It’s the last thing I feel before I shut the door, leaving him behind in the dust and the silence.
I drive off, but I can’t shake the feeling that I’ve just made everything worse.
As I go, the tears come harder, faster, stinging my cheeks as I grip the steering wheel tight. The road blurs in front of me, the edges of everything I thought I knew slipping out of focus.
I should’ve expected this reaction from him, should’ve known he’d shut down. I shouldn’t have let myself believe it could go any other way.
IknowI did the right thing. Clint had to know the truth, but the rejection hurts like hell.
Charlie doesn’t deserve that pain.
I pull into Alice’s driveway, the familiar sight of her little house offering me no comfort now. It’s just another reminder that things are changing, and I have no idea how to hold on to what’s left.
I blink away the last of the tears and take a shaky breath, wiping my face with the back of my hand.
I can’t break down in front of Charlie either. Not when I’ve promised myself I’d make this work for him. He doesn’t need to see me like this.
I park the car and sit there, the engine off, but everything heavy. I try to take a deep breath, but there’s no room in my lungs. I’m suffocating under everything I’ve kept hidden for so long.
Shaking my head, I push the door open and step out, forcing my feet to move. The gravel crunches beneath my boots, the sound oddly comforting in its normalcy, a reminder that the world keeps turning even when my world is falling apart.
I walk up the front porch, my hand on the railing, trying to calm myself down. When I knock, the door swings open almost immediately, and there’s Alice, smiling warmly, her arms open for a hug.
“You okay?” she asks, already reading me.
I force a smile, though it feels fake on my face. “Yeah, just… one of those days, you know?”
She gives me a knowing look, but she doesn’t push. “Charlie’s in the living room. He’s been talking about you all morning.”
I nod, my heart giving a little twist at the thought of him. My little boy. He has no idea what’s going on, and he just wants his mom to be okay.
I step inside, hearing Charlie’s laughter from the other room. He’s playing with something, probably one of Alice’s old toys, full of the innocent joy I crave right now.
I walk toward the living room, my eyes starting to sting again. But when I see his little face light up, my breath catches. There he is. My Charlie.
“Mom!” he cries, his face lighting up like the sun.
He runs to me, and in that moment, everything else fades away. We’ve always been just the two of us, and if that’s the way it needs to stay, then so be it. We can cope, we can survive. I have faith in us.
No matter what, me and Charlie will be okay.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Clint
Hours later,the shock hasn’t faded—if anything, it’s heavier.
Charlie is my son? Mine? That boy I’ve been having a great time getting to know is…mine? I really can’t wrap my head around it.
All the moments with him, the way his face lit up when I showed him how to tie a knot, the way he asked me about the horses as if he’d already had the heart of a ranch hand… none of it feels different, but it is.
All those little moments hit me in a new way now.
I feel it deep in my chest, a knot tightening every time I think about it. Dakota kept this from me for so long. She kept it from me to protect him, protect herself. Hell, maybe she even thought she was protecting me.
But damn if it doesn’t feel like I’ve been punched in the gut. The fire this morning barely registers compared to this.
I look over at Sawyer, his cool eyes watching me with that knowing patience he always has. He understands this better than I do.
