I laugh through my tears. “Who’d you say that to? Cause I’ve never heard it.”
Dad lifts his hand and sweeps my hair behind my ear like he’s done for as long as I can remember. “Sweetheart, the day we brought you home was the day I knew I’d do anythin’ and everythin’ to put the mountain back together again. We deserve what we’re owed by the Coopers. The spirit’s gift is ours just as much as theirs.”
I roll my eyes. “Dad. I’m not leavin’ cause some mountain spirit isn’t goin’ to bring me a future husband. I’m doin’ it because I need to be true to myself before I can be true to anyone else. Right now, that means followin’ my heart.”
“And what’s it tellin’ you, Little Em?” he says, making me smile as my childhood nickname that all the family call me slips out.
“That I need to follow my gut on this one.”
Dad smiles. “Then that’s what you’ll do. As long as you never forget that your home will always be here. I’m so proud of you. Always have been, always will be. Your Ma too,” he says, making my eyes sting.
“Yeah,” I whisper, shakily. “She’d be proud of you too.”
A loud barked out laugh escapes him as his eyes crinkle at the sides and he shakes his head. “Proud of me lettin’ you leave me and your brothers to our own devices? Not likely.”
“No,” I snort. “Proud of all of us for stickin’ with it and me not throttlin’ any male with the last name Wilson because you’re all bull-headed, overprotective men who think I can’t fight my own battles and keep up with y’all.”
Dad chuckles and pulls me in for a big bear hug. “You’re right about that, my girl.”
I pull back and cock my head. “Aren’t I always?”
“See,” he says, his lips tugging into a soft smile. “Smart.” He pulls me in, pressing his lips to my temple just the way he always does. “I’d move heaven and earth for all y’all. Never forget that.”
“Yeah, Dad. Even when we don’t want you to.”
“There’s a big difference between want and need, Emmie. One day, you’ll understand.”
It wasn’t until six years later, on my father’s deathbed, that I’d finally get what he meant.
Prologue - Jude
Last August - Age 31
"Great, you're all here," our grandfather's attorney, John, says as he enters the boardroom of his Anchorage law office.
He shakes hands with me and my three brothers before taking a seat and swinging his arm out for the rest of us to follow suit. "Sorry for your loss."
Our grandfather, Ridley Cooper, aka Gramps, passed away last month, surprising all of us.
My brothers and I always made a point to call or write to him regularly and the last time I spoke to him was a month before he passed. During that conversation, I could tell there was something wrong, but as he always did whenever I asked, he brushed it off.
“I’m no spring chicken anymore, Jude. It’s nothin’,” he’d assured me.
When I was about to end the call, he shared what would be the last piece of wisdom I’d receive from the patriarch who helped shape the man I am today.
“Always remember, Jude. Sometimes the loudest voice is not the one you hear, but the one from within.”
Now, here we are—my oldest brother, Will, our twin brothers Case and Sutton, and myself—sitting in John’s office for thereading of his last wishes, wondering why it was so important that we all attend in person.
"Before we dive into everythin', I'd like to say a few words about your grandfather." My brothers and I look at each other before nodding at the lawyer.
"Ridley Cooper was not just a client to me. Your grandfather was one of the most astute, worldly, and wisest men I've ever known." A wry smile appears. "But it was more than that. It didn't matter how many months or years we had between visits, Riddles would always greet me like a brother. Like it had only been days since we'd seen each other."
"Gramps was good like that," I say, earning nods from my brothers.
John's lips tip up on one side. "He was. So, whatever you uncover, hear, or decide about him, always remember the man he was and what he believed in. It'll go some way to help you understand why his last wishes have been done this way."
I arch a brow John’s way. "You're as cryptic as Gramps was.”