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I stiffened at that and forced myself to pull away from my fathers. I cast a glance at Dr. Emory who nodded.
“Um, I wanted to talk to you about that,” I murmured. “I’ve decided to stay in Dare. I love Brody and Quinn and I want to build a life with them. This…this place…” I stammered as I tried to collect myself. “I fit here,” I whispered. “I love you both and I love our family, but here I-”
I could feel the tears starting to build all over again and frustration coursed through me because I’d practiced my little speech over and over again so I wouldn’t sound like a blubbering, emotional mess.
“It’s okay, Beck,” Cade said softly. “I meant could Dr. Emory help me and your father find a therapist in Seattle. We know you’re not coming home with us.”
Surprise shot through me. “How?” I asked, completely dumbfounded.
Rafe put his arm around me. “We knew the second we saw you with your men. You’ve come alive, Beck. Your father and I have been dreaming of seeing that for so long…” His voice cracked and I wasn’t surprised when Cade’s hand found his behind my shoulders.
“We’ve only ever wanted to protect you, son,” Cade said. “But all we ended up doing was drowning you.”
“No-” I said, shaking my head, but my father put his hand on my face to stop the motion.
“We made a lot of mistakes, Beck. We thought by knowing where you were every moment of every day…” He paused before saying, “We were doing that for us. But what you needed was freedom to figure things out. You needed to know that we trusted you.”
“I broke your trust,” I began, but Cade shook his head.
“Not possible. You’re our son. We just…” His eyes connected briefly with my father’s. “We just felt so helpless…like we’d failed you.”
“No,” I said, shaking my head again. Tears stung my eyes and then I was being pulled against his chest.
“We’ll figure it all out, Beck.” I felt him press a kiss against the top of my head. “You, your brothers, your sisters…you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me and your father. You know that, right?”
I nodded because that was all I could do.
“I’m glad you were there that day, Dad,” I whispered.
My father stiffened slightly and then he was holding me tighter. I had no doubt he knew exactly what day I was talking about. It was the day we’d never talked about because we’d both wanted to forget. But I didn’t want to forget anymore. That day had led me here.
“Me too, son,” my father murmured against my head. “Me too.”
Epilogue
Beck
“And Vin is the oldest brother,” Brody said as his fingers tightened around mine.
I hid my smile as I said, “Right.”
A satisfied grin drifted across his handsome face.
“He was up all night studying,” Quinn drawled as his arm around my shoulders drew me even closer to him. We were following my fathers and the rest of my family up the driveway of my Uncle Dom and Uncle Logan’s house. With the dozens of cars in the driveway, we’d had to park farther away since we were the last to arrive. And from the looks of how many vehicles were there, I knew it would be a full house.
“Fuck you, Quinn,” I heard Brody say, though there was no anger in his voice.
“Maybe later, baby,” Quinn said with a laugh. “That is, if Beck can sneak out of his room again…and we can find something to gag you with.”
Brody shot him an irritated look, but as soon as he looked away, he smiled. Not to mention the color that flooded his face.
I had no doubt he was thinking of the night before.
We’d arrived at my fathers’ apartment earlier in the day after making the journey from Dare to pack up my stuff. It was something I’d discussed with them just before they’d left. They’d offered to pack up my things and bring them out to Dare themselves, but I’d wanted the opportunity to say goodbye to all the members of my family. It was also my way of saying goodbye to the old Beck.
Brody and Quinn had readily agreed to make the journey with me. So two days ago, we’d packed up Quinn’s truck, grabbed Harley and hit the road. We’d spent the night in a hotel so we’d be fresh when we arrived in Seattle. My fathers had greeted us with open arms, but as soon as they’d found out we had plans to stay at a nearby hotel, they’d nixed that idea and had informed us we’d be staying with them. I hadn’t missed the smirk on my father, Rafe’s face as Cade had made that particular announcement. But before I could say anything, Cade had shown us to the guest room and declared it Brody and Quinn’s room. And then he’d told them I’d be staying in my room.
When I’d tried to intervene, Cade had pointedly asked my lovers if they had a problem with that. From the looks on their faces, they most certainly had, but both had stood before him like little kids and politely shaken their heads. I’d sworn I’d even heard Brody call my father, “sir.”
