“Then no one can take your choice to miss Uncle Brodie away from you.”
Roman sniffles. “Will you forgive him?”
Chase pauses before asking, “Is that what you want me to do?”
Roman thinks for a minute. “He made Erin’s heart sad,” he says with a tiny frown. “So, if you wanna be mad at him for a little while, I think that would be a’septable. Maybe when you cry out the sadness, Erin can give you a hug and you’ll feel better.”
“Thanks, buddy,” Chase croaks, his voice laced with the weight of everything left unsaid.
Roman throws his arms around both of our necks, smashing us together. Chase’s hand finds mine around Roman’s back and interlocks our fingers. His thumb traces over mine, slow and grounding. When I look up at him, he’s already looking at me.
For the first time in a few days, there’s more than just grief in his ocean eyes. There’s exhaustion but also determination. With one look, he’s promising to always be here.
“We’re going to be okay,” he whispers.
His words aren’t a vow of perfection, but a pledge of effort.
To heal. Together.
Maybe not today, but eventually, we will.
“You and me, Bookworm.”
“You and me, Eighty-Seven.”
Forgiving Brodie doesn’t erase what happened. It doesn’t take away the pain, but it makes room for meaningful memories. For the parts worth keeping.
And I know we’re not walking this path alone. It won’t be easy, but we’ll have each other to lean on and get through it.
As I stare downat Brodie’s smiling face, my muscles tense. That sick, twisting pull that comes every time I remember how we didn’t know who he was attacks. My hand twitches, wanting to hurl the frame across the room, but I don’t.
Quiet murmurs of conversations trickle out from the living room behind me. I catch the edge of laughter, but it’s hollow and forced. The kind that’s given for the sake of someone else. I know that person is Roman. We’re all trying to hold it together for him.
I glance over at my teammates. They lean into each other for support, smiling at Roman, who’s been a champ today as he draws on the floor in front of them.
None of us are okay, but we’re here together, helping each other carry the weight.
I force a smile when Roman looks up, because that’s what everyone else is doing. It’s like stretching a rubber band until it’s about to snap.
I wasn’t sure about coming today. Erin told me she’d support me either way. I went to the funeral but stood at the back near the trees, watching as everyone walked up to his grave to say goodbye.
I couldn’t… I couldn’t watch his coffin lower into the ground while pretending to say goodbye to someone I loved and hated at the same time.
He hurt all of us.
Bella has put a light-year between her and Huxley Bay.
Brax has kept most of the details about what happened quiet for Roman’s sake. There’s still a lot that he doesn’t understand. He asks questions, but Brax has only shared with his son what he deems is necessary and appropriate.
His brother died.
His father, though he had no relationship with him for fifteen years, turned out to be an even bigger villain than just a man who cheated on his mom. The officers tailing The Octopus that day lost him after going through a tunnel. No one knows where he is.
But we do know his real name and face now—Sebastian Emerson.
If I were him, I’d find a nice cave to hibernate in. Because I know Brax won’t let this go. He’ll spend the rest of his life searching until he finds his father.
Knowing Brax, he’s already started hunting him.
