Liam drags my head down, pressing his lips to my forehead and holding me there for several moments as the night settles around us. "You're really okay with this?"
I release a heavy sigh.
No one is going to pay for what happened.
No one is going to pay for what was done to me and the McBrides.
At least, that’s what I initially thought, but as the day has gone on, I realized that the person responsible already has.
He's gone.
The man who did this to me, the man who hurt me, never can again.
And the one who brought me back to life, who gave me a life, now has his arms wrapped around me, and he continues to be my rock, my safety, my everything every damn day.
"This is all I need, Liam.” I raise a hand vaguely toward the sky. “This right here. You and McBride Mountain and this beautiful sky. Everything beyond it could vanish as far as I care."
He kisses my temple, tightening his hold on me. "That's the same way I feel about this place and about you. And if you're okay with this resolution, then the rest of us will be."
"Are you sure?"
The fallout from the attack on the homestead has been more than just legal.
Since doing what he had to that night, since killing those men, Connor has been untouchable. He's holed himself up in that cabin and barely left, only coming down to eat, where he barely touches his food and hardly says a word. He sits in the office at his desk, staring absently at the wall or a paper I know he isn't reading, going through the motions without really interacting with anyone or enjoying anything.
Liam, Killian, Willow, and I have all tried to talk to him.
We've all tried to get through.
He doesn't want to talk—the same way Liam never did about what he was dealing with—but the crushing weight of it is really starting to wear down on him.
"I'm worried about Connor."
Liam nods. "We all are."
"You really think he'll be okay with this?"
"He doesn't have a choice. We all have to be…"
And that's the real lesson—that sometimes in life we don't have a choice. Sometimes things happen to us, and all we can do is deal with them and live with the fallout.
It's taken me a long time to realize that what happened with “Brad” wasn't my fault, though there are times when I look at the giant scar on Liam's shoulder and remember how close I was to losing him, that I have to force myself to hear Willow's words over and over again assuring me of that.
"You really think he'll be okay?"
Liam nods. "I do. Eventually."
A door slams somewhere on the property, and I jerk up slightly, glancing at Liam, whose eyes narrow through the darkness.
We both listen as familiar voices float through the night air.
I glance at him. "Is that Connor?"
He nods.
"And Raven?"
His jaw tenses. "Sure sounds like it."
