“Thank you.” Jason smiled. “You’re welcome here any time, and of course, we and Leesa will visit you often.”
“Of course. She is a good daughter. A good woman.” José turned to survey the rest of his grown children. “One who went to war in order to help provide educations for her brothers and sisters.”
Leesa wondered if the way he’d said that meant that one or more of her siblings objected to her marrying two men.
I don’t care if they do. I’m marrying them anyway.
“We’ve considered Leesa a part of our family since she first moved here.” The soft, feminine voice seemed to be coming from behind Leesa’s siblings. “She’s beloved and respected by all who know her.”
“Grandma Kate!”
The group of Montoyas parted, and there she was—the woman considered the head of the combined families—the woman, in fact, who many felt was the heart of Lusty, Texas, itself.
Jason and Phillip both stepped forward and hugged the nonagenarian, and then Leesa had her turn.
“I’m so happy you’re here, Grandma Kate. I want you to meet my family.”
“A moment I’ve been looking forward to for a long time,” Kate Benedict said.
Her father showed the diminutive woman a great deal of deference, which didn’t surprise Leesa one bit.
“You’ve raised a wonderful daughter,” Kate said. “A woman of high character and great patriotism.”
“Grandma Kate was in the service during the Second World War,” Leesa said.
“A long time ago,” Kate said. “There are many living here in Lusty who are veterans.”
“My grandfather was a flyer, in England,” Caitlyn said. “And José’s father served in Korea.”
It was a thread, the beginning of a bond. As Leesa watched, she understood that this very basic thing—this connection being formed, human to human—was made up of myriad threads, different ways that different people from various backgrounds came together to find their common ground.
We really do have more that binds us than that which tries to tear us apart.
“Leesa mentioned that you served a shift as maternity nurse a few weeks ago,” Caitlyn said.
“Oh, what a day that was! All of the babies were delivered safely and the new moms—and dads—are still over the moon.” She pulled a cell phone out of her pocket. “Our Kelsey, who owns this restaurant, welcomed twin boys—Caleb Patrick and Jonathan Gerald, named for my sons and my husbands. The babies have an older sister, Amanda Rose.” She showed the pictures she had, and since both of Leesa’s parents had been hinting about grandchildren, they were avidly looking on. “Ari, who’s married to my grandsons Cord and Jackson, welcomed a set of twins as well—both boys. Anthony George and Jameson David. There are more boys born in the families than girls, and that is…interesting. We don’t know why that is, but it’s always been so. And our Holly, who’s been the librarian here for a few years, and her husbands, who work with my grandsons, welcomed a daughter, their first child. They named her Angelica May. She already has her daddies wrapped around her little finger.”
As Kate had been showing her latest pictures, the sound of laughter, of chatter, and of children seemed to fill the empty spaces.
“This seems to be a town that welcomes children—and wanderers,” Caitlyn said.
“We’re all about family,” Kate said. “There’s really nothing more important—in my opinion.”
“And in ours as well,” José said.
“Let’s go sit. There’s plenty of food. I’ll tell you about how our town came to be and about my many grandchildren—born and honorary—and great-grandchildren.”
Kate led Leesa’s parents off, leaving her siblings on their own. They looked at Leesa and then her guys.
“Let’s grab a table and get to know each other,” Phillip said to the four who looked, honestly, like a bunch of little fishes out of water.
“Because Grandma Kate is right,” Jason said. “There’s nothing more important than family. And that’s what we are—all of us—together. We’re family, now.”
So they settled and they ate and they talked. And as the sounds and scents of Lusty surrounded her, as Leesa felt the heat and the touch of her men and embraced the ebb and flow of family, she took a moment to give thanks.
For these men, for this town, and for this life.
THE END
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