Page 13 of Fate Will Bring You Home

CHAPTER SEVEN

Lincoln

December 26

Yesterday was Christmas and my parents and I stayed in and watched some old movies. My mom’s favorite movie is It’s A Wonderful Life, so of course we watched that one first. I think I cherish days like this the most because I missed so many before I found them.

I got my mom a new bookshelf for the guest room — my old bedroom— and a gift card to a local furniture store so she could furnish it a bit. She is planning a few room makeovers to make the guest rooms more inviting. My old room still has a peeling paint job and some old Playboy posters hanging all over the walls. No one has been in there for years other than me to grab things randomly.

My mom has been yelling at me for months about getting that room cleaned out, so that is my task today. I need to move everything I’m not keeping out into the shed or into the trash pile. Pops asked me to tape off the room to prep it for painting. He and I are going to tackle that in the next few days.

It’s ridiculous, the stuff I’ve kept in here over the years. I just found some old merch from my friend Elijah’s band before he was even in the band. I am starting to think I am a bit of a hoarder. I’m sure it stems from me having nothing as a child and wanting to hold onto everything.

Mom and Pops had to head off to work. I stayed behind to finish up before heading to work to meet up with Pops. I’m not sure why we are even open today, but Pops never closes except for holidays. The man never takes a vacation…it’s annoying actually.

Today I am handling some of the paperwork and emails in the back since I was right, and the store is dead. A few hours passed when Pops finally said we should close early. He left me to lock up.

I was finally getting to emails because my dumbass thought I should tackle some of the end-of-year inventory while we were slow, but I definitely should have let the people here during the week do it, because I do not know what the hell I am doing.

One of the emails looked different from the usual order updates or inquiries, so I flagged it. The subject line said NEW DNA MATCH AVAILABLE. Looks like Pops might have matched with a new cousin or something. We don’t have a huge family, which I surprisingly like, but it might be cool to meet someone new.

Pops still hasn’t figured out how to change his personal emails from coming to the work email, so I get to filter through them. I’ve offered to change it for him, but he said he doesn’t like checking one email let alone being bothered with two. I left a note so he would see it tomorrow when he comes in.

I walked into the main house to find luggage blocking the entryway. Mom and Pops were in the kitchen, apparently meal-prepping, so I sat at the counter and waited for them to acknowledge me.

“Hey Link, how was work?” Mom asked.

“Where are you going?” I asked, without answering her question.

Mom’s face lit up with a huge smile. “I am taking your father on a trip. We leave tonight. Oh, by the way, can you drive us to the airport?”

I was racking my brain, trying to remember her telling me about this, but I came up blank. “What about the store? Did you tell me this?”

Mom put her hand on my cheek. “Honey, I couldn’t tell you. You would have opened that big mouth of yours. I’ve never been able to surprise him. I wasn’t going to let you ruin that for me.” Then she patted my cheek again and walked back to the food. She wasn’t wrong. I am horrible with secrets.

“So I’m watching the store then? Am I doing all the painting and cleaning in the guest rooms alone too? Shouldn’t that have been something you shared with me? What if I made plans while I’m off for Christmas break?” She smiled, knowing damn well I was planning on being at the store anyway so Pops would get a break.

“Do you have plans, Lincoln?” she asked condescendingly.

I rolled my eyes with a smirk. “Fine, you win.”

“As far as the renovations, I hired someone to come a few days to do some of it for us and I knew you would be my favorite son and take care of the store for us.” She placed some food in front of me and thanked me with a kiss on the cheek. “I also meal-prepped some stuff for you. The directions are on each meal.”

“I am your only son,” I smiled and rolled my eyes. Mom and Pops both laughed. “But thank you for the food.”

I drove them to Nashville to make their eight o’clock flight. I hugged them, gave Mom a kiss on her cheek, and told them I would be back on Friday night to pick them up. Seeing them walk away gave me a weird feeling in my chest, but I tried to ignore it.

On the way home I called to see if Elijah and the guys wanted to come hangout, but they were busy practicing. They told me to come by but I decided to stop at a bar and grab a beer instead. The minute I sat at the bar two girls walked up to me, one on each side.

“Hello ladies,” I smirked and sipped my beer.

“Hey handsome,” the one on the right said. “Do you wanna play some pool or something?”

I looked over and saw a few people at the pool tables, but I was not in the mood for pleasantries.

“Nah, I think I’m okay ladies. I’m just having a beer and then heading home.”

“Can we come with you?” the other one asked.

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