“Don’t be sad, Mommy.”
I took his hand and kissed it. “I’m not. These are happy tears.”
“Because Gabe is with us.”
I laughed, hearing my brother’s chuckle behind me. “Exactly.”
“Why does he call you that?”
I pulled him into my arms and kissed his head, my heart healing more as I said, “Because I’m his light in the darkness.”
Chapter 31
Gabe
Nothing I’d done had left me this nervous aside from leaving Tori and admitting the truth to her. She was the only one who knew the real me, and now I had shared that truth with her family. There were reasons no one knew my past aside from the news it would cause. I didn’t want pity, didn’t need sad looks. It was in the past, even if it had shaped me to be the man I was today.
I rubbed my arms at the cold as we stepped onto the deck. Tori’s father had grabbed a coat, but mine was still in the house. He leaned over the railing and looked out at the yard that was covered with a light dusting of snow.
“Do you love my daughter?”
Blunt and to the point. This was a man who could have given my father a run for his money, and now I saw why he had dared scold my father on his parenting skills.
“I never stopped loving her. The hardest thing I’ve ever done was leave her, but living without her these past years has been just as hard.”
“And Reid?”
“Is amazing, and I hate that he grew up without me, that she had to go through that without me by her side. If I’d known…ifmy sister hadn’t been such a bitch that day, I would have given it all up. I’ve thought about the what-ifs a million times since I found out he’s my son, and I would have fought my father, sold off my holdings if necessary to keep your business and Tori out of his crosshairs.”
“It wouldn’t have stopped him.”
I sighed, tucking my hands under my arms to keep them warm. “No, it wouldn’t have, and Tori would have been miserable. Either way, she would have ended up hurt.”
“So you took the blame.”
Shrugging, I stared at a spot on the deck. “It made sense at the time. And…it still does. She’s thriving. Smart, talented, capable, and Reid is a reflection of that.”
“She pretends to thrive, but she was never the same after you left her. Reid helped. I guess he took away some of the pain, but the damage you left never healed.”
He leaned over the railing, rubbing his hands together.
“I know.” Because the damage had left gashes inside me that were only now healing with her back in my life.
“It takes a lot to sacrifice what you did and to admit the truth like you did. I don’t forgive the hurt you caused my daughter, but I understand your reasoning, and I will forgive when you prove yourself to her.”
“I’ll spend every day of my life proving it to her and to Reid.”
He looked over at me. “Then show us. You have the weekend, and this time, you can sleep in the guest room.”
“Understood.” Not that we were at the point of sharing a bed yet, but he didn’t need to know that.
“If you put her back together, make her whole again, I’ll walk her down the aisle and hand her off to you. If you don’t, I’ll support Cindy’s plan.”
Great, two threats to end my life in one day. I was beginning to suspect there was something I didn’t know about Tori’s family.
It took a while for the awkwardness to dissipate, but by the end of the night, I almost felt like I had the first time I’d met Tori’s family: welcome. There were still a few side glances from her brother, but they lessened through the night. His wife reminded me a lot of Tori, sweet, smart, and strong enough to keep him in line.
As everyone slowly filtered out of the living room, it left me alone with Tori. She and Brandi had tucked the kids in earlier, leaving me with her family, but Cindy’s chatter filled the void. As annoying as I’d found her when I’d first met her, I was thankful for her presence this time.
