AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Now, now,” Korrine chastises, squeezing my arm again before pulling away. “How many years have you put yourself through the wringer?” She raises a brow when I blow out a breath, willing the stupid tears to melt away.
“Since the moment I left,” I mumble.
“And she knows it?” she asks as we both take sips of tea. “You’ve explained and said your sorrys?”
“Of course.” I set my glass back down on the tiny table between us, staring at the miles of nothing again, getting lost in the blissful breeze and the sounds of insects. “I’ll say I’m sorry forever until I’m blue in the damn face and have bruises on my knees. Even if she forgives me, I’ll remember what I did and how it affected everyone. I don’t expect anyone in this situation to forgive me, though. I know I wouldn’t.”
“There’s a blessing with forgiveness. Humans never forget what happened but find it in their hearts to forgive, anyway. Some way, somehow, it happens. Not many people know, not even my own children, but the love of my life left me after one year of marriage. Said he couldn’t do it anymore and disappeared for a week.”
“Why?” I ask, swallowing hard.
“Who knew with that man? We were young and in love, moving through this world at warp speed.” She shakes her head.
“He came back?”
“On his hands and knees, begging me to forgive him for being the biggest dummy in history.” She sniffles a little, folding her hands on her lap. “He just needed to sow his wild oats one last time before settling down. The week he came back, well… Leon came nine months later. It wasn’t as blissful as a marriage like Hallmark would lead you to believe, but we managed. We loved hard. Played hard. Life is full of ups and downs, betrayals, and misfortune. But as long as you keep getting back on your feet and showing that woman how much you care. Then you’re on the right path, Asher Montgomery.”
I swallow my tears. “Thank you,” I murmur as the quiet envelops us again. The only sounds are nature, and the girls getting louder and louder with their conversation through the open window.
My heart beats double time when River’s voice floats through the air again, confiding in Ode about her concerns about the future, but the one line filled with so much despair has my breaths coming in short pants and sweat breaking across my skin.
“They could leave us again. They are in a band. What happens when they go on tours? They’ll leave for months at a time. What about Ly? How the hell is this all going to work out into a happy ending, Ode?”
“So, now you know what you have to do,” Korrine says cryptically, staring at the leaves ruffling in the wind. “Make it happen, or all your pain and suffering will be for nothing. You’ll lose her again, before you have a chance to keep her.” With that, she gets up from her rocking chair on unsteady legs and enters the house, leaving me to stew in my thoughts.
Yeah. I know exactly what I need to do so River never has to worry about if we’re leaving or staying.
I’ll make the ultimate sacrifice for her and Lyric. And hopefully, the others will, too.
I’m never drinking fuckingtequila in the middle of the day. Ever again. Even if Ode convinces me, it’s a good idea. It’s not. Or maybe it was.
Talking to Ode is like walking through the front door of my house. She’s warm and inviting and always knows the right thing to say. I’m still surprised she gave me the green light to follow my weary heart into the ultimate make-or-break situation.
I’m so tired of fighting with myself. With the thoughts rumbling in the back of my mind, screaming at me to fall into their familiar arms. They’re my home, too. For some strange, out-of-this-world reason, my heart aches for them.
I take a deep breath, grounding myself in the present. Forgiveness is my new state of mind. The mantra I’m going to live and die by when I sit the boys down tonight and tell them all is forgiven in my eyes. Peace washes through me, relaxing every muscle in my body. Just at the simple thought of no longer holding the hostility inside my warring mind.
My burning anger sizzles into ashes. And it’s gone…
Korrine and Ode lean against the white railing of the wrap-around porch. Asher, bless his heart, stands beneath them on the ground with his back to me. The women nod a few times as he shoves his hands into his pockets. His shoulders deflate.
I yearn to see the expression on his face.Look at me, damnit.What is going through your head? I’m so desperate to hear what they’re discussing.
“Auntie Ode doesn’t like Daddy,” Lyric says with a little yawn in the back seat, staring in their direction.
Yeah, because your daddy did some fucked up things in the past. But the past is the past. My forgiveness shouts, reminding me.
“She has her grown-up reasons for it,” I say, leaning my head against the cool glass window, letting it soak into my drunk-ass brain.
There’s no way I’m getting into this discussion with a four-year-old who repeats everything word for word. If she found out what her daddy did all those years ago, she’d hate him forever. Or be so hurt she wouldn’t know how to act. Ly takes everything to heart, and I can’t break hers because of him.
To Lyric, her fathers are the saints on her walls. The music in her speakers. And the blood running through her veins. If I wanted to spoil their image, I would have done it years ago.
Sure, Asher manipulated the situation and fucked us all over, but he’s grown up. He’s making up for what he did. Owning up to his faults. He’s trying to make this right every day. I see it. The guys see it.
“Sorry,” Asher says, climbing into the driver’s seat out of breath, wearily staring at the two women standing on the porch. “I was discussing a few things with Korrine.”
Nothing says suspicious like avoiding eye contact. Even when he starts the car and slowly backs out of their little driveway, he avoids me at all costs.
