“I believe he would have been proud to know that the legacy I’m choosing to invest in is the one where Lochbrae remains a place where young people can find a safe space. It’s where I always felt safest growing up, and I want to provide that for other children who need it. And…I’ve realized that biology doesn’t equal legacy.”
“It sure doesn’t,” Jo agreed.
“Family are the people you choose to love,” I said, pausing to let her type. I didn’t need to have biological children to be the man Grandad wanted me to be. “The people you choose to surround yourself with.” So whether my foster placements were with me for a couple months or several years, they’d always have a home at Lochbrae.
“This is all very admirable, Weston,” Jo said, pausing, “but it also sounds like a lot of work for a man who’s got a company to run.”
“It will be,” I agreed. “But sharing Lochbrae with the people who need it most, the kids who need safety and support and love…that matters more than whatever renewable project Kincaid Energy has coming down the line next. I know Grandad would agree with that, and I think he’d be even prouder if I found a person to help me navigate this new chapter of my life.”
Jo shot me a twinkling smile. “It has to be the right person, I suppose?”
“Yes,” I said. “Someone who makes my coffee perfect every time. Someone who knows how to pick me up after a bad day. Someone who lights up my world.” I licked my lips as Jo typed, trying to keep from getting choked up. “That’s a person Itrustcompletely. The only person I’d trust to step into the shoes of my grandparents with me. Someone I love with all my heart.”
“If you could say one thing to this person,” Jo asked softly, “what would it be?”
“I’d say…” My voice grew thick. “I’d say that I’d like the opportunity to apologize in person, if she’d be willing to give me another chance.”
Jo closed her laptop with a softthunk, concluding the interview. I let out a heavy breath. Relief bled through me, not because it was done but because I’d had the courage to do it in the first place.
“I’ll have this typed up by the end of the day,” Jo said.
I got to my feet. “You know where to send it?”
Jo picked up a notepad from her desk. “I’ve got an address in Houston, her parents’ house in Ohio, and Tess’s ranch in Montana. I’ll mail out physical copies to all those places. And just to be sure, I’ll send her a link to the article via email.”
“Okay, that’s…” I frowned. Was it enough?
“Don’t worry,” Jo said, reaching out to squeeze my hand. “The wordswillget to her.”
But the response was all up to Lena. And that was the part I was less certain about, but I had to try. I was accused of walking away when things got difficult and messy. What I was proposing now was equal parts both and that much more, and as nervous as I felt about this next step, I was prepared to move forward with or without her, but I really hoped it would be with her.
31
LENA
What the absolute fuck am I doing?
My entire body trembled as I turned up the drive to Lochbrae, and I sucked in a sharp breath, attempting to steady myself, attempting to stop myself from shaking out of my skin. Nerves roiled in my gut. Nerves and panic and so much anxiety I thought I was going to be sick. And there, swirling in that gross, panicky mix, was the smallest bubble of hope.
Ridiculous, delusional hope.
Why am I doing this to myself?
Tess had asked me the same thing when Jo’s article had turned up at her place in Montana. Was Weston worth tearing myself open again? Was he worth flying halfway across the world?
I’d pored over the article, over his words, again and again, until the paper had started to wear away at the edges and crumble along the seam where I’d folded it.That’s a person Itrustcompletely…Someone I love with all my heart.
Someone who claimed he wanted to apologize. I couldn’t deny that I wanted to know if Weston Kincaid truly knew what it would take to work his way back into my life again.
A ball of emotion lodged in my throat, my eyes fighting a familiar pressure matched by the churning in my stomach as I pulled up in front of the castle, that familiar, towering building more daunting than ever. I hadn’t known how to answer Tess before I left. I hadn’t known if Weston was worth coming all this way. I didn’t really know if he’d changed. Words were just words. Anyone could say nice things and put them in print. I still didn’t know the answer now as I sat in my rental car, engine running.
But I wanted to find out. Because he’d said he was staying here, permanently.
He was committing himself to this community.
He was opening his home to children who needed it.
If all that was true, then he wasn’t the same man who’d broken my heart. Not anymore. Now he was someone who was trying to do better. Andthat’swhy I was here. Because part of me knew I’d never find peace until I heard him out. I’d spend my life wondering if he reallyhadchanged and I’d missed my chance at happiness. That wasn’t a reality I wanted to live with.
