted all of
you to know and pass on to your children and grandchildren it would be to not
only listen to your heart, but to also follow what it’s telling you; even when
you’re scared, unsure, or think that maybe you can change what your heart
wants. By doing that, you’ll be honoring her memory and you’ll be blessed more
than you could possibly imagine.”
He walked over to his seat and sat down. I looked over at
George and he was fighting back tears. I squeezed his hand and he looked over
at me and smiled sadly. I next looked over at Trev and he was sitting there
with a glassy look in his eyes. I knew that their mom had told me that was how
he seemed to deal with things but I was still worried about him. I turned to
look at Charlotte and Ethan was trying to comfort her. I lightly reached over
and touched her arm and she put her hand over mine for a brief moment.
Their aunt Scarlett sang and then the service was over.
Everyone stood up and I noticed that their Mom started to walk over to the
section that was next to the one we had been sitting in; the section where
their father’s gravestone was. George, Charlotte and Trev watched her walk over
there and then joined her. Ethan and I stood several feet away and watched as
the four of them stood around the grave, looking down at the headstone. Eventually George moved toward Charlotte and
put his arm around her. After several more moments, they walked over to where
Ethan and I were and soon Charlotte was asking the question that I was sure
some of the family members had.
“Who’s the adopted grandchild?” She asked her mom and she
bit he bottom lip.
“Well. . .” She looked over at me and then quickly looked
away. “They didn’t ‘adopt’ a child or anything like that. More so that they
recently started to include someone else in our family.”
“Who?” Trev asked.
“I suppose that would be me.” I quietly said. They all
turned to look at me and I told them about the letters and how she had been
very encouraging to me. I also tried to explain why I hadn’t told them about it
before now.
“I’ve also been in contact with Steph since Christmas. As I
explained to George we didn’t want you all to put any pressure on her to accept
our offer. . .”
“We wouldn’t have done that.” Charlotte tried to argue.
“Oh really? You wouldn’t have tried to convince her that we
were serious about wanting to include her in our family. . .?” Their mom asked.
Charlotte looked over at me and then back at her mom. “I
suppose we might have tried to do that. . . wait, you explained to George?” She
looked at George. “Why did you know?”
“I didn’t know until last night and I had the same question that
you did about Mom and Grandma not telling us about it.”
“You do know that they were serious, right? Mom and Grandma
didn’t go around offering to include people into our family.” Charlotte asked
me.
“I know that now.” I admitted. I wished that the conversation
would turn to something else at that point. I felt very uncomfortable with the
conversation revolving around me.
“It looks like some of the family is heading back to the
ranch. Maybe we should head that way.” George suggested and I was glad for it.
We walked in silence back to the ranch and were overwhelmed by the sight that
awaited us. There was food everywhere; tons of casseroles, breads, and
desserts. “This is what happens when someone passes away in the country. People
send food.” George whispered as we looked at all of the food in the kitchen and
dining room.
We each grabbed a plate and then sat at one of the tables that had been set up in the family room. Once we were done eating, we made our way into the living room and then everyone started to socialize. At one point I noticed their mom talking to Trev and neither of them looked happy. He had his arms folded across his chest and eventually stormed off. I was pondering what all that had been about when George started to talk to me.
We each grabbed a plate and then sat at one of the tables that had been set up in the family room. Once we were done eating, we made our way into the living room and then everyone started to socialize. At one point I noticed their mom talking to Trev and neither of them looked happy. He had his arms folded across his chest and eventually stormed off. I was pondering what all that had been about when George started to talk to me.
“He’s not handling this well; partly because he never really
dealt with things after dad died. He’s gotten very good at pushing it down and
pretending that he’s okay.”
I nodded. “I had wondered if that’s why he’s been so distant
these last several days. Charlotte seems to at least be acknowledging her
feelings. . .”
He looked over at her and Ethan. “Yeah, and she hadn’t done
that before. Hopefully she’s coming to terms with all of that.”
