Faith Hope Love Repeat pt.17
Adam kissed Hannah and then went back to work. The next day was Ford and Cleo's graduation ceremony. Everyone was given their diplomas and then Ford walked up to make his speech and he looked at his family.
"Adam, did Ford tell you about this?" Hannah asked.
"No, he didn't. I knew he was top of his grade when he started, but I didn't think he was going to be valedictorian.
Ford looked around and sighed.
"I didn't know what I was going to say today. I think I can speak for everyone when I say that this past year was hard but good. Everyone here faced some sort of struggle whether it was math, science, language arts, or history. Some of us, it was deciding what college to go to or what to study. Some of us it wasn't school, but struggles in our family. Whatever those struggles were, everyone here overcame them and is now ready to move on from here and go off to start our lives. Everyone here has a dream and now we're going to fulfill them. I think all of us are happy about a new change in our lives, but I know that most of us will miss this school where our roots are. I just hope that everyone here will remember our roots and that we will remember who we are. I also hope that those that graduate after us will see us as good examples and will strive to be like us. I am grateful that I have the privilege of graduating with a class that has worked as hard as they could to get here and I can't wait to see where each of us goes." Ford looked around and smiled at his family and Cleo.
After the ceremony, Ford walked up to his family and Adam hugged him.
"I'm proud of you, Ford." Adam said.
"Thanks." Ford answered. "I was really nervous up there."
"You did great."
They were walking through town and Holly and RIley ran ahead.
"Girls, come back here. You need to hold our hands." Adam said.
"Ok." Riley answered. They ran back to Hannah and Adam and grabbed their hands.
"One of these days, we need to take you kids hiking."
"When?"
"When your brother and sister are older." Hannah stated.
"Ok." RIley sighed.
That evening, they had a special supper for FOrd.
Adam put some beef on Holly's plate and she pushed it away.
"Holly, what's wrong?" Adam asked.
"I don't want it." Holly mumbled.
"It's not chicken."
"It still hurts."
"Can you try a piece so I can see?"
Holly shook her head and Adam pulled her onto his lap.
"I can't help you if you don't let me, honey. Just try a small piece." Adam said. Holly did as she was told and started crying, "Does it hurt? Holly nodded and Adam handed her a cup of water. "Try to drink some water."
Holly did but choked on it. She coughed till it was gone and Adam took her out of the room and kept an eye on her. Hannah walked out and saw Adam holding Holly who was in pain.
"What is it?" Hannah asked.
"Her lips are swollen and she says her throat feels tight. SHe can breathe ok, but it's painful." Adam answered.
"Maybe we should take her to the hospital."
"By the time we get there, this will have passed. All we can do is keep an eye on her."
Half an hour later, Holly started to hiccup. She lifted up her head and looked at Adam.
"Is the pain gone?" Adam asked. Holly nodded. "Good. Let's see if you can drink some water."
Adam handed Holly a cup of water and she took a sip and swallowed it.
"Good girl. DO you want to finish your supper?" Adam asked.
"No stuff." Holly demanded.
"No beef."
They went to the kitchen and ate their dinner. When they were done, they sat out on the porch and watched the sunset with everyone else.
The next day was Sunday. Everyone went to church and listened to the sermon. Afterward, Adam walked over to Dr. Wolf.
"I was wondering if I could ask you something?" Adam asked.
"Go right ahead." Dr. Wolf answered.
"Holly has had these reactions whenever she eats stuff like chicken or beef. She's formed a rash around her mouth and it's pretty bad."
"What kind of reactions?"
"Her mouth is obviously swollen. She can't swallow anything. She can breathe but it hurts. She spits up a lot of salvia and gunk."
"Sounds like food allergies."
"That's what Hannah thinks."
"Sadly, even if I refer you to a specialist, there's a slim chance that they'll diagnose it. Allergies are not always easy to diagnose especially food allergies."
"What can we do?"
"You can avoid them, or ignore her and hope it goes away. Most people do the latter. If I were you, I'd do the first one."
"Can we give her anything?"
"You could give her some medication, but if she's having a reaction, she won't be able to swallow it."
"Have you seen this before?"
