“Daddy, he hurt Medusa,” Charlie cried.
Gage let his daughter pull back enough so he could look at the little dog. She was licking Charlie’s fingers. “We’ll get her checked out, honey. She’ll be okay,” he said.
I pressed a kiss against Charlie’s temple, then kissed Gage one more time before I released them both and began walking toward the house. I felt unsteady on my feet, but I kept my eyes on Reese.Nash rushed through the sliding door, followed by Happy. I covered my mouth with my hand when I saw him, because he was covered in blood. He was in my arms a moment later.
“It’s not mine,” he whispered. “I’m okay.”
I managed a nod. “Me too,” I said. “Need to see Reese,” I murmured.
“Go,” he said as he released me and urged me forward. “I need to go up front to meet the cops,” he said.
I hadn’t noticed the sirens before, but I did now. They were close.
I climbed up the deck stairs and reached Reese right before his legs gave out. I caught him as he fell and sank onto the deck floor with him. I didn’t see his cane anywhere, which meant he’d had to walk on his own to get out here.
“Are you hurt?” I asked as I held him. He was breathing hard.
We both were.
“No. You?” He pushed me back so he could look at my head. I could feel blood trickling down the side of my face.
“I’m okay,” I said.
He jerked me into his arms and I felt him shake his head against my shoulder. “He had his gun pointed at your head,” he whispered. “I thought I wouldn’t… that I wouldn’t…”
“You did,” I said to him. “You saved me, Reese. I’m still here.”
He nodded. “I’m sorry, Dad. I’m sorry.”
The whispered words hurt my heart. “You have nothing to be sorry for.”
“I shouldn’t have?—”
I cut him off by forcing him to look at me. “No, we’re not doing this anymore. No more fucking I’m sorrys, do you hear me? We’ve got a second chance, Reese. I’m not wasting even a second of it with regrets.”
Reese nodded. “Me neither,” he agreed.
“We’ll take it slow, okay?”
“Yeah,” he agreed, then he hugged me. “But not too slow, okay, Dad?”
“Not too slow,” I murmured in agreement. I glanced up as Gagestepped up onto the deck, still holding Charlie. He dropped down next to us and wrapped his free arm around me. I had no idea how long we stayed like that for, but it wasn’t until Nash walked through the door with Phillipe at his side and the two men joined in on the embrace that I finally knew everything was going to be okay.
And in that moment, we truly became the family none of us had been expecting, but that we’d all needed just the same.
Epilogue
EVERETT
Four monthslater
“Stop looking at me like that,”Reese said as he cast me a glance.
“Like what?” I asked.
“You know like what.”
“Sorry,” I murmured. “You’re my kid. I’m going to worry.”
