“Hey, Kier.” Grant smiled. It was a fragile thing, shaky and uneven, but happy. Content. Not what Kieran had expected to see when he’d walked into the room. It unlatched something in his chest, a door he’d been holding shut against all the things he feared from his parents. His mother had battered that door, but one smile from his father had Kieran holding it open wide.
He was at Grant’s side in an instant, forgoing the single chair in the room to kneel by the bed.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t get here earlier.” Kieran wrapped his hand around his father’s forearm, squeezing softly. “I’m glad you made it through okay.”
“Hurts an awful lot,” Grant said, grunting as he tried to shift.
“Need me to get somebody?”
Grant waved a hand, the motion sluggish. “Nah, I’ll be fine. Can’t have more medicine yet anyway, Doc said I need to wait another hour.” He paused, his gaze settling on Kieran’s face. “Thanks for coming, kid.”
Kieran nodded. “Of course.” And even though both of them were happy to see one another, the air between them still felt heavy. Awkward. All of Kieran’s words from their video call spread in the space between them. Glass strewn over their only path ahead.
“Listen, Kier.” Grant sucked in a breath, clenching and unclenching his jaw several times before continuing. “Garrett’s gonna start helping out around the farm.”
Oh. Kieran’s calves were beginning to burn, so he reached back, yanking the chair closer. “What’s that going to look like?”
Grant sighed. “Not entirely sure yet. But I need help, something your mother has reminded me of daily for the past two years, and hewantsto help.”
“So it’s over? All the time you two spent fighting?”
Grant frowned. The lines of time etched into his face seemed more prominent than they’d ever been before. “Funny thing about fighting with someone you’re tied to for life. After enough time goes by, it all starts to look a little less important. We both said our piece. Putting it all out there, into simple words. With all this”—Grant patted close to his hip—“going on, it made the whole thing look sorta silly. Besides…” He paused, raising a brow in Kieran’s direction. “I’m not going to keep pretending that you’re responsible for my future.”
Years. Years of two old men set in their ways, letting their anger turn into a palpable, pervasive thing, and all it took in the end was an honest, open conversation. Kieran still didn’t even know what it was that had cracked open the divide in their family, but maybe Kenna was right. Maybe, at the end of the day, it didn’t really matter. If the two brothers were willing to let the anger between them finally rest, then Kieran could move on from it as well.
Even still, guilt gnawed at him. It wasn’t thathedidn’t want to help. “Dad, I never wanted to leave you in the lurch. I just… didn’t want to be your only option. I’ll always help. Anytime you need me, I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“But your life is on a different track now.” Grant reached up, rubbing at the stubble around his jaw. “Took your mom and I a long time to see it.” He cut a sharp gaze that lacked any heat toward Kieran. “Could have eased us into it a little more.”
Kieran’s eyes fell to his hands, to where his fingers played with the edge of Grant’s thin blanket. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to get so upset with you, that’s never how I wanted any of this to come out.”
Grant grunted an affirmative sound. “Have you apologized to your mother yet?”
Kieran nodded, still unwilling to meet his father’s stare. “Didn’t go all that well. She… she doesn’t approve of what I’m doing. Of the decisions I’ve made for myself.”
Long fingers wrapped around Kieran’s hands, stilling his fidgeting. There was the strength he’d always seen in his father. Localized to one point, to the hand that held onto Kieran. A strength that had always protected him, that was searching for a way to do so now.
“I can’t promise you that she’ll come around.” Grant’s voice was soft. A little sad. A fist tightened around Kieran’s chest, even if he’d already known the truth in his father’s words. “She was raised a certain way, with certain ideals and expectations. A moral compass that has been hard to keep pointing the right direction as the world threatens to move on without her. I’m not saying she’s right,” Grant sighed. “But give her some time. She loves you, more than anything. If there’s anyone she’ll come around for, it’s gonna be you, kid.”
Every breath that Kieran pulled in felt sharper than the last. He steeled himself. “And what about you?” He finally looked up, meeting his father’s watery eyes once again. “You gonna come around on this life I’ve picked out?”
Grant blew out a hard breath, puffing his cheeks. “It’s a lot to wrap my head around. Think I’ll probably need a little more info about what all it is you’re doing before I feel totally comfortable with it.” He squeezed Kieran’s hands again. “But I trust you, Kier. Always have, always will. You’re good. Good to others, good to yourself. If this is what you want to do, if this is what makes you happy, who am I to tell you whether it’s right or wrong?”
The fist holding tight to Kieran’s heart loosened at last. He could breathe deeply for the first time since setting foot in thehospital that morning. The weight of his mother’s anger, of her disappointment, it still pressed in on him from every side. But knowing that at least one of his parents had his back, that was enough. Enough for Kieran to finally,finallysee the path forward.
“You should rest.” Kieran rose, but Grant still held onto him, gripping his wrist with a feeble strength.
“I love you, kid. Always have, always will.”
Kieran swallowed thickly. He didn’t want to cry here, not when Grant needed sleep and peace to recover.
“Thanks, Dad,” he said with a nod, gripping Grant’s wrist tightly. “Love you, too.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
THE CHICAGO WILDCATS won the first two games of the championship tournament.
As the ball slapped down on their opponent’s side of the net, Sammie let out a whooping cheer that was drowned out by the rest of the bar’s patrons. A week at her new job, and she’d already converted more than a few of the regulars into volleyball fans.
