18. Bronson

brONSON

What was I walking into?

After the shooting and seeing Lake again, I had stopped the rentals on my house, so I knew nobody would be there. When my father passed, leaving it to me and I couldn't bear to go back, I had a company taking care of it as a vacation rental.

I guess it was the perfect time to take a walk down memory lane, but my body was still tense with apprehension.

My home may have looked completely different inside but the bones of it were the same, and if the walls could talk they'd tell many stories.

I stood just inside the doorway, my feet frozen in place as my gaze scanned the surroundings. Memories slammed into me with a force that should have knocked me over.

The loss and sorrow that had embedded itself in my heart knowing I wasn't there for my father when he died, was almost too much to bear. I'd run from the feelings I had for Lake and lost her along with my dad in the process.

Forgiveness was not something I deserved in my mind, but she was giving it to me anyway. My father, however, wouldn't have that chance. I'd give about anything for him to be standing there to welcome me home and lay into me for my stupidity.

"He was never angry," Lake said, reading my feelings like she was a fortune teller flipping tarot cards. "Your father was so proud of you and loved you so much."

A lump the size of a boulder clogged my throat as I fought to keep my composure.

For a second I thought I'd made a mistake dredging up my past but Lake was so much a part of it, how could I not let that part of me in so I could build a future with her?

I felt a soft hand slip into one of mine and in the next second a tiny palm slid into my other. I glanced down at the connection of each, then back up into the beautiful faces of the girls who flanked my sides. Without actually saying anything, their eyes said everything.

They were there for me, sharing all their strength and encouragement.

But that wasn't all.

They were giving me their love.

Right there and then, I knew I'd spend the rest of my life showering them with the same.