“I won't.”
“I mean it, Morgan. I will end you.”
“I know.”
He holds my gaze for a long moment. Then, slowly, he nods.
It's not forgiveness. Not yet. It's something closer to... acknowledgment. A cease-fire.
I'll take it.
Caleb and Nolan converge on their siblings, the four of them tangling into one of those messy Barrett hugs I've always been a part of, but for once I belong on the outside. So they can work it out, and when they’re done, there’s maybe going to be room for me back in that circle.
Someday.
Not today, but someday.
The crowd has mostly dispersed—Holly and Charlie herd people toward the bar with promises of free drinks.
“Everett.”
My father's voice cuts through the noise.
I turn.
He stands at the edge of the great room, my mom at his side. He looks... different than he did this morning. The rigidity in his shoulders has softened. The disappointment that's been etched into his face for months seems lighter somehow.
He walks toward me, and I brace for impact.
Instead, he holds out a beer.
I take it, confused. “Dad?”
“She sees you, son.” His voice is gruff. Rough with something I'm not sure I've ever heard from him before. “That girl. She sees every part of you—the parts you show the world and the parts you try to hide. And she loves all of it.”
My throat tightens. “Dad?—”
“I should have seen it too.” He clears his throat, visibly uncomfortable with the emotion bleeding through his usual stoicism. “I've been so busy trying to hold onto what was that I couldn't see what you were building. What you are building.” He looks around the room—at the guests still lingering, at the lodge that's somehow survived the week despite everything. “Your grandmother would be proud.”
I can't speak. The words just won’t come.
“She always said you'd find your way back.” Bruce'smouth twitches. “Pretty sure she meant to the lodge, but maybe she knew something the rest of us didn't.”
My mom appears at his side, squeezes his arm. Her eyes are misty, but she's smiling.
“Still.” Bruce takes a sip of his own beer, slipping back toward familiar ground. “Shame the lodge isn't a hundred percent in the family anymore. With the Barretts as investors, the legacy's... split.”
I glance over my shoulder at Sierra, her brothers—my brothers.
But what if…Now. Do it now.
“Well.” I set the beer down on the nearest surface. “About that.”
Sierra's still wrapped up with her brothers, but she must sense something shift because her head turns. Her tear-stained face finds mine and she tilts her head.
I cross to her in three strides. Don't give myself time to think. Don't give myself time to second-guess.
“Everett?” Her voice is uncertain. “What are you?—”
