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Honestly, I don’t want to. Not if he doesn’t want to tell me.
My father remains quiet, just like he has for fourteen years. I’ve heard whispers of retirement, but I don’t have it in myself to care.
“Want to dress in Mama’s clothes and dance around your room with hairbrushes?” Amy jokes, hugging me as Jake carries my case inside. I still need to get the rest of my things from the house I’m still renting but have hardly lived in.
I kiss her cheek before my mother pulls me into her embrace. I search her eyes.
She’s still sober.
I try to laugh. “We never did that, Amy.”
“We can always start.”
“It’s good to have you home, baby girl.” My mother squeezes my shoulders and spins me around.
What is she doing?
Maybe she isn’t sober.
“We need to feed you.”
“Feed me? Why?”
“You’ve lost weight.”
“Last I checked, I’m okay with that.” I throw out my hands and nod. “My ass needed it.”
“It didn’t,” she fights back, offended on my behalf. “You’re perfect the way you are.”
“That, she is.” Jake dips his chin when he finds three pairs of eyes staring at him. It’s a little adorable.
Smiling, I blow out a breath.
This is it.
The goodbye I always saw coming, but never wanted to happen.
“We’ll give you two a minute.”
Amy squeezes his arm while Mama takes his face in her hands, needing to press on her tiptoes to reach him properly.
“You’re a good man, Jake. Thank you for everything.”
My poor heart can’t take too much more today, but seeing how he pulls my mother into a tight embrace makes it swell so much, my eyes sting.
She cast me a supportive smile before going inside the house.
It’s just us again, and the world fades away.
I sway on my feet.
“Can I get one of those?” I laugh lightly because I’m fighting to keep it together.
He grabs my hand and pulls me to him, wrapping me up so tight I’m almost ready to say I’m okay and I can leave with him again. His heart beats against my ear, and I hold on to the sound for the nights I have without him.
Tipping my head back, I look up while his arms keep me pinned to his chest. He presses a kiss to the top of my head before brushing my hair back from my eyes.
“As much as it’s killing me to let you go, I have to.” His thumb pulls my lip from the hold of my bite. I can’t help but smile because these are memories filled with passion. “You’re not a replacement, Claire. You never were. You’re everything. If there’s ever a day when you’re ready, and you trust in this…Come back to me. I’ll wait. Always. And if it’s not me, then I’ll know I was the lucky bastard who found love again in you.”