"Once. You had it as a boy. You grew out of it when you were about 9 or 10."
"I forgot about that. Thanks for your help."
Adam walked over to Hannah and picked up Luke.
"FOrd, I was wondering if you could have lunch with us. I have something to talk to you and Cleo about." Wheeler said. Ford looked at Adam who nodded.
"Ok. Sure." FOrd answered. Wheeler nodded at Adam and walked away.
After lunch, Wheeler and Ford went to Wheeler's office.
"Ford, I've done a lot of thinking about this trying to find another way out of this, but I don't see one." Wheeler said.
"What is it?" Ford wondered.
"I'm dying."
"What? Does Cleo know?"
"Not yet. Doctors say that I won't live past this summer. Cleo will inherit my business and I know she can handle it. I just worry about what boys will try to do to her when they find that she owns a successful ranch."
"What do I have to do with this?"
"You McFaddens may be a pain in the butt, but you do know how to respect a person's wishes. I'm leaving the ranch to Cleo and to you. The two of you will become the backbone of this ranch like me and my wife are right now."
"I don't even know what to do."
"You're a pretty good businessman. You'll learn quickly. I can help you wherever I can and so can my wife when I die. I just want to make sure that my daughter and my business is protected."
"I guess I can give it a try, but what about school? Cleo and I will be going to college."
"My wife and your family can work something out."
"Ok. When are you going to tell Cleo?"
"Right now."
Ford left the room and saw Cleo helping her mother.
"Cleo, your father wants to talk to you." Ford said.
"Ok. What did he want to talk to you about?" Cleo wondered.
"He'll tell you."
Cleo walked to her father's office and Ford could hear the two talking.
"NO! You can't die! You can't! Daddy!" Cleo exclaimed. Ford and Mrs. Wheeler walked to the office and saw Wheeler holding a sobbing Cleo. Mrs. Wheeler walked over and caressed Cleo's cheek.
Several minutes later, Cleo stood up and walked out of the room.
"Cleo." Mrs. Wheeler exclaimed.
"Let her go. She needs time." Mr. Wheeler answered. Ford followed Cleo and watched her run outside and into the woods. He ran after her.
"Cleo, wait up. I want to talk to you." Ford stated. Cleo eventually slowed down and sat down on a log. Ford sat down next to her and tried to wrap his arms around Cleo but she pushed him away.
"I don't want to talk to you, FOrd." Cleo spat.
"Cleo, Your father wanted to talk to me about you and his business. He wants me to take over with you by my side for your protection."
"Why did he tell everyone else first and not me?"
"He wanted to make sure that you were taken care of before he broke the news to you. Cleo, he wants you to live your life and continue what he's built."
"I don't think I can."
"But we can together. We don't have to get married. Neither of us are ready for that, but we can work at the ranch and go to school. We have people that can and will help us. We can make it work."
"I don't want to lose my dad."
"I know. I wish I had more to say about that, but I was 5 when I lost my parents."
Ford pulled Cleo close and they hugged.
A few hours later, FOrd arrived home and went straight to his room. Adam walked in and looked at Ford.
"Did he tell you?" Adam wondered.
"Yeah, and Cleo." Ford answered.
"Wheeler came to me Friday and asked me about you taking over. I didn't know what you would say or do when you found out, but I knew you'd do the best you could do."
Hannah walked in with Briana who was screaming.
"Someone has her first tooth." Hannah said. Adam took Briana and held her close. "Dessert will be ready in a minute."
They left the room and Adam sat down in his chair. Luke crawled up and sat down. He played with Adam's leg and Riley and Holly sat down with him. Luke clapped his hands and giggled.
"Daddy, Luke clapping." RIley said.
"Yeah, he did that yesterday with everyone else." Adam answered. Briana cooed and Adam watched her sit up and look at Belle who had walked over. Briana grabbed her nose and smiled. Luke cooed and soon he and Briana were talking to each other.
The next morning, Adam woke up but didn't get up out of bed. He felt Hannah rub his back and he rolled over to face her.
"13 years." Adam sighed. "I miss them."
"I know." Hannah replied.
"We should probably get up."
"Yeah."
