Herbert McClane
After their visit with the President, Herb found himself wondering what the future would hold for his family. Ezra Hofstetter seemed like a good person, and he can understand why the people in Colorado elected him to lead them. He is fair and just, honest and capable. Gaining a new ally from their union was good for the entire state of Tennessee and Fort Knox. As time goes by, their friendship will strengthen, and he’ll eventually move the people this way. Herb is sure of it.
Losing Derek and Susan and their children to the service of running Fort Knox was not something he wanted to do. However, he understood the necessity of it, even before his son spoke with him. He and Derek had already talked it over, and both realized someone would need to run the fort eventually. There were simply too many people living there to let them fend for themselves. Chaos would’ve quickly ensued after his son’s death. Herb cringes at the thought of what would’ve happened had they not figured out it was Parker who was the traitor in their midst and had been allowed to go on to govern the fort. Robert never really wanted to run the fort anyway. His heart wasn’t in it anymore. It is also probably why he was giving Parker so much leeway in how it was being handled and established. Unfortunately, he doesn’t think Susan will be returning to the farm anytime soon. It will likely be years before they will be able to come home for good. They have been separated from her before. This time just feels a little harder.
Losing his son was also particularly difficult. He will miss him greatly but knows he is with his mother now and in a better place and in a better vessel without pain and regret and illness. His son told him about Lucy and also confessed he was going to tell Reagan. The others do not know, nor will Herb ever tell them. As far as he’s concerned, Lucas is just as much his grandson as the girls are his granddaughters. His grandson doesn’t know, but, of course, his mother does, and if she chooses to tell her only son her secret someday, then Herb will stand by her decision. If not, he’ll respect that decision, as well.
He is anxiously awaiting the arrival of his newest great-grandchild thanks to Hannah and Kelly. She is due very soon, and he is as excited with this one as he was with the others.
“Grandpa?” Gretchen asks from the open front door. “Want a coffee? Hannah told me to deliver this.”
His youngest granddaughter brings a steaming mug toward him and places it on the stand next to the porch swing where he is seated watching the children play on the swingset.
“Thank you so much, my dear,” he says with a smile for his shy, introverted and angry granddaughter. Herb fears that she did not make peace with her father before he died. Sometimes the things we do when we’re young we come to regret later in life. Unfortunately, that’s just how life works. Nobody gets out of it without regrets of some kind. He just doesn’t want her conscience weighed down with anger and regret and spite. She’s too young.
“Sure,” she says tentatively.
“Sit and talk a while?” he requests and pats the padded swing seat beside him.
“Sure,” she repeats and runs a hand through her rumpled hair that has grown out about a good five inches in the past months. She looks cute and vulnerable like an angry puppy with a grudge against the world.
“What’s up?” she asks pluckily.
“Settling in alright?” he asks, concerned for the frequent transitions going on in her life lately. She returned from the fort only to go back and help her mother pack. She ended up staying a few weeks before they came back to the farm. Then she stayed in town for another week with her mother helping her settle in. Now she’s finally where she belongs.
“Yeah, like I never left,” she says.
He can see the cigarette tucked and partially hidden behind her ear, probably something she got from Kelly or one of the people at Fort Knox. He’d like to tell her the health dangers of smoking, but unless someone starts growing and drying tobacco, it shouldn’t last much longer.
“Good, good,” he says. “And your mother? How is Lucille doing?”
“Fine. She likes it in town. She’s made some friends already.”
The thundering of approaching hooves assails their ears, and they both look up to watch Huntley and Cory come to sliding stops in the yard not twenty feet from the porch. Beside him, Gretchen groans without trying to hide it.
She mumbles under her breath, “He’s such a show-off.”
“Boys!” Herb calls out a greeting to them and gets waves in return.
“We’re heading out to do a perimeter check,” Cory says as they approach them. Huntley mimics him, riding bareback. His hair nearly touches his waist now, and he sports a thin braid down the left side of his face. Cory turns to Huntley and says with a smirk, “I still won.”
“You’re riding a high-strung stallion, and I still say it was a tie,” young Huntley returns with as much vigor as ever. He is growing into a fine young man, and Herb is so thankful he came to be on his farm. He’s a good boy, and he’ll be a remarkable, exceptional, and striking man someday. He’s so proud of what he has overcome, what he has accomplished, and what he still sees in Huntley’s future.
“Doc?” Cory yields to him for the verdict of their race.
“Oh, I’m not sure I could give a fair assessment,” he says and turns to Gretchen. “We should look for an unbiased opinion. Miss Gretchen?”
