Page 44 of Worth of Waste

But for now …

Karen came to stand at the threshold of the front door, expectantly staring at him from her position. “You coming in or are you just going to sit out there all day?”

He was coming.

Of course, he was.

Opening the car door, Dino stepped out and felt the weight on his shoulders leave for a moment. He could pretend for the weekend that things were perfectly fine—that his life wasn’t about to be in shambles again, and that nothing was wrong.

He could have this weekend, surely.

Enjoy his freedom.

Spend time with his son.

Dino found Karen still watching him, her gaze soft and her smile waiting.

Maybe she and him would have a moment or two …

He was going to let her decide that, as he had far too many other things to consider and plan for, and he already knew what he wanted from Karen.

Her.

Him.

Happiness.

Love.

Things that at one time had been so foreign to him, but he now understood the preciousness they held when placed in his hands. As strange as it was, he didn’t want to have those things torn from his grasp again, and that really only left Dino with one option.

The only things worth having were worth fighting for.

He’d never fought for anything before.

His siblings’ happiness, sure. Their freedom, of course. A position that he never really wanted, yes.

None of those things had ever really been for him. None of those things had ever been something he could hold up and call his own. Dino wanted that—he wanted something that was solely his because he’d earned it, and because he loved it enough to fight for it.

With his arms loaded down with bags, Dino crossed the gravel driveway, stepping up onto the porch where Karen still stood.

“It’s a little chilly in there,” she said.

Behind her, he could hear Junior smacking something and giggling in that boyishly baby way of his. It didn’t take much to make that kid happy, thankfully.

“We’ll get a fire going,” he told her.

Karen nodded. “You okay?”

“Sure. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You look like something is on your mind.”

Dino smiled—something he didn’t mind doing around Karen. “Something is always on my mind.”

“That could be a dangerous thing, Dino.”

She didn’t know how right she was.