46. Chapter Forty-Six
Chapter Forty-Six
Luna
Ilisten as Dan makes his rounds through the house. It’s predictable, and safe.
He checks on my sister and Khloe. They’ve been sharing a room since my brother arrived.
I’m a little sad that they’re leaving in the morning, but Rage needs to get back to his wife, son, and club.
I know I’ll see them soon though. He’s already made plans to come back in a few months for the lantern festival the club has every fall.
When he finally makes it to my room, I close my eyes, letting him go through the motions one last time, but tonight when he goes to the door, I speak.
“Dan, can I talk to you for a minute?”
He turns around, and I can see he already knows.
I pat the spot beside me on the bed and then sit up. He sits down beside me.
“I just wanted to thank you for everything, but …” Tears are streaming down my cheeks, because this is much harder than I thought it would be.
“But you’re ready to go home.”
“I am.”
He smiles at me and wipes my tears away with his big hands. “No need to cry. You’re just up the road, remember? You can come here anytime you want. This place will always belong to you too.”
“Cole decorated the cabin with some of my things. Did you know that?”
He shakes his head. “No, I didn’t, but it sounds like my boy.”
“I’m scared.”
Dan takes my hands in his. “Change is always scary, but just think about the reward when you get to the other side.”
“In one of my mom’s visions, she saw you with a little girl in the garden. She told me you were signing to her. She said it was your grandchild … hers too.”
His eyes widen in surprise and I laugh, because I don’t think it’s often you can surprise this man. He’s seen a lot in his life.
“I thought her brain was just doing crazy things, but now that I know she was right about some of it, I wonder if the rest of it will come true.”
“Let’s just take it one day at a time, okay?”
I hug myself, because if the vision is true then maybe … just maybe someday I’ll be able to be intimate with Carson.
“Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that you letting me stay here helped. You checking in on me every night helped. You … just you … helped. I’ve never felt safer than here with you.”
“You helped me too. Look how happy Lily has been since your arrival. You’ve brought life back to our home, Luna.
We were so caught up in her diagnosis that we forgot to look around and see how much we weren’t losing.
We learned that we can adapt, and so can our family and our club.
You breathed life into a woman who had all but given up. ”
“I don’t want her to be sad when we all leave.”
He chucks me under the chin. “She predicted that tomorrow would be the day. She’ll be okay. She knows how all of this works, Luna. We’ve said goodbye to our kids a lot over the years. They might be gone physically, but we always hold them right here.” He pats his chest.
“Okay, if you’re sure.”
“I am.”
“I think I’ll move my things back over there when the boys are at work tomorrow.”
He grins, because he knows I’m planning on surprising them.
“Lily and I will help you, okay?”
This time I accept the help without hesitation. “I’d like that.”
He leans over and places a kiss on my forehead, and then he tucks me in. “Good night, Luna.”
“Good night, Dan.”
After he goes to bed, I head downstairs to find my brother lying awake on the sofa bed on his phone.
“I was just texting Serenity good night,” he says, sitting up.
I lower myself beside him. “I know you need to get some sleep. You’ve got a long day of driving tomorrow, but I was wondering if … well, if I could talk to you about something.”
“Sure. I don’t sleep very well away from Serenity, so I’ll be fighting the insomnia for a few hours anyway.”
“I just wanted to say thank you for taking care of me when we were kids, and I’m sorry for what my father may have done to you.”
He looks away and I think this may have been a mistake.
“You don’t have to apologize for him. You are not responsible for his sins.” When he looks back at me, he has tears in his eyes. “Do you think Mila should apologize on his behalf as well?”
My head pulls back as if he’s just smacked me in the face. “No. Of course not, she’s just a child.”
“So were you. Luna, I want you to let all of that go. You and Mila were the only good things that came from that man. Accept that and move on. Please try to move on.”
I sit in what he’s saying for a moment.
“I can’t believe you saved all of the origami I made you,” he says, trying to lighten the mood.
I pick at imaginary fuzzies from the blanket. “It was the first time I realized that boys were capable of creating something beautiful and delicate.”
My brother is a big, brutal-looking man. Not unusual for most of the men you find in biker clubs. But if you look a little deeper, there is usually more. Not always, but usually.
“If you hadn’t showed me kindness all those years ago, I don’t know that I would have given Carson a chance.”
“I don’t think I can take credit for you and Carson.”
“But you can …” I hold up my finger. “I’ll be right back.”
I quietly hurry upstairs, pulling the ten-dollar bill Carson gave me from under my pillow.
When I get back to my brother, I hand it to him. “When Carson found me, he knew I was hiding in the closet in my van. He slipped this under my door.”
Chance takes it from me, and it turns his normal scowl into a smile.
“Maybe you saved Carson and his brother from your rival club for me. What if it was already written by fate? You brought them to Wyoming. You shared our story. You told him how you comforted me while I hid … and then he did the same.”
“A few years ago, I would have told you that was some woo-woo shit right there. But now, after Serenity came into my life and helped me with Mila, I believe it.”
“And tonight, seeing Cole had hung them up for me …” I shake my head, still in disbelief. “Your tiny act of kindness all those years ago is still reminding me there are good men in this world.”
“You’re in for a wild ride with those two,” he warns, laughing and wiping his eyes.
It makes me laugh. “I’m sure I am, but the best adventures in life usually are.”
He reaches out and cups my face. “So, no more looking back. You, me, Mila, none of us are going that direction.”
I nod, tears spilling over my cheeks, because for the first time, I believe I might just be able to do that.
The good men in my life have quickly been writing new chapters in my story, leaving my father’s pages so far behind, the ink is slowly fading.