Page 118 of Winterset
It has been three weeks since I stood on the steps of Summerhaven and watched you leave on your Grand Tour. How I longed to run after you that day, to convince you to stay.
I skipped down.
Father died a few days after your departure.... You missed his funeral.... We wanted you there. We needed you....
Come home, Ollie. We miss you terribly.
Your brother, first and forever.
xDamon
A lump formed in my throat, and I set the letter aside. Father was dead. I had assumed he was. Even before I’d left I’d known he didn’t have much time remaining. But reading confirmation brought fresh pain. My whole life, he’d been callous to me. But he was still my father, and I had always wished that one day we’d be reconciled, that he would finally see and love me. Now it was too late.
Honestly, though, what did it matter?
I glanced at Damon’s salutation again and wondered whether his emotions were born more from my leaving or from Father’s funeral. I couldn’t tell.
Curious, I plucked the next letter out of the drawer.
Ollie,
Charlie wrote that you have arrived in Paris. He says you are safe but doing no better than you were during your lowest days in London.... Come home.
Charlie. The traitor. I scowled at the letter and set it aside.
Ollie,
Did you leave because you are upset that I married Hannah? After reading my letter to her, I thought you understood. You seemed so supportive of our union. But I can’t help but wonder if that is why you have been away so long. I beg you not to be angry. Hannah is my whole heart. I am sorry for hurting you, for forgetting you. I swear I will never let it happen again. Come home.
Ollie,
It has been two months. I know you do not like me, and I understand why. I designed it that way, after all. But I have to believe that if you understood why I distanced myself from you, you would have more compassion and desire to make amends. Come home.
Ollie,
Hannah is with child. She would be mortified that I wrote that in a missive, but you are my brother, and I want you to know. It is my greatest fear that I will become likeFather. I need you here to tell me when I am being wool-headed. No one else will set me straight like you would. Come home.
Ollie,
If he were alive, Father would whip my back until it bled for saying this, but I enjoy working in the stables. The stablehands don’t know what to make of me. An earl who mucks stalls? Unspeakable! I told them if King George could farm, I could clean a stable. You would likely side with the stablehands. But I love it, Ollie. I love working with my hands. I wish you could see what I’ve done to our family seat. Come home.
I had the sudden desire to tell him all about working on Winterset with Kate. About the papers we’d hung and the drive I’d cleared. I was so proud of what we’d accomplished. I wished he could see it.
Ollie,
It has been six months. Charlie wrote to tell me that you don’t read my letters. I don’t care. I will keep writing to you until the day I die. I will not forget you again, brother. Come home.
Ollie,
Hannah is due any day. I’m so scared, Ollie. I don’t think I could survive if something were to happen to her. Soon, I’ll have a son or a daughter—perhaps both. And you won’t even know. The thought breaks my heart. Come home.
Ollie,
Summerhaven Stables is a success. A slow success but a success nonetheless. I wish you were here to share it with me. Be done with this self-imposed exile, brother. Come home.
Ollie,
I’m a father. And you are an uncle. I wanted you to know. I won’t write anything more than that, though, because I want you to come home and see for yourself. Come home.
