“So how’s your brother?” Dan asked.
“Perfectly successful in Illinois, thanks,” she replied with a wry smile.
Her older brother was a professor at a state college—the bar had been set quite high for the Thomas family. He could sympathize with Beth’s position right now. She’d deserved better than being left on her own for the biggest challenge of her life.
“Don’t know if this is rude to ask, but who’s the dad?”
“None of your business,” she retorted with a cool smile, and Dan laughed.
“You haven’t changed a bit,” he said.
She smiled and rolled her eyes. “You’d be surprised, Danny.”
Danny... He hadn’t been called that in a long time.
“Look.” He cleared his throat. “If you see anything that you want in here...I bought the whole place, contents included. But I don’t need any of it—” He was doing it again, minimizing a lifetime of Thomas family memories in this old place, which wasn’t his intent. “What I mean to say is, if there is anything that you want from the store, it’s yours. I only got the keys today, so I’m looking at everything for the first time, too.”
“Thank you.” She nodded. “There will be things. Like the bell over the door.”
“Yeah, yeah.” He nodded. “Take it.” He glanced up and realized it was high over her head, and in her current state a stepladder would be a bad idea. “Or I can get it down for you.”
He caught her eye, and he felt a swell of sympathy. Things had been hard for the Thomas family lately, and he was just an added insult.
Beth was beautiful and smart, with a sharp sense of humor. He’d always imagined that she’d gone to Edmonton and met some bookish type who would be impressed by her father’s name. Then she’d get married and drive a quality SUV, have some beautiful babies... She was making good on that last one, and for that he was grudgingly glad.
Parenthood had a way of improving a person. It carved them out and deepened them. It took a heart and stretched it farther than a person thought possible. It changed weekend plans from drinks or watching the game into cartoon movies and playing in the snow. Luke’s arrival had been a shock, but he’d changed Dan’s life for the better in every way possible. Dan had always hoped that he’d be a successful business owner here in town, and that when people saw him coming they’d call him “Mr. Brockwood.” Turned out that his deepest satisfaction came from being called “Dad.”
He glanced at his watch. Luke would be out of school soon.
“So how is your grandmother doing?” he asked.
They both instinctively looked over to where Granny was arranging the shelf, wiping dust off the packages with her palm.
“Not so good,” Beth said softly. “She keeps slipping into the past. And apparently, she’s been wandering off a lot.”
“I noticed that,” he agreed. He’d driven her home a couple of times when he’d found her on the street looking confused.
“And she keeps asking about Grandpa.” Beth’s eyes glittered with emotion.
“What do you do?” he asked.
“We tell her that he’s gone out for milk,” Beth said with a shrug. “It sure beats breaking her heart fourteen times a day telling her that he died. So if she ever asks—”
“Yeah, right. Milk...” He nodded.
Everyone loved Beth’s grandmother, whom most people called Granny. She was that sort of lady. And when Beth had agreed to marry him, when a furious Rick had kept encouraging his daughter to think this through a little more, Granny had been happy for them. Dan would never forget that. She’d taken his hand in hers and smiled up into his eyes and said, “Marriage is a blessing, Danny. May you two be brilliantly happy.” For a guy who’d grown up with minimal encouragement, her words had meant the world.
“Granny, we should go,” Beth called. “We need to get back.”
“No, I’d better mind the store,” Granny said with a decisive shake of her head. “It’s too early to close.”
Beth and Dan exchanged a glance.
“Danny will mind the shop, Granny,” Beth said. “Right, Danny?”
“Yeah, of course,” Dan said. “Don’t worry, Granny, I’ll take care of everything.”
Granny brushed her hands off and came back toward them. “Are you sure, Danny?”
“I’m sure,” he said earnestly.
“Do you know how to use the cash register?” she pressed.
“Yes, ma’am. Beth showed me.”
Granny didn’t look convinced, but eventually she smiled. “Well, you are going to be part of the family very soon, aren’t you? I think it’s only right that we trust you with a few responsibilities.”
In Granny’s mind, Dan and Beth were still engaged, he realized, and his throat suddenly felt tight. Of all the days to go back to, those were happy ones. Too happy to last, but happy.
Granny smoothed her hands over her jacket.
“Can I help you zip up?” Beth asked.
“Oh, my...” Granny’s eyes grew large as she focused on Beth’s round belly. “Look at you!”
Granny glanced back at Danny with a look of shock, and he was forced to hide a smile. Yeah, there’d been a time when he’d have loved to take the credit for Beth’s glowing pregnancy, but not now.
“Okay, let’s just go,” Beth said hurriedly.
“The sooner the better on that wedding, my dear,” Granny said pointedly, and Beth shot Danny a look of exasperation.
“Beth, I’m cleaning this place out over the next couple of weeks. Come by and take anything you want,” Dan said.
“Thank you,” Beth said. “I’ll come by tomorrow, if that’s okay.”
“Not a problem. I’ll be here.”
Beth pushed the door open, and she and her grandmother left the store, the soft ding of the bell echoing in the stillness as the door swung shut again.
Beth Thomas was back, and Dan wasn’t sure how he felt about that. All those old memories—all those old feelings—came in a flood. But fatherhood had changed everything for Dan, and there was no going back.
“DANNY BROCKWOOD?” Rick exploded. “That twit has my store? He never said a thing to me. How fast did that sale go through?”
Granny came inside and unzipped her coat, then proceeded into the middle of the kitchen with her snowy boots still on her feet.
“I’m not sure,” Beth said, peeling off her jacket. “Granny, your boots.”
“Oh...silly me...” Granny came back to the door and bent to take her boots off. She was still physically spry, and while it seemed horrible for Beth to wish such a thing, if Granny would just get a little creaky in the knees or something, she might not make it so far when she wandered off. It was worse when the mind went before the body did, because there was so much more that could go wrong.
“He said the price was too good to refuse, so it looks like Danny had some money in the bank,” Beth said, hanging her coat on a peg. “Millwrights make a good wage.”
“Where is Ralph?” Granny