A Lifetime of Afters: A Second Chance Romance (Sage Ridge Book 1) by Devin Sloane

Author:Devin Sloane [Sloane, Devin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-04-19T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-One - Love Him

Back at home in my childhood bedroom, I woke slowly to the sound of a soft knock at my door. My heart leapt in my chest.

Hawk.

Sitting up quickly, I called out, “Come in!”

Dad opened the door and winced at the look on my face. “I’m sorry, honey.” A cup of coffee in his hand, he crossed to my bed and sat on the side.

“How many times have you sat in this exact spot?” I asked, my voice gritty from the night before. “I bet you didn’t think you’d still be doing this at thirty-five years old, did you?”

He shook his head sadly. “I’ll do it when you’re eighty-five.”

Tears sprung to my eyes, and I impatiently wiped them away. “Friggity-frack! I’ve barely cried in ten years and now I can’t seem to stop.”

Setting my coffee on the nightstand, a small, sad smile on his face, he said, “Lou’s right. It’s been a long time coming.”

“Dad,” I whispered, thinking of the drama that unfolded the night before. “What have I done?”

“Nothing,” he shook his head firmly. “Our family has been broken for a long time. First, we lost Hunter, then Hawk disappeared inside his head. Not that long afterwards Mom got sick and we lost her, too. Then you stopped coming home, Max does nothing but work, and Harley’s temper goes off at the slightest provocation.”

“And what about you, Lou, and Dan?”

“You can’t weather those kinds of losses and not change. But where you kids withdrew into yourselves, we turned to each other.” He looked at me thoughtfully. “Do you know I moved in with Lou and Dan for six months after mom passed? I couldn’t stay here without her.”

“I’m so sorry, Dad,” I murmured, stricken. “I should have been here. I should have been home.”

“No, Noelle. What I needed, I got from Dan and Lou. But I don’t think you got what you needed to heal.”

Ignoring his last statement, I asked, “Do you want to sell this place? Start over?”

This time when he smiled, humor glinted in his eyes. “You couldn’t get me out of here with a crowbar.” He looked around my room. “Every crack and crevice carries a memory. Most of them, good. All of them, precious. My happiness, the proof of a love well lived, permeates these walls and lives with me still.” He cocked his head as he looked at me. “It’s that connection to Mom, to Max, to you, that keeps me going.”

Connection.

The very thing I’d run from ten years ago. Shutting down to block out the pain.

“Connection,” I repeated.

“It’s everywhere. You just need to let it in when it finds you.” He looked at the floor for a moment, absentmindedly tapping his fingers on his knee. “You’re like me, you know. You and Max both.”

“What do you mean?”

“Mom,” he smiled, “Mom loved with abandon. She chased me relentlessly. Courageously,” he corrected. “I was scared of what she made me feel. It got worse after we had you and Max. I remember asking her about it once.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.