“I will?” he asked.
Timothy nodded.
“It will feel like it won’t happen, but then one day, it will, and he will choose family over career.”
That was hard to believe. He knew that Ethan wanted to climb the ladder.
“So, he’ll marry me?”
Timothy nodded.
“Beneath that fear, the fear of being nothing, that seed has already been planted, Mr. Cantrell. Water it well, and it will come to fruition. Like with the wolves, love is like water, and anger is like the hot sun.”
Oh, he would water the shit out of that.
“Ethan hurts because it is all he knows. You fix that in him because you keep that wolf at bay. He’s seen too much, and he’s lived many lives. This is his final one. This is his last journey to learn life’s lessons. For him, this is the hardest one.”
Gene put the coffee cup down, and he couldn’t help himself.
“How do I fix this?” he asked. “I don’t want to lose him to this.”
Timothy was honest.
“You stop being angry, and instead, love him more. He didn’t leave you because he didn’t love you. He ran because he’s always run when he hurt. He found his mother dead in bed from succumbing to cancer. He ran to my cabin, a mile, in the snow, crying. That was when he raced from what chased him.”
That broke Gene’s heart.
A single tear slipped down his cheek, and he wiped it away. In that moment, that anger was gone.
“He ran from here because of betrayal.”
Oh, he was aware.
“Kaya Cheek.”
Timothy shook his head.
“No. Me. I let them take him, and even as a teenager, close to being a man, he watched me not fight for him. He expects to have to defend himself. Now, you have to start fixing him so one day, he can love fully.”
When the Raven came.
Oh, well, Gene would protect him.
“I’ll never leave his side.”
Timothy knew that wasn’t true. There would come a day when it became so heavy that Gene couldn’t hold the world up anymore, and he would walk away.
And instead of racing back to save Ethan, he would choose himself. Instead of chasing Gene, Ethan would feel lost again, and the Raven would come.
But until then, there were years of love waiting.
And Ethan needed them.
“Here is his location,” he said. “You will find him here,” Timothy offered, scribbling down directions to Callen’s cabin. “Get him out of here. Tomorrow. Please.”
Well, that was something he hoped to achieve. After all, they had to be back inPhillyby Monday.
“I will.”
