After breakfast, while Sapphire talked to Declan about something she’d found in one of the office files, I sat out on the front verandah with my third cup of coffee, staring out at Koolaroo in the morning light. The land stretched endlessly in front of me—red earth, scrubby bushes, and the distant smudge of green gum trees marking the creek line. This place had witnessed so much darkness, so much death.
But it was still beautiful.
Still home.
“Mind if I join you?”
I turned to find Mom standing in the doorway, a steaming mug of tea in her hands. Over the past few weeks, I’d been navigating this strange new reality of having a mother again. She’d been staying in one of the guest rooms, keeping to herself mostly, but coming out for Sunday night dinners. She was taking things slowly, giving us all space to adjust.
“Sure.” I gestured to the chair beside me.
She sat, and we were quiet for a moment, watching the sun touch everything as it climbed higher.
“Rose told me about Frank,” she said eventually.
“News travels fast around here.”
“Always has.” She smiled slightly.
I turned to look at her. Really look at her. The mother who’d made an impossible choice and had lived with the consequences every single day.
“I’m still angry at you,” I said honestly.
“I know.” Her eyes glistened, but she didn’t look away. “You have every right to be.”
“But I’m trying to understand.” I set my coffee mug on my thigh. “You did what you had to do to survive and protect your daughter—and my sister.” The reality still sounded so unreal. “I’m trying to make peace with that.”
“Trying is enough.” Mom nodded. “I don’t expect forgiveness to come easily. Or quickly. Or maybe at all.”
“The thing is ...” I looked back out at the land. “Holding onto hatred hurts me more than it hurts anyone else. I learned that with Frank. I spent so many years consumed by anger, fear, and bitterness, that it nearly destroyed me. It nearly destroyed what I have with Sapphire.” I turned back to her. “I don’t want to live like that anymore, trapped in the past.”
“So, what do you want?”
“To move forward.” I took a breath. “To get to know you again. To meet Sally. To build something new instead of staying stuck in what we lost.”
Mom’s tears spilled over. “I’d like that. Very much.”
“It won’t be perfect,” I warned. “There’ll be hard days. Days when the anger comes back, and grief feels too big.”
“I know.”
“But I’m willing to try.”
“Thank you.” She reached over and squeezed my hand. “Thank you, Kayden.”
“Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god!” Cassidy came exploding onto the verandah, moving at the speed of a galloping stallion. She was screaming, waving her left hand in the air like a flag, her whole face radiant with joy.
“He proposed! Xavier proposed to me! Look at this ring!”
She shoved her hand two inches from my face. A massive diamond caught the sunlight, casting rainbow prisms onto the verandah.
“Holy shit,” I breathed. “That’s from Declan’s mine, isn’t it?”
“Yes!” Cassidy was practically vibrating. “Xavier had it specially cut and set, and it’s perfect, and I’m getting married, and ...” She took off again, her footsteps thundering behind her. “I have to tell everyone!”
Mom and I caught each other’s eyes. She was laughing through her tears.
We followed Cassidy back into the house, and like some kind of magnet, the dining table drew us all together.
