AllFreeNovel
Share Us
So much anger, and back then, Luke hadn’t learned how to deal with it. He wasn’t sure he knew how to manage it now, but he felt much more in control now than he’d been then.
“I deserved my time in prison,” Luke said, the last of his resistance to the involuntary part of his sentence fading into nothing. “I probably deserved a whole lot more.”
He bowed his head and let his tears drip down his face. He’d never cried over what he’d done, but faced with the headstone, the full weight of what Luke had done was simply too much to handle.
Where do I go from here?
He’d felt like this in the nine months leading up to his trial, and every day since the conviction.
“What do I do?” he whispered. He tipped his head back and looked up into the clear, blue Texas sky. “Help me.” He’d never been terribly religious, but he really needed the help of the Lord right now.
He needed to believe he could find his second chance at a real life.
He needed to believe he still had worth, despite what he’d done.
He simply needed someone to tell him how much he meant to them.
His phone chimed, and Luke sniffled as he straightened. Slate had texted to say,I’m thinking about you right now. Are you okay?
Luke’s throat closed again, and he quickly tapped out,Not really. At the cemetery right now. I’ll call you later.
Cemetery?Slate said anyway, and the phone rang.
Luke needed more time to stuff his emotions away before he spoke to Slate. He didn’t want to admit he’d been crying, and embarrassment squirreled through him. He swiped the call away, telling himself he really would call his best friend later.
The silence in the cemetery brought peace to his soul, and Luke seized onto it. The breeze kicked up, and Luke took a deep breath of it. The pathways in his mind opened, and Luke could see some things with exactness.
He wanted to be here in Texas, but not at Wolf Mountain Resort.
He wanted to be at Hope Eternal Ranch with his friends—and with Hannah.
He was in love with Hannah Otto, and while he couldn’t fathom how she could possibly love him, he had high hopes that if he could get past this roadblock, he could work on becoming the type of man she needed and wanted.
He thought about what else he needed to accept and face. Probably the men at the gym he’d had to walk away from. He had to make peace with Atticus and anyone else who had been affected by his behavior from that time of his life.
Taking a deep breath, he looked down at the headstone again. “I really am sorry,” he said, unable to find more adequate words.
“What are you doing here?”
Luke turned around to find a man and a woman standing on the bottom step of the natural staircase that led back up to the main level of the cemetery. Robert had been buried down on a terrace, and Luke was surprised he hadn’t heard their footsteps on the rock stairs.
The woman held a bouquet of flowers, and the man kept his hand on her arm, almost like he had to hold her back from flying at Luke and clawing his eyes out. They both stared at him, their frowns deepening the longer he stayed silent.
Cold fear gripped his heart when he realized who he was looking at.
Robert’s parents.
