I decided to go ahead and submit this story to With the exception of Scott Larson, Luke Anderson, Betsy and Emily Jenson, and Michele Howard, all the characters are the property of Niki Caro and Warner Bros, and I'm doing this for fun. Enjoy!


Chapter 1

Scott Larson packed his bags. He'd gotten the call that his Aunt Glory had passed away three days ago. Her funeral was in two days and he felt he should be there. Which is more than I can say for my parents, he thought bitterly.

Glory Larson Dodge had been the older sister of Danny Larson, Scott's father. About fifteen years ago, when Glory had started working at the mine, she and her brother had had a falling out over it, especially when Glory dated, and later married, fellow miner Kyle Dodge.

In spite of the estrangement between the two siblings, Scott had always gotten along with his aunt and uncle, and had been devastated when he'd heard about Glory's diagnosis of ALS a little over a year before. And, he had to admit his aunt had a big set of brass balls on her when she'd worked at the mine, and when she'd stood with Josey Aimes during her class action lawsuit against the mine.

Scott smiled, remembering when Glory and Kyle had come to his college graduation five months before. By then, Glory had been confined to a wheelchair and no longer able to speak on her own. Of course his parents had been there as well, and had wasted no time in belittling Glory, especially for her role in Josey's lawsuit. It had ruined what would've been a perfect graduation day.

He shook his head to clear it of the memories so he could finish packing. He was going to Minnesota to not only pay his respects to his aunt, but to also stay with Kyle and make sure he was looked after. He already had a job lined up at the mine where his aunt had worked so many years. However, when his parent had found out about his plans, they'd hit the roof, which didn't surprise him.

What had followed was a knock-down, drag-out shouting match that ended with Scott basically being disowned by his parents. But he didn't care. He had his friends, and he had Kyle, who was more of a father to him than his own father had been. And one of his friends was allowing Scott to put his things in one of his empty storage units until he was settled in Carlson.

He finally zipped his last suitcase closed and carried it out to his truck. Throwing it in the back, he tied the tarp down over his bags with the help of his friend, Chip.

"Good luck in Carlson, Scotty," he said. "Give your uncle my best." Chip had met Glory and Kyle at their graduation three months before. Chip had been pre-med and was now attending medical school. He had been well aware of Glory's illness and it gave him more motivation to become a doctor.

Scott climbed into the truck and, after waving goodbye to Chip, drove off toward Carlson, and a new life.


Kyle was sitting with Bill and Josey. Truth be told he didn't want any company right now, but he needed help getting the spare room ready for his nephew's arrival tomorrow. Not my nephew, he reminded himself. Glory's nephew.

Scott had always been closer to them than his father, Glory's brother, had. In fact, Daniel Larson couldn't bother to attend Glory's funeral which would be in two days, and he'd basically disowned Scott for deciding to move here and help Kyle through the next few months.

"Your nephew's comin' tomorrow, right?" Josey asked.

"Yeah, he called me right before you guys got here. He's driving his truck all the way from eastern Wisconsin. He left early this afternoon, so he should be here in time for the visitation."

"I hear he's gonna be workin' at the mine," Bill said in thought. "I hope it won't be too much for him."

Kyle smiled. "He's a tough kid. If Scotty was able to put up with his parents' shit and not be fucked up, I think he can handle workin' at the mine."

Josey nodded. She'd heard about Scott from Glory. In college, he'd majored in English, and had planned to go on to grad school so he could be a teacher, but for some reason, his scholarship had been revoked. She didn't know the details, but Glory had been pissed off about it.

She got up to leave and motioned for Bill to come with her. "Call us when he gets here, and we'll see you tomorrow night at the visitation." She hugged Kyle one last time, and then she and Bill left, leaving Kyle alone with his thoughts and his grief.

He found himself picking up a photo of him and Glory with Scott. The picture was about two years old, while Scott was still in college. He'd come down to visit during spring break, and had gone with them to Tee-Gee's Bar and Grill. That was a year before Josey had come home to work in the mine. Now, Scott would be in her shoes, figuratively. At least he'll have my support from the very beginning, he promised himself. I won't do what her father did.