When he looks at me again, his eyes aren’t angry anymore.
They’re just tired…and sad.
“Of course I care about you,” he says quietly.
The words knock the air out of me.
I shouldn’t be surprised to hear it, but I am.
After everything—the shouting, the accusations, the way he told us to stay the hell away from his daughter—I didn’t think I’d ever hear anything resembling affection from him again.
How he’d left that day, the decision had felt final.
Like a door slamming shut for good. Richard has been more than a friend, he’s always been family and hearing him call us “brothers” one day only to turn around and say we’d betrayed him the next?
That had burned worse than any fight we’d ever had.
I figured that had been the end, him cutting us off for good.
But now, standing in the cold under the dying sunlight, paint still streaked on my hands and the echo of Jared’s threats still fading, it hits me just how much I missed this.
Missedhim.
Grant glances between us, sensing the shift. The bite in his posture softens too. “We miss you, you know. All of us.”
Richard nods slowly, rubbing a hand over his jaw. His tone softens even more when he says, “I miss you all too. I’m…sorry I’ve been away. I just…I needed time to clear my head.”
“You missed quite a bit. Don’t worry, we’re been holding down the fort in the meantime,” I say, trying to lighten things again.
That earns me the faintest ghost of a smile, the kind that used to come easy for him back when things weren’t so damn complicated. “I appreciate that.”
We stand there for a while, none of us really ready to part ways just yet.
When Richard finally speaks again, his voice is a little steadier. “Look, I can’t say I’ve forgiven everything. Not yet. But…I don’t want to be your enemy. Noelle’s my daughter. Eli’s my grandson. I want them safe and whether I like it or not, you’re all a part of that.”
Grant nods. I do too, though it’s harder to swallow past the lump in my throat.
For the first time in a long while, it feels like the distance between us isn’t impossible to cross.
Maybe this fractured piece of us will one day become whole again.
Grant clears his throat quietly, breaking the silence. “You should come back to the house. Noelle and Eli miss you.”
Richard’s jaw flexes.
His eyes drop to the ground, watching his boot scuff the slush in slow, absent motions. “Don’t know if they’re ready to see me. Noelle and I…we had a pretty bad argument.”
I take a small step closer, bridging what little space remains between us, and reach out to clap a hand on his shoulder.
My palm lands firm against his jacket, the weight of the gesture making him lift his head just enough to meet my gaze.
“Don’t. Don’t talk yourself out of it. Just come over. Talk to her. She misses you, I promise.”
His brow creases, a flash of disbelief flickering in his eyes.
I tighten my grip on his shoulder. “You’re her dad, Richard. You’re the only one she’s got. You don’t want to wake up one day. Hell, you don’t want to be on your deathbed regretting everything you never did to fix this. You have the chance right now. Don’t waste it.”
He stares at me for a long moment, something shifting behind his expression.
