The image of Mom opening the door flashes through my mind. When I take the steps up and I glance at the hanging chair, I picture Mom and Dad enjoying a glass of wine at sunset.
I turn my head and look at the wooden floor, but I don’t see any sign of blood.
Jordan said he had everything cleaned.
When I bring my gaze back to the front door, Levi unlocks it before stepping to the side. “You’re doing great, Kelcie.”
I reach for the handle and push down on it, and when the door creaks open, my breaths come a little faster. Feeling very emotional and apprehensive, I take cautious steps forward.
“I’m right behind you,” Levi murmurs.
Keeping my eyes lowered, I walk past the formal sitting room and dining area. I fist my hands at my sides, and when Lick comes to nudge her head against my thigh, I lift my head and look up the staircase to where I last saw Mom.
Instead of getting a flashback of Mom dying, I hear her laughter as she wrapped Christmas decorations around the banisters.
I glance at the living room and see the couches have been pushed back into their original positions, and the lamp stands upright.
There’s no sign of the destruction that happened in the room when Sage and Dad were killed.
Instead, I picture Sage lying on the couch with a bowl of popcorn resting on her chest while she judges every participant on some reality show.
Buttercup, I’m getting some ice cream for me and Sage. You want some?I hear Dad ask, and my head snaps to the left where the kitchen is.
The flashback is so clear, for a moment it feels like he’s really standing at the counter, scooping spoonfuls of chocolate ice cream into a bowl.
Tears gather in my eyes as I remember him eating directly from the tub and Mom chastising him.
No, Harry! Dish some up instead of eating like a barbarian.
A weird mixture of a sob and laughter splutters from me, then I feel Levi’s arm wrap around my shoulders, and I’m pulled out of the past. I turn into his chest as the tears come.
Levi holds me, and I feel him dropping kisses on my hair. “I’m here, baby. I’ve got you.”
I take the comfort only he can give me, and when the tears stop flowing, I keep resting my cheek against his chest while letting more memories of my family flutter through my mind.
“We were so happy here,” I whisper.
“I can still feel that happiness in the house,” Levi mentions.
I pull back and look at the staircase again. Gathering courage, I take the first step, and then the second. I glance at our family photos on the wall, and seeing my parents’ and Sage’s faces for the first time in over a year, tears silently roll over my cheeks.
Levi stops to stare at one of the whole family. We’re all wearing matching Christmas sweaters. “There’s so much love in this photo that I can feel it.”
When I reach the landing, I notice the entire carpet has been replaced.
Before I know what I’m doing, I sit down on the top step and lean my head against the wall. Closing my eyes, I imagine Mom as she sat here and bled out.
“What if the last thing my mom saw was me running away?”
Levi crouches in front of me and tilts his head. “If I were in your mom’s position and I saw you run, I’d be filled with relief, Kelcie. It would’ve been much worse if she had to watch you die. It wouldbreak me, and knowing how much your mother loved you, it would’ve destroyed her.”
My eyes focus on Levi’s face as I hear what he’s saying. “She didn’t know Sage was dead. Maybe she had hope that we both survived. Maybe she heard Dad telling me to run, and she thought he would survive too.”
Levi places his hand on the side of my neck and nods. “I like those maybes.”
“It’s so much better than Mom dying thinking we were all killed,” I whisper.
His thumb brushes over my skin in a soothing way, and I lock eyes with him. “You didn’t have to come here to try and fix what Wesley destroyed.”
