“You and Dad? Hockey fans? And of the New York Griffins, instead of Arizona’s own team?” I blink, entirely perplexed.
“It was our only way of feeling close to you,” my mother says with a saddened smile.
“You’ve…” My eyes well up. Noah places his hand on my thigh while Gabe takes my hand in his, both encouraging me to go on. “You’ve known where I was all along?”
“When you left Arizona, we had no idea where you’d disappeared to. We feared the worst, that maybe… maybe Victor had done something to you…” My mother begins to tear up, grabbing a tissue from the coffee table and wiping her eyes and nose.
“But then we just happened to be at a friend’s house while one of your games was playing a year ago, and we saw you in the front row with the wives,” my father continues for her.
“I knew it was you the moment the camera aimed your way. You may have changed your look a lot, but I’d never forget my daughter’s face,” Mom says through her tears.
“Your mother nearly lost it when she recognized you. She wanted to jump on a plane right away and find you.”
“Why didn’t you?” I frown, not understanding what would keep them away.
“We wanted to, but we feared you wouldn’t want to see us after how things ended between us. We never intended to throw you out of our lives for good, sweetheart. We just wanted to teach you a lesson, but now we realize it wasn’t the right approach. We knew Victor was bad news, and we had hoped that making you dependent on him would make him reveal his true colors,” Dad admits with a guilty look.
“Well, he sure did. Only he waited until I was completely trapped to do it.” I close my eyes as the horrid memories resurface. But when I feel hands caressing my thigh and back of the hand, it makes them vanish.
“When we realized who he really was, it was too late. We tried to get you back, to come and get you. But he threatened us and said he would kill you if we ever tried to reach out to you.” My mother sobs louder.
“You’ve wanted me to come home since the beginning?”
“It’s all we’ve prayed for. It’s the only prayer we’ve allowed ourselves to give,” my father says with so much regret in his voice.
“I… I don’t understand…” My father practically prays for a living. Teaching the good from bad and guiding people in the right direction. Praying is part of his job.
“When we couldn’t get you back, I stepped down from my role as pastor. I couldn’t live with myself knowing what I had done. How can I help people stay away from evil when I forced my daughter right into its arms?”
My eyes widen. “You’re no longer a pastor?”
He shakes his head. “No.”
“But Dad, you loved the church and the community.”
He reaches over the table, taking my free hand in his. “I do, but I love you more.”
This time it’s my turn to sob. I take both my hands back and cover my face as I cry into them. All these years. All this time wasted on living in fear that they would never love me again when the truth is they never stopped.
“I’m so sorry it took me so long to come back.”
“No, we’re the ones who are sorry. We’re just glad you’re here now. And I hope you’ll give us another chance to be the parents we always should have been to you.” My mother smiles as she wipes her face.
“That’s all I want,” I whisper, then let out a breath. “So, you’re not mad about this situation?” I point to Noah and Gabe.
My dad laughs. “We were surprised, but we always knew you were more adventurous than most. And from what we can see, they do seem to treat you well. That’s all that matters to us.”
“We’re also sorry to hear about what you went through.” My mother addresses Noah, then looks at Gabe and me. “What you all went through. But we are happy that that evil man is finally where he belongs.”
“Yeah, we all are,” Gabe says, taking my hand once more and kissing the back of it.
“So, when’s the wedding?” My mother beams as her entire body lights up, excited to talk about wedding plans.
We arrive back in New York at almost midnight, and my life finally feels whole again.My parents promised to come down once we were settled in our new home and seemed really excited to get to know Noah and Gabe more, as well as all my friends. It feels good having them back in my life, like that was the puzzle piece missing all these years.
As we drive through the city on our way over to the apartment behind Morgan and Clay’s home that we’re still using, I tap on Gabe’s shoulder. “I know you’re probably exhausted, but do you mind if we stop at my old condo? Aubrey should be on her way home right now, and I really want to tell her the news in person before everyone else.”
“Yeah, no problem.” He looks back quickly at me and smiles before refocusing on the road as he takes us to my old home.
