Page 77 of Hero for the Holidays

“When the Kings came out West,” said Landry, “the family had ten children. By the time they got here, two were left. It was a hard trek. The land cost them everything. And that was why they were so committed to it. It was on that drive out West, through all that adversity, that the families met. And I think we stuck together more out of sheer stubbornness than anything else.”

“Wow,” said Lila. “They lost eight children. That’s so sad. Is that why they started...all the gambling and stuff?”

“I think so,” Landry said. “I think they’d done good their whole lives and suffered hardship anyway. I think they lost touch with what they believed in. Life was hard then. It’s a different kind of hard now. When you really believe in something, you fight for it.” He paused. “I don’t know that I would’ve fought for it at the expense of my children, though.”

“They didn’t know,” said Fia. “They didn’t know before they started out, and after they’d made it out here, losing so much... They had to make it worth it.”

He’d never thought of it that way. It gave him a little more compassion for how his family had started out. They’d lost what mattered. They’d lost family. Maybe that was why money had become more important later on.

“That’s true,” he said.

“You know so much family history,” said Lila. “I never knew any. I mean of the Gates family.”

“I’m sure they have some.”

“It was tough. They both made breaks from their family. There was no contact. Because their families were so toxic.”

Landry exchanged a glance with her. Probably due to their own toxicity with each other. Well, and with their parents too undoubtedly. Landry was definitely no contact.

“So they just didn’t really act like our family history mattered much. Because they were making a new legacy with me.”

“You are definitely that, Lila,” Landry said, his voice getting rough. “You’re their legacy. The legacy of lives very well lived, even if they were too short. Because you are very cool.”

“Yes, you are,” Fia agreed.

They rode on until they reached the lake. Lila took her shoes off and stepped cautiously toward the water’s edge like she was considering testing the temperature.

Landry and Fia hung back with the horses, settled under the trees.

“How are you after the other night?” he asked.

“Emotionally damaged.” She smiled. “But what else is new?”

He chuckled. “Absolutely nothing.” She felt a pull toward him. She looked into his eyes, then down at his mouth.

Again.

Like a magnet.

Like it was inevitable.

“Fia,” he whispered.

“Don’t,” she said. “Landry, everything is going really well.”

“I know.” But they wanted each other. There was no point pretending or trying to hide it. They wanted each other, and there wasn’t a hell of a lot of anything they could do about it. It just was. It sat between them. Obvious and strong.

“Think of all we gave up for her to get to this point,” Fia said. “Think of all we gave up when we didn’t have her. What are you willing to give up now that she’s here?”

“I’d give up anything,” he said.

“Me too.”

Lila came scrambling out of the lake after about five minutes of being ankle deep. “It’s so cold.”

“Yes, and it stays that way until it gets miserably hot around here,” Fia said.

She was grateful when Landry moved away from her. Grateful when she could breathe again. The ride back was nice. Quieter. And Landry loaded the horses up and drove them back, while she and Lila spent the rest of the afternoon at the farmhouse, until it was time for Lila to go back home. She wanted something more. She wanted to not feel like the secondary parent. Especially after the conversation she and Lila had had, she wanted her to feel like she had a more permanent place at Fia’s house. Maybe that could be a topic of conversation for her and Landry sometime over the next couple of days.

---