The SEAL's Christmas Twins. Laura Marie Altom
every guy wanted. For as long as she could remember, Hattie battled jealousy and resentment she’d never wanted, but seemed to have always carried. When Melissa destroyed Mason by cheating on him, well, Hattie had secretly sided with him in believing her own sister heartless and cruel. Years later, when Melissa struggled to conceive, Hattie’s guilt doubled for believing her sister’s infertility was karma paying a call.
Now that Melissa was dead, self-loathing consumed Hattie for not only all of that, but not being able to cry. Since the accident, she’d been the strong one, shielding her parents from the painful process of burying their perfect child, their pretty child, the one their Inuit mother had called piujuq—beautiful.
From outside came the clang of someone mounting the trailer’s metal steps. Seconds later, the door was tugged open. Mason ducked as he entered, brushing snow from his dark hair. He still wore his jeans and boots, but had added an ivory cable-knit sweater that made his blue eyes all the more striking. For a moment, Hattie fell speechless. Then she remembered she wasn’t seeing Mason for a happy reunion, but the reading of her sister’s will.
Her parents, still holding tight to their resentment over the divorce—and especially his attendance at an intimate family moment such as the reading of Melissa’s will—barely acknowledged his presence.
“Am I late?” He checked his black Luminox watch, the kind she’d seen on divers around town. Certain times of year, Conifer was a bustling port.
“W-we’re early.” She struggled knowing what to do with her hands. “Alec’s parents should be here soon, so Benton said to let him know when we’re all ready.”
“Sure.” Mason shoved his hands in his pockets.
And then they waited.
No one said a word. Aside from wind gusts and papery whispers of Reader’s Digest pages being turned, all in the cramped space had fallen silent. Thank goodness Hattie’s racing thoughts and pulse had no volume or everyone would know the extent of her panic. For years, she’d dreamed of a reunion with Mason, but never under these circumstances.
Twenty minutes passed with still no sign of Alec’s parents.
A muffled landline rang in Benton’s office, then came a brief, equally muffled conversation.
“Look,” Mason said, “if you all don’t mind, I’d just as soon get started. I can’t imagine what Melissa would’ve left me. The whole thing’s bizarre.”
“Agreed,” Hattie’s father said, also rising, offering his hand to his wife. Akna and Lyle led the way down the short hall leading to Benton’s office.
Before Lyle had reached the door, Benton opened it. “Good, you’re all here.” He waved Akna and Lyle into the room. “That was Taylor and Cindy on the phone. They’re not going to make it.”
“Everything all right?” Lyle asked.
“As well as can be expected.”
While her parents and Benton made polite conversation, Hattie hung back with Mason. He made the formerly smallish space feel cramped. She needed to get away from him. And take time to process what losing her sister really meant.
“Ladies first.” He gestured for her to lead the way, which was the last thing she wanted. She felt most comfortable in jeans and a roomy sweatshirt. Her black slacks and plum sweater clung in all the wrong places and she’d never wished more for a ponytail holder to hold her long hair from her face.
The graying lawyer greeted them at the door, shaking their hands. “Damn sorry about all this. Melissa and Alec were good people.”
Really? The weight of what her sister and Mason’s former best friend had done hung heavy in the room.
Her parents had already been seated.
Mason cleared his throat. “I don’t mean to be rude, but can we get on with this?”
Hattie sympathized with what he must be going through. Just as she had guilt, he must harbor anger. Granted, Mason had left Conifer years ago and his absence no doubt tempered the initial sting of finding his wife in bed with his best friend, but there wasn’t a statute of limitations on that sort of thing. Hattie couldn’t imagine how Mason now felt regarding the lovebirds’ sudden deaths.
Benton’s office could’ve been featured on a special episode of Hoarders. Stacks upon stacks of files leaned precariously on every available surface.
Behind his desk, Benton shuffled through three more leaning piles. He tugged one out, only to have the whole pile follow in a paper-work avalanche. “Oops.” He flashed them all a reassuring smile. “Happens all the time. Give me a sec, and we’ll be back on course. Hattie, Mason, please, have a seat.”
Mason knelt to assist with the cleanup.
Normally, Hattie would’ve helped, too, but at the moment, she lacked the strength.
“There we go,” Benton finally said, reassembling the file he’d previously held. “Thanks, Mason.”
“No problem.”
“All right, then, let’s skip formalities and get right to the meat of the matter.”
“Perfect.” Lyle took Akna’s hand.
Hattie wished for someone to comfort her.
Two additional padded folding chairs faced Benton’s desk. Mason sat in the one nearest the window.
Hattie took the other.
To Hattie, Benton said, “Having Vivian and Vanessa changed your sister—softened her to a degree I’m not sure she allowed most people to see.”
Resting his elbows on his knees, Mason grunted.
Hattie commenced with squirming, carefully avoiding brushing against Mason in the too-close space.
“She was highly superstitious about Alec’s flying. After their marriage, he had me write up a will, stating her his sole beneficiary.”
Sighing, Mason asked, “What does any of that have to do with me?”
Hattie pressed her lips tight to keep from saying something she might regret. Mason had a right to be angry with Melissa, but he didn’t have to be rude. Even though Hattie had her own issues with her sister, when it came down to it, she’d loved her as much as everyone else had in their small town. Melissa’s beauty and spirit had been irresistible. Their parents hadn’t been upset with their eldest for having an affair. Instead, they’d believed Mason—formerly a commercial fisherman—in the wrong for being gone so many days at sea, especially at a time when she’d needed him more than ever.
The lawyer closed the file and sighed. “I’m afraid this has everything to do with you, Mason—quite literally. Alec left the entirety of his estate to Melissa....”
Akna held a tissue to her nose. “Please, hurry.”
“Of course.” Benton consulted the file. “Bottom line, Melissa bequeathed everything to Hattie and Mason in the event both she and Alec passed at the same time.”
“What?” Lyle released Akna to stand. “That’s ridiculous.”
“Surely, not everything—not...the girls?” Tears streamed down Akna’s weathered cheeks.
Benton nodded. “Afraid so.”
“Why?” Hattie asked.
“This might explain.” He handed a letter to Mason, but Mason held up his hands. “You read it. I don’t want anything to do with any of this.”
Akna shot him a dark look.
“Very well...” Benton took the sealed letter, opened it, then began to read.
“Mason—
If you’re reading this, my dreams were indeed the premonition I’d feared. I know you never held