Adam was depressed and Holly and Riley were worried. They walked over to Hannah after breakfast and helped clean up.
"Mommy, why daddy so sad?" Holly wondered.
"13 years ago, his mommy and daddy died." Hannah answered.
"Oh."
"That is sad." Riley mumbled.
"Yeah, it is. SO you need to give daddy and your uncles a lot of hugs today." Hannah said.
"Ok."
The girls ran to Adam who was sitting on the couch. They sat down on Adam's lap and gave him a big hug.
"Oh, I needed this." Adam sighed. Holly pulled away and kissed Adam's cheek and Adam kissed hers. "I love my girls."
"We love you, daddy." The girls answered.
Adam walked outside a little while later and saw Brian and Crane talking with Henry.
"How's it going, Henry?" Adam asked.
"Good. It's going faster than I thought it would." Henry answered. "We got the logs for the exterior all ready and now we're putting them up."
"Daniel will be glad to hear that."
They heard a horn honk and they saw Hoops drive up.
"Hey." Adam greeted as Hoops got out of his truck.
"I have great news. You know how I said that I wanted to teach?" Hoops answered.
"Yeah."
"Well, coach Reymonds is retiring and I've been hired to take his place."
"That's great. I know how much you wanted something like this."
"I start this fall."
"Guthrie's gonna be excited." Brian stated.
"I know he is." Hoops replied. Then Hoops walked over to Adam and gave him a hug. "I know what today is."
"I still miss them." Adam sighed. They pulled away and Adam looked back at the barn. "I have to do a few things."
"Yeah."
Adam walked away and Hoops sighed.
"Take care of him." Hoops stated.
"We will." Brian answered. Hoops got back in his truck and drove away. Dakota walked over and looked at the house.
"What's wrong with Adam and Daniel?" Dakota asked.
"13 years ago our parents died." Crane explained. "It hit all of us but it hit them harder."
"Then we're not alone. I lost my parents 9 years ago today."
"Not a good day for us."
"No, it is not."
After work, Crane picked Molly up and they went on a date.
"Hannah told me about today. I'm sorry, Crane." Molly said.
"It's kind of why I wanted to have a date tonight. I just want to have something to do so I'm not wallowing in grieve." Crane answered.
"I'm here for you."
"I know."
"It's good to be home." Molly sighed.
"I bet." Crane replied. "How was work?"
"Good. Really good. It was busy but bearable. My apartment is a total mess though. The rest of my things came today. I have clothes spewed all over the place. I thought I had packed this shirt in my suitcase, but I didn't. SO I had to go through all of my stuff just to find it and now my place looks like a tornado went through."
"If I remember right, you were a bit of an organized chaos person. Your place was a mess, but yet still organized."
"Well, yours isn't much better."
"Hey, I have to share with three brothers."
"Where does the time fly? 4 years ago we met and had the best summer."
"We were trying to get by running the ranch and the only women up there was Hannah."
"Now, there's Dakota and Sally, plus Jane, Holly, Riley, and Briana."
"Hopefully, you and Sam get to join."
"Yeah."
They went to a restaurant and ate supper together and then they walked around town and talked.
"I want us to be different. I want a small country wedding. I want people to come and see us get married." Molly said.
"I do too. I understand why my brothers chose to elope, but to me, it just took out the people." Crane answered.
That Friday, Molly, Crane, Brian, and Sam went out on a double date. They sat at a restaurant waiting for their food.
"I visited New York City last Christmas. A couple of my roommates dragged me up there." Molly said.
"Did you do any shopping?" Sam wondered.
"A little."
"Christmas is beautiful in the city. I don't know what it's like out here though."
"I'm not sure about Murphys, but I do know about Sonora. It's beautiful."
"It's nice here too. We've been decorating more and more each year. Usually, the day after Thanksgiving people come into town and help decorate. Most of us helped last year, but Adam and Hannah stayed home." Brian explained.
"I love summers here, but fall is my favorite time of year. With the leaves falling and the harvest, it's so beautiful." Molly sighed.
"I've never been apple picking. I know, I'm from New York. I should have been apple picking at least once, but I never have." Sam answered.
"We'll have to take you."
The four continued to talk all evening.
TBC