Page 22 of Two Weddings and a Shoot Out

He walked out of the office and strode toward her. Tonight was going to be harder in more ways than one because he was smiling at her.

He grasped her hands and held them. “I appreciate you agreeing to meet with me and go on an excursion. I know you said you had a decision. Would you like to tell me here before we go? The excursion will take about ten to twenty minutes.”

“Can we do them at the same time?” she asked.

He nodded. “Yes. Let’s get in the vehicle.”

Locks held her hand and then helped her into the side-by-side. She’d seen them for sale at all the lumberyards and sporting goods stores, but she hadn’t ridden in one since she’d come to Bluff Creek.

This one had two rows of seats along with a small area in back to haul stuff. It had a glass windshield in front and a hard rubber-type roof like she’d seen on some Jeeps. Just like the Jeeps, the side-by-sides didn’t have any doors, so the sides were open. Locks waited while she put on a seat belt, then started the side-by-side, heading across the compound. She debated how to start, then decided she’d just put all her demands out there.

“I want to be with you, Locks, but I can’t do it the way we have. I have a list of demands or needs that I require to move forward with you if you’re still interested,” she said.

His hand left the steering wheel to pick hers up between them, twining his fingers with hers. “I do want to. Tell me your needs to move forward.”

“I need to be treated as your partner. None of this being all sexy and sweet at night, then cold in the light of day. Either you want me all the time or not at all.”

She stared at Locks and saw him breathing deeply. “I can do that. I’ve spent some time soul-searching and realize I want you in my life permanently. To do that, I need to make sure I’m not letting the past influence my behavior.”

He finished and pulled the vehicle to a stop beside what looked like a dirt track of some type.

“This is stop one on my excursion I planned to show you what you mean to me. To do that, I think I need to share some things. This is the racetrack where Kathryn let our girls have it when one of them broke her arm racing her sister. It’s also where Kathryn told me she wasn’t going to do the last round of chemo. The doctor had told her a cure was out of reach, but the chemo could maybe give her an extra month or two. But the chemo couldmake her so sick that she probably wouldn’t enjoy the time left with us. Instead, she opted for the pain medicine and packed as much in with me and the girls as she could. I waffled between supporting her decision and being so angry she was leaving us. The reason I stopped here is because there are places all over this compound that I have memories of Kathryn. A man who I consider one of my best friends told me to pull my head out of my ass and realize that just because I had that doesn’t mean that I can’t make new memories with you. I think it was easier to stay stuck in the past than to open myself up again,” Locks said.

He'd continued holding her hand through his words, and she thought about what he said. He was sharing how he’d struggled.

“I appreciate you opening up. I know you had a deep and true love with Kathryn, but I don’t believe that we only get one person meant for us. Sometimes the ones we love are only with us for a season. When the season is over and we’re left behind, I don’t believe we’re supposed to be alone. I wasn’t looking for a man to love when you came in the house on Christmas Eve. I was looking for a way to get Benji and myself safe. But I got both. If you’re willing to work at this, I am too.”

Locks nodded and started up the side-by-side. He pulled the vehicle out and drove across the compound. Hope wondered what else Locks had planned.

“Another thing I have as a demand is that we don’t hide and try to minimize our previous loves. I don’t want you to feel like you can’t talk about Kathryn, and I don’t want to feel like I can’t talk about Giles. They helped shape who we are. I also think that with two of your daughters pregnant that them having Kathryn not be here for those things will come up. I know I can’t take Kathryn’s place for them, but I want to be able to be a help with them.”

She waited to see what Locks said about that. He nodded and pulled the side-by-side up to a gated cemetery.

“I agree that we have to be able to discuss things. Kathryn wrote me a letter before she died and another one inside of it that is supposed to be shared with the woman I want to spend my life with. I peeked into the envelope, but once I saw it had two, I just couldn’t do it. Fuck, Hope, I have wanted more with you from the first, but I was just too scared. Kathryn’s letter to me pushed me. I’d like for us to sit here, and I’ll read her letter to me, and then she wrote a letter for us to read together.”

Hope followed Locks into the cemetery and sat down on the bench. This wasn’t at all what she’d planned when she said they could talk about it, but maybe this was exactly what they both needed to begin their life together.

Locks opened the letter and slid his arm around Hope.

“I don’t think I can read this aloud if I can’t hold you while I’m doing it,” he said.

Hope nodded her consent, leaned up, and placed a hand on his cheek. She didn’t need to speak. Locks could see the love and comfort in her eyes.

My dearest Noah ‘Locks’ Franks,

I’m so sorry we didn’t get to grow old together, but we had some wonderful years with our girls. You were the love of my life, and I am thankful for every day we had. You made my life a journey where we grew up together and learned the business and parenting together. But our time is over. Treasure our memories but…

You nitwit, I know you’re trying to screw your relationship up because you’re worried about it taking the place of our love.

Locks chuckled and wiped a tear away.

“Kathryn loved watchingIn Plain Sightand started calling all of us nitwits like Mary did because she said it was the perfect term.” He paused, then looked back down at the letter.

Yes, I said nitwit. And if you need a reminder, the word comes from the German word Nit meaning none and the English word Wit for intelligence. So when I call you that, it literally means no intelligence. And you are an intelligent man. So it’s time to move on. Loving someone else doesn’t lessen the love we shared. Love is infinite. You have enough to love again, and it’s what I expect. I don’t want you alone in the later years. I want you to have someone to share your life with. So get out of your own way and grab onto the love of a good woman and hold on tight.

I love you and want the best for you.

Kathryn

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