Page 61 of About Last Knight

He looks up, smiles, and then immediately stands. “Aunt Melissa?”

I nod and he gives me a warm hug. I look him up and down. “Wow, Lance, you’ve grown up so much.” I laugh. “The last time I saw you I had to bend to talk to you. Now you tower over me.” Lance must be seven or eight inches taller than me. He’s well-built with dirty blond hair and dark blue eyes like mine. His hair is a little longer than I would have expected. The boys always had military-style buzz cuts when they were younger. Besides the hair, he looks so much like my brother Craig did at that age.

He smiles. “We have a very tall family, don’t we?”

I nod. “Yes, we do.” He motions for me to sit, and I oblige.

I can’t help but start to tear up a bit. I wasn’t expecting to be so emotional about seeing him. “Thank you for reaching out, Lance. I can’t tell you what it means to me.”

“Thanks for meeting me. I wasn’t sure you’d agree to it.”

I look at him in confusion. “Why in the world wouldn’t I agree to it? I’m thrilled to reconnect with you. It’s been such a long time. More than a decade. It’s almost hard to believe.”

He shrugs. “I don’t know. I guess from what my father has said, I just wasn’t sure you’d want to see me.”

I have no clue what my brother has told his children about why we don’t speak, but it’s not really my place to fill in those gaps. I’m just happy to be here with him. “Well, I couldn’t be happier. Tell me about yourself. I know nothing past you being a baseball star when you were a little kid.”

He laughs. “It’s been a while since I played baseball. You know where I grew up, and you know I have three brothers and a sister. What you don’t know is that I’m now the black sheep of the family.”

I can’t help but laugh. “Are you trying to steal that title from me?”

He smiles. “No ma’am. Apparently, it comes naturally.”

“What did you do to earn that title?”

“I didn’t want to go into the military.”

“Ah, I see. I can’t imagine that went well. What is it you want to do?”

“I always knew that small town, military base life wasn’t for me. I’ve always wanted to live in a big city.” I can certainly relate to that.

“When I wouldn’t enlist like my brothers did after high school, or even consider officer’s training in college, my father made me a deal. If I went to college near home and spent three years after college working close to home, if I still wanted city life away from military life at the end of that time, I could move away and he’d support my decision. I think he expected me to either change my mind or get married to my high-school sweetheart and stay put. He never thought I’d actually leave. He’s pretty upset with me, but he made the deal and he’s sort of sticking to it.”

“What do you mean, sort of?”

“He did let me go without a fight, but he had initially agreed to paid for grad school. He’s financially cut me off.”

“I’m happy to pay for school, Lance. It’s not a problem at all.”

He shakes his head. “No, ma’am. I wouldn’t be comfortable with that. Thank you for offering, but I got a job waiting tables and took out some student loans. I also saved some money when I was working after college. I’ll be just fine.”

Hmm. I may have to stop by the bursar’s office in the next few weeks.

“It’s certainly admirable, Lance. If you change your mind, don’t hesitate to ask for help. I’m honestly happy to take care of it for you.”

“Thank you, ma’am, but I didn’t call you for that. I called because I don’t know anyone in town, and I don’t have any other family here. I don’t know all the details about why you and my father don’t speak, but you’ve certainly never harmed me. Just the opposite. Despite not talking to my father, you’ve never missed a birthday or Christmas, always sending presents for me and my siblings. I want you to know how much I appreciated that through the years.”

I smile. He’s a good kid. “Thank you for saying that. It was always my pleasure.”

I grab his hand. “You do have family nearby, Lance. I live right here in town, so don’t ever hesitate to reach out. I’m always available to you.”

He smiles. “Thank you. I will.”

“You haven’t met anyone from school yet?”

He shakes his head. “No, classes haven’t started. I came a little early to find a job. I wasn’t sure how easy it would be. I can also work a lot of hours now before school starts to save a little more money. I… um…” He seems a little choked up.

I grab his hand. “What is it?”

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