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But I couldn’t give a single shit.
My family was safe.
I’d left the rest up to fate.
And judging by the screams I’d heard, fate had spoken.
MISSY
Two Weeks Later…
“Thank you all for coming today.”
That was all I heard.
The rest of the service passed in a blur. Jared’s family got up to speak about what an amazing man he was and tell stories about how he loved cars and being a dad.
I sat at the back of the church.
Kadey sat in my lap, and a few tears snuck from the corner of her eyes.
I wasn’t completely sure if she understood that he wasn’t coming back, ever. But there was one thing I knew for sure. When she was old enough, I would make sure she knew how much he loved her.
Because maybe he hadn’t shown it all that well.
But he’d proved it far beyond belief on his last night.
And I would be forever grateful that he stepped up when it mattered.
That he loved her and protected her, and because of that, I didn’t lose her.
When things were said and done, we made small talk with Jared’s mom and sister, telling them we would keep in touch so they could see Kadey often. Then we walked out of the church, and I spotted Hawk across the street, leaning against his truck.
Waiting for us.
The second we cleared the road, Kadey raced toward Hawk with her arms up. He caught her tiny body, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, snuggling in close to him. “We go home now,” she murmured. “I don’t want to go to any more sad parties.”
I fought the burn in the back of my throat, tears threatening to break free. “Me neither, baby girl,” I whispered, rubbing her back.
Hawk placed her into her seat. We made it, all of three minutes, down the road before exhaustion took over, and she was snoring soundly.
I wasn’t surprised.
The nightmares had been lessening, but at that point, she had one at least every other night.
More often than not, she called out for Hawk in her sleep, and when she woke up from them, she often wanted him, even if it was just so she could see he was there before she cuddled up with me and went back to sleep.
She found safety in him.
It didn’t upset me to have her ask for him instead of me at times. I was so damn glad.
“Do you think one day, when I tell her what happened… she’ll blame me?” Saying those words hurt, but not saying them didn’t make the worry any less real.
Jared was dead because of the choices I’d made.
Being at the park that day.
Talking to Grace.