“What was he like, your dad?” He looked down at the floor
and I immediately regretted asking. “I’m sorry, this is probably the worst time
I could have asked.”
“No, it’s okay.” He sighed heavily before continuing. I was
surprised as he talked about his dad that he began to somewhat smile. “He was a
fun, patient, kind, athletic, loving man. He was fun because he could literally
make any situation fun; even doing laundry. I remember doing laundry with him
one time when Mom was out of town for an art show and he turned on some music
and we jammed out while folding laundry. He was probably the most patient
person I’ve ever known; not only with Mom but with all of us. He was the
laidback parent, the one that even though you messed up he didn’t freak out but
calmly waited for you to make the right decision. He never met a stranger and
was kind to everyone he met. If you’ve
ever wondered where Trev gets his athleticism from, that would be Dad. He and
Uncle Charlie played high school football together and if he hadn’t had an
injury his senior year, he would have played college ball and probably gone
pro. He was really good. But he never complained about his injury, instead he
realized that from his experience, he could help others with similar injuries
and became a physical therapist.”
“Something that seems to run in this family. . .” I offered
and he nodded.
He continued. “He not only loved us kids, but I’ve never
seen a man love a woman more than Dad loved Mom. We used to complain when we
were younger whenever we’d see them kissing or holding each other but I’d give
anything to see that again.” As we stood
there for the next several moments in silence, I couldn’t help but wonder about
the change in him from even just the previous night. He had even been open
about his dad which I had never known him to do. He usually would just say a
couple of words about him and then change the subject. I looked over at him and
saw that he was looking at me with an expression that I couldn’t read.
“I’m sorry. I really shouldn’t have asked about him right
now. You’ve got enough to think about without me bringing up your dad.”
“It’s okay. I told you before, I don’t talk to people about
personal things unless I’m comfortable with them. If I didn’t want to talk
about it, I would have politely changed the subject.”
I was still baffled by his behavior though. Maybe it was
like his Mom had said, when the time was right he’d share how he was feeling.
But then there was the couple of times that he had held my hand.
“Something’s bothering you.” He stated.
I furrowed my brow. “You act like you know that as a fact.”
He smiled. “Whenever you’re pondering something you bite
your bottom lip. When it’s really bothering you, you start to chew on it.”
I tried to remember if I had done that when he started
chuckling. “You’re biting your bottom lip now.”
I realized that he was right. I stopped and consciously
tried to keep myself from doing it again. “So, what’s bothering you?”
I didn’t want to have this discussion now. Not with all of
the family around and he had enough to think about without me starting to
question how he was acting. “It’s something that needs to wait.”
He looked troubled. “Why would it need to wait?”
“This just isn’t the. . .right place or time to talk about
it.”
“Will you talk to me about it later?” I looked into his eyes
and I knew if I continued to I would waiver in my stance to wait.
“At some point, yes.” I didn’t specify when, but I had no
intention of talking about it in the near future.
We heard what sounded like something falling in the hallway
and looked to see what the noise was. Several people, including their Uncle
Charlie, walked over to where the noise had come from and it looked like they
were helping someone stand up. I was floored when I saw them help Trev stand
up. It was obvious even from our distance from him that he was impaired. The
room grew quiet as we watched him being helped out of the hallway and I assumed
to a different room. I glanced at George and he looked mad.
“Are you going to go talk to him?” I asked.
“No, it wouldn’t do any good. It never does. Maybe if
someone else talks to him it might knock some sense into him. He just gets
pissed and stops talking to me when I try to reason with him. Same with Mom, he
just doesn’t want to admit that he has a problem, and until he does, nobody’s
going to be able to help him.”
I nodded and noticed that his mom was walking over to us.
“Would you mind giving us a moment Steph?” She requested and I walked over to
where Charlotte and Ethan were standing.
“What are Mom and George talking about?” Charlotte wondered.
“I don’t know, but she asked to talk to him alone. . .”
****George****
“What are we going to do about Trev?” Mom asked.
