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I imagined I knew what happened to them, and then I heard myself make an offer I never dreamed possible. “Keep it.”
His eyes flew to mine, hope and sorrow mixed. He blew out a breath and looked away. A small sound of distress escaped his throat. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah, Dad. You can have it.”
His head swiveled toward me, naked hope on his face.
“Next time you come, bring Viola with you.”
He swallowed and nodded. Then nodded again. He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out.
I stood when he did, watched his finger caress the edge of the photo before picking it up and tucking it inside his jacket.
He ventured forward a step, clasped a hand around my forearm and squeezed tightly before twisting away and darting for the door.
I watched through the front window as he trudged down the path, head bent against the wind, hands tucked into the pockets of his coat.
Half of me wanted to run as fast and as far away from him as I could.
But it was only half. The half still controlled by my stepmother.
Accepting him into my life would never wipe out the harm he caused me, but his sorrow, his grief, told me I meant something to him.
And that knit together a tiny bit of my wound.
Carefully, I put the photos back into the box. Thought about the new ones of my grandparents I had on my phone.
I had them in me, too.
My mother as well.
My father, though he’d failed, was not evil.
And I was not my father.
Sure as fuck, Hope was not my stepmother.
I picked up my cell.
Siren, Witch, Mother, Warrior
Hope
I glanced at my phone, curious to see who was Facetiming me at nine o’clock at night. Ava had just gone online, and it was still the early hours of the morning for Ares.
He’d only been able to text for the past couple of days. I desperately missed his face. I needed to see him to reassure myself we were still ‘we’. And I hated not knowing what was happening with Inky.
Seeing his name on the screen sent my heart careening out of my chest. I snatched up my phone.
“Hey! Is everything okay?”
“It’s great, baby.”
He lay back on the bed, one arm folded behind his head.
“You look good, honey. Relaxed.” Every day he spent in Greece served to smooth the tension from his face. “Are you showing off your muscles for me?” I teased.
He smiled back at me. “You like?”
