"If you weren't drinking, then the accident was still just an accident." It was difficult to say the words. There were waves of anger rushing through her, and she had to fight off a desire to blame and judge. She repeated the words inside her head several times...it was just an accident…just an accident.
"I couldn’t face you and Tyler and Mom knowing I'd taken away the most important person in your lives. So, I ran as far away as I could," Kelly said. "But I wish now I had known how bad things got. I never imagined Mom would fall apart like that. That you would have to raise Tyler." She took another breath, shaking her head with more regret. "You must hate me, Hannah. Are you sorry you saved my life tonight?"
"No. I'm not sorry about that." She tried to put her thoughts in some kind of order. "I'm trying to process everything. I've looked at that accident from one way all these years. And now you're saying it was different." She paused for another minute, her mind racing through all the data points and settling on the most important ones. "I'm angry that your actions that night contributed to the accident, the fact that Dad went out to find you because you broke curfew. But you were a teenager, and you couldn't have predicted what might happen. I'm also angry that you abandoned Tyler and me. At some point, you should have reached out to us."
"I know. You probably won't believe this, but I've thought about you both a lot. I moved from Florida to Colorado Springs because I felt like I needed to come home, but I couldn't get myself all the way back."
"I wondered why you came back to Colorado. I know that you've gone through some pain yourself. And at some point, I would like to hear about the men in your life, about Brett's father and Violet's father."
"They were both really good men, heroes beyond belief—Travis for his country and Russ for me and Brett."
"Brett told me that Russ would protect him. I didn't understand what was going on. I thought Russ was the bad guy, but that didn't go with how Brett felt about him. Brett clearly recognized Russ for who he was."
"Brett was crazy about him. I don't know how I'm going to tell him that Russ is gone."
"That's a problem for later. Brett will be so happy to see you, that will be enough for now. I am sad for you, Kelly, for all you've gone through." She paused, thinking about all the anger and pain, the misunderstandings and human weaknesses that had ruined their lives for so long. She didn't want to start that circle all over again, especially not now that there were kids involved, children who needed their whole family. "Maybe we can start over."
"Can we do that?" Kelly asked warily.
"I think so. I'm trying to stop judging everyone so harshly and accept that sometimes life brings out the best in us and other times the worst. But we are all works in progress. We're all trying to be our best selves. There has been too much space between us. I want to focus on the positive going forward. Mom has pulled her life together. Tyler is about to finish law school, and he has some woman he's excited about. I haven't met her yet, but they're planning to have some romantic adventure in Aspen on New Year's Eve."
"It's weird to think about Tyler being a man. I've seen photos of him on social media, too, but in my head he's still nine. I wonder what he thinks about me."
"You don't have to worry about Tyler. He has always been much more forgiving than me. He's very chill. He accepts people for who they are. I'm going to work on that, too. Because we both know life is too short to hang on to grudges."
"It certainly can be too short," Kelly said heavily. "But focusing on the positive…" She gave her a curious smile. "I couldn't help but notice how close you were to Jake McKenna. I know you were friends in middle school. Did you get together a long time ago?"
She shook her head. "That is another long story. We were together in high school, had a nasty breakup, and didn't really speak again until just this week. Surprisingly enough, your disappearance brought us back together. He wants a second chance, and so do I."
"Well, he risked his life to save you, and it was clear to me that he's crazy about you."
"He would have risked his life to save anyone; he's that kind of man. But I'm crazy about him, too."
"I'm glad something good might come from all this. Thank you for taking care of Brett and helping me bring Violet into the world. I owe you so much."
"You're welcome. I think you should stay in Whisper Lake, Kelly. I would love to have you and Brett and Violet in town, and I know Mom would, too. We need to be a family again, and maybe we'll convince Tyler at some point to come back as well."
"I would really like that, Hannah."
"Good, because it's time to come home." She smiled as the ambulance came to a stop. "And it looks like we are home."
The paramedics came around and opened the back doors. They helped Kelly into the house, while she carried Violet inside. Her mother, Tyler, and Brett were waiting, and enveloped them with hugs and questions.
"I know it's almost midnight. I didn't get Brett up until a few minutes ago," her mom told her. "When I heard you were all right, and you were coming home. I knew he would want to see Kelly right away."
She smiled reassuringly. "That was a good call, Mom. Thank you."
"Thank you, Hannah, for bringing her
