“Thanks,” Richter says, and I smile at Bill when he pauses at the door to look at me.
“Yes, thank you very much, Bill. You’re always such a help.” I wait until the door shuts again before I grab my coffee and take a long drink. “You might want to finish that coffee if you want to last the day, Richter. Neither of us got any sleep.”
“And whose fault was that?” he snaps, but he grabs his coffee anyway, tossing back a swallow as I chuckle.
“I think we both know whose behavior led to us spending the night in the woods.”
“You’re an asshole,” Richter growls, moving to the door to watch Bill out the small window, but he keeps drinking the coffee as I ignore his little outburst. A minute later he turns to look at me. “No comment about my language?”
“You know how you’re behaving, Richter. Do you really need me to point it out to you?” I ask, holding the smile on my face as he grumbles and finishes his coffee, tossing the cup in the trash can with more force than necessary.
“You’re just pissed off that Cleo knows you’re not her Daddy.” Richter laughs, a harsh, cruel sound. “She’s not happy that you lied.”
“She’s a simple girl, Richter. Would you have rather I told her that her father didn’t want her? That he dumped her in my arms when she was only five years old, crying and wailing and calling out to him while he walked away?” I spread my arms. “All I did was welcome her into my family and raise her as my own. She called me Daddy because her brothers and sisters called me that. I never made her do anything.”
“So she wanted to be in your bed?” Richter asks, and I sigh, not wanting to have this discussion with Bill so nearby, but I know he won’t drop it.
“Of course she did, Richter. Cleo wanted a baby. She wanted to be a mama like her sisters, and so I gave her that. Would you have rather I treated her differently her entire life? Alienated her? Left her unloved, lonely?”
“No,” he grumbles, turning away from me. “She should have been with us.”
“Luke thought differently,” I answer, and the door opens, Bill holding it in one hand as he waves toward the truck.
“Thanks for the business, Bryden,” he says, shaking my hand as I walk out after Richter.
“You are the best.” Smiling at him, I accept the keys and shade my eyes against the winter sun. “Not sure the next time Casey and I might come by for parts, but we’ll see you then.”
“See you then. Drive safe,” Bill replies, walking inside, and I shake my head as I see Richter standing by the driver’s side of the truck.
Heading toward him, I tuck the keys into my pocket just as a yawn cracks his jaw. “I’ll drive us back.”
“They’re new tires, Bryden, I can—”
“You still don’t know the way, and you’re exhausted. Just let me drive us home, you can rest, and that way you’ll be ready to drive the girls.”
Richter rubs the heel of one hand into his eye, a quiet groan leaving him before he finally relents. “Fine. You can drive back.”
I’m pretty sure he calls me an asshole again as he walks around the truck, but I don’t care. He’ll be out as soon as we leave Main Street.
Two and a half hours into the drive, Richter is sound asleep against the window. He’s snoring lightly, and I’m not surprised that in sleep he reminds me a little of my sons. It’s something about the way his face softens when all of that righteous anger fades away.
I can see a little of Wesley, Damon, and Casey in him—and I’m sure I see a bit of myself too. All remnants of Luke Greene. His cheekbones, his strong jaw, his hairline, the overall shape of his face… he’s inside both of us. All of us.
For a minute I let the rush of sorrow run through me. He was my father, he shaped me into the man I’ve become through his actions and his choices, and he’s gone. I never got to tell him goodbye. Not really.
That last ‘bye’ on the front porch of my house wasn’t enough. I was so preoccupied with Cleo in my arms that I don’t think I even watched him drive away. The last time I ever got to see my father, the man who gave me life… and I didn’t even wave.
Glancing over at Richter again I acknowledge that I feel some jealousy. Similar to how I resented Jocelyn for so many years—but I doubt I’ll ever find out what happened to her, or Richter’s mother. Betrayal isn’t something Luke tolerated, and I’m the same way. While I didn’t agree with all of his methods, I learned quickly that when you want to keep a family together, sometimes you have to take action.
Sometimes you have to do the hard thing so that everyone else can be happy.
I don’t ask for much. Respect, loyalty, love. Those things shouldn’t be difficult in a family, they should be natural, but Luke must have been too old when Richter was born to pass on those first lessons.
The boy and his sister were on their own for too long. Abandoned, unloved, without anyone to guide them or give them direction, and I’ve tried to offer that.
But I don’t think anything I do will be enough for Richter.
This will be his last chance. His last opportunity to show me he wants to be a man in this family. If he accepts the incredibly gracious opportunity I’ve set in front of him… then we can work this out. We can unite Luke’s legacies into one family. One home.
This home.
Pulling into the driveway sends a buzz down my spine. It’s been decades since I saw this house, but it hasn’t changed much. It looks older, more
