When they arrived at their father’s house, Hillary parked at the curb in front of the upscale one-level home. Carrie knew neither Hillary nor Marie had set foot inside before tonight.
Hillary turned off the engine, and no one made a move to climb out of the car.
“You ready for this?” Marie asked no one and everyone.
“I don’t know,” Hillary admitted, sounding uncertain.
“Is Laura a bad cook?” Carrie asked, hoping to lighten the mood. “Is that why you’re hesitating?”
“Oh, for the love of heaven, this isn’t about food, Carrie,” Hillary snapped.
Carrie giggled. “I know. Come on, I think I saw your dad pull back the drapes and peek outside.” She hadn’t seen any such thing; she feared her cousins would remain in the car all night if she didn’t prompt them to move.
“You’re right. We need to go inside.” Marie was the first to open the car door.
“Never in a million years did I think I’d be doing this,” Hillary muttered under her breath. She continued to sound apprehensive.
Carrie had the feeling her cousins badly wanted to repair the relationship with their father, but pride and a sense of betrayal had blocked them. They’d both come a long way since Hillary and Blake had announced their engagement.
As they approached the front door, it flew open before they had a chance to ring the doorbell. Uncle Eddie was in the entry, his eyes wide and smiling.
“Hi, Dad,” Marie whispered, and her voice cracked with emotion.
Uncle Eddie held his arms open and Marie walked straight to him, slipping her own around his middle. Carrie’s uncle embraced his daughter and then slowly closed his eyes, as if he’d been waiting and praying for this moment for the last six years.
He released Marie, who stepped away. Then he looked to Hillary, and with tears in his eyes, opened his arms to her.
Hillary paused, and while it might have been wrong of her, Carrie nudged her from behind, pushing her in the small of her back.
Taking a halting step, Hillary went to her dad and allowed him to hug her after Marie.
When her uncle and cousin parted, Carrie noticed Eddie had tears in his eyes. He wiped the moisture from his face, smearing the tears over his cheeks. With another sniffle, he offered them both a huge smile.
“I thought I’d never get the chance to hug my daughters again,” he said, and his voice shook as he whispered the words.
“You didn’t make it easy, Dad,” Hillary reminded him.
“I know. I know. I’m sorry. I never—” He didn’t finish, because Hillary cut him off.
“Please, don’t say anything more.”
Surprise widened his eyes. “Why not…I want to tell you how sorry I am.”
“I got it—you have regrets, yet every time you open your mouth it seems you make everything worse, so let’s go with you’re sorry and leave it at that.”
“Now, that’s a wise daughter,” Laura said as she entered the room. She came to stand at Eddie’s side and offered a tenuous smile. “I’d like to welcome you all to our home.”
“Thank you,” Marie said.
“And, Hillary, congratulations on your engagement.”
Her cousin stiffened and, after a tense moment, gave a slight jerk of her chin. “Thank you.”
“When do I get to meet Blake?” Uncle Eddie demanded. “If he’s going to marry my daughter, then I want to have a heart-to-heart chat with that young man.”
Laura looped her arm around her husband’s elbow. “Baby steps, Edward. Baby steps. Hillary will introduce him when she’s ready and not before.”
“Right,” he said and nodded. “I need to remember baby steps…tiny baby steps, a little at a time.”
“I’m Carrie,” she said, since it didn’t seem anyone wanted to introduce her.
“Welcome, Carrie. The three of you look enough alike to be sisters,” Laura commented.
“We hear that a lot,” she said, and they did. The family resemblance was strong.
“Come in, please,” Laura said, as she ushered them into the living room. It was tastefully decorated, but nothing like what Aunt Julia would have done with the place. Laura wasn’t nearly as talented as Julia in that area.
The fireplace mantel held family photos of Laura with her sons, and there were individual photos of Hillary and Marie, and then a couple more with her uncle and his daughters.
Carrie wasn’t the only one who noticed the framed photographs. As if he was reading their minds, Uncle Eddie said, “And, no, I didn’t put those up today. They’ve been on that mantel every day since Laura and I moved into this house.”