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Chapter 32
Faye
“Oh my God,” Thane says looking at the picture of me on Space Mountain from the first day. We just picked up all of our photos, and I don’t think it’s that bad, is it?
“You look petrified!”
“I was,” I tell him and can hear the boys wrestling in their room.
“Well, regardless, you’re still beautiful.”
“Oh please.”
“What? It’s the truth,” he says and kisses my cheek. I glance at the clock and know we need to get heading out, even though I don’t want to. “Boys, you ready?” I call out, and Thane says to me, “Do we have to go?”
“I know, I don’t want to either, but we have to.”
“It’s so perfect being here, with our own room and this bed.”
And it has been amazing. I’ve loved our time here so much and will always cherish it. As nervous as I was to come here, with this being on Ben’s bucket list, that didn’t seem to come into play. We made the trip all our own, just the four of us, and deep down inside of me, I know Ben watched over and is proud of every step I’ve taken towards healing. Looking back, those steps would not be possible without Thane. He’s so patient and loving and shown me it’s okay to be myself, to love again in my own time. And that is exactly what’s happening; I’m falling in love with Thane, and Jack too. And there is no stopping it, I’m on a one-way track looking forward and hope to never go back to my dark, painful days.
***
“Let’s just stay at your house,” I tell Thane as we drive away from the airport in Seattle. It’s closest, and the boys are passed out.
Thankfully, the flight was smooth again, this time my prior anxiety had vanished. Thane was right, all I needed was to fly under the control of a capable pilot, and that is exactly what Thane is…very capable.
“You sure?” he asks me.
“Yeah, Braxley has clothes for school, and I could use a good night’s rest in your bed.”
“You should get a new bed,” he tells me, and I know I should. I should do a lot of things, but some of the things I have to face in the future are scary and will push my limits, and right now I’m in such a good place, I don’t want that to happen. I don’t want to go back; I want to let the past go and focus only on the future, my future with Thane.
“One day, I’ll handle everything I still need to.”
“And until then, you could just move in with me? You have to admit our time was perfect, from the boys to us, we are all meant to be together. So why don’t we stop carting them around and live together?”
I think about his offer and know he’s right. I know I can’t have them move into my home, it would be wrong.
“So it’s settled?” I ask.
“Absolutely, so it’s settled!”
And I guess it is. As we pull up to his house, we both glance back at the boys. They are out cold, which is to be expected—we did stay in California longer than we’d planned. But it’s hard to leave when you’re having the time of your life.
I unstrap Braxley, and he takes Jack, then we head inside his home and lay them down in Jack’s bed. Neither of them moves a muscle as I cover them up and we close the door to Jack’s room.
“They’re so cute,” I tell Thane, and before he can respond, we’re both startled by a shadow across his house. He flips a light on to expose Charlene sitting on his sofa.
“What the fuck are you doing here in the dark, crazy?!” he asks her angrily and she looks at the way he’s protectively holding me behind him.
“You know, I was minutes away from calling the cops, Thane. It’s goddam one in the morning.”
“And I’m seconds away from calling the cops. You can’t come in here like this. I told you that already.”
I can see the despair in her eyes. She’s scared for the safety of her son, and I get that. With her and Thane separating and her giving up her shopping addiction, Jack’s all she’s got.
“You promised me you’d call when you landed. I’ve been calling you for hours, and your phone is off. What did you expect?”
