Sara wipes her face, throws the car into drive, and slams her foot on the gas.
Gravel spins in every direction as the tires catch, and the car peels back onto the road.
Two quick lefts.
Then down the ramp, back toward home.
Jaq looks up, confused. “Where are we going, Mommy?”
Sara smiles through tears, her voice breaking wide open.
“Home, baby. We’re going home to Daddy.”
The car merges back onto the highway—this time heading east.
And when Sara glances in the rearview mirror, she sees Jaq grinning out the window—smiling bigger than she has in days.
Then Jaq does something that punches Sara straight in the soul.
A little fist pump. Just one. And a whispered, “Yes.”
Sara lets out a shaky laugh and presses her hand over her heart, because it’s the only way to keep it from shattering all over again. In that moment, she knows—this is right.
This is reckless, terrifying, and so right.
She doesn’t know what’s waiting at the end of that drive.
But she knows who is.
And he’s the one she’s ready to fight for.
73
Echoes of Home
Jaxonsatonthedock, elbows on his knees, the heels of his palms digging into his temples as he tried to make sense of the silence. The morning had already stretched too long. Too empty. He stared out at the sound, watching the tide roll in with the same cruel rhythm as the one that had taken them away.
“How the hell did I let this happen again?” he muttered, his voice hoarse with something he couldn’t swallow down. Loss. Regret. Hope—dragging itself behind all of it like a wounded limb.
He heard the gravel crunch behind him.
Didn’t turn.
Didn’t even breathe.
Probably Carter or Trev, he thought. Coming to check on him. To offer a beer and sit beside him in that heavy kind of silence men use when there are no words strong enough to shoulder the weight.
But then the gravel stopped.
Two doors.
Shut.
Quick.
His eyes stayed locked on the water, whispering into the breeze like it might carry his words to something bigger. “Please bring them back.”
He leaned back, eyes shut, trying to quiet the ache that lived in his chest now like a second heartbeat—when he heard it.