Huntley snorts. “Yeah, right. Like that’s fair.”
“Cory won,” Gretchen announces loudly. “Clearly! It wasn’t even close.”
Huntley drops his reins and throws his hands in the air as if he’s frustrated but also expected this result.
“See? Fair my butt,” the young man protests.
“Yes, you are an ass,” she berates. “I agree to that.”
Huntley says a few words under his breath in his native Navaho tongue and gallops away with Cory on his tail.
“You sure do have it in for that boy,” Herb notes after they are gone.
“He’s…annoying,” she comments with a furrow of her dark brow. Her pale, hazel eyes stare daggers at the boy’s back. She, too, will be a beauty. She already is and doesn’t have much of choice in the matter. It’s in the blood.
“G, come and play!” Jacob cries out from the yard. A few of the Johnson’s children are also playing on the farm today, too. “We’re going to the barn. Hide and seek.”
She looks once at Herb, to which he nods. “Yes, go and play, dear.”
She offers a lopsided, unsure grin and bolts from the porch. Good for her. She needs to be a child a bit longer, or a lot longer. Without Arianna and Justin on the farm to lead the younger ones, they’ll need leadership in their lives.
Laughter to his left draws his attention, and he spies Reagan walking hand in hand with John down the hill from the equipment shed toward the house. It’s good to hear her laugh. She hasn’t done that for a while, especially not since Robert’s passing, which she took hard as he knew she would. He’s glad his granddaughter made peace with her father. She needed that in her life, that feeling of letting go of the past. It is the only way to heal, to let go of that pain and bitterness. With John, she’ll flourish and grow. With her children, she’ll learn to nurture and love even more profoundly.
After they pass, Kelly rounds the porch at a jog and asks, “Hannah inside?”
“I believe she’s in her grandmother’s rose garden, Kelly,” he answers, getting a nod.
“Yes, sir,” he answers with a deep frown of obvious worry. “Thanks. I just wanted to check on her.” His expression turns embarrassed and apologetic.
“I know, son,” he replies. “She’s fine, but you should see for yourself.”
“Yes, sir,” Kelly merely says and jogs away.
Young fathers. So full of worry and concern and angst. Most of his anxiety is for his wife. It seems Kelly Alexander, hardened warrior has been bested emotionally by his fair, young, and innocent granddaughter. Herb is so thankful for them both and that they found each other in this world. She will always be an excellent wife to Kelly, and he’ll always take care of her and their children. Herb just wonders how many they’ll have. Hannah has enough love for a dozen babies. Kelly has enough love for twenty and would still have plenty left over for Hannah.
“Simon!” Samantha calls out in a playful manner from inside the house. “What in the heck are you doing, honey?”
“Oh, uh… just finishing this work with Luke,” he answers his young new wife.
“You promised me a walk,” she says in a slightly pouty tone that Herb knows will earn Sam her way with Simon. Or any other way she would’ve phrased it for that matter. He seems rather content to spoil her and yield to her way in most things.
“Oh, right! Sorry, cutie,” he says. “I’m coming.”
A moment later, they exit through the front door holding hands.
“Hi, Grandpa!” she exclaims with her usual excitement and bright, hopeful blue eyes. “Isn’t it nice out today?”
“Yes, a fine day, indeed, Samantha,” he says with a smile.
“I’ll finish with Lucas later, sir,” Simon makes sure to add quickly. The boys are studying cell mutations. Who knows? Perhaps one of these young doctors on his very farm will someday find the cure to cancer.
“Not a problem, son,” he says, putting his mind to rest. “Take your time. Take all the time you need.”
He smiles knowingly and remembers with a deep fondness and an even deeper sadness the walks he and his Mary used to take. They would walk the grounds of this farm together, planning and preparing for their future. When the girls came to live with them, they’d sit on this very porch watching them play and ride horses and ride the old tire swing tied to the ancient oak and dance and twirl and climb trees. She’d hold his hand and assure him, since he was always more worrisome than she, that everything would work out, that everything would be okay, that the girls would turn out just fine. In the end, as in most things concerning his Mary, she was right, of course. And soon, he’ll see her again. But not today. For today, he is going to enjoy his pipe, a good cup of coffee, and dream of what their future holds. He hopes beyond anything else that his family holds this farm, that they stay together, and that they thrive. After all, the only thing that matters at the end of your life is your family. Leaving this earth is inevitable, but at least he can do so knowing his family will go on. And for that reason alone, Herb can die in peace. But not today.