He closed his eyes, and she waited. “When I got there and saw Keith’s fancy house ... I lost it. He ... cheated me out of my share of the diamonds. We argued. I shot him.” Rick coughed again. “You probably don’t believe me ... but I truly am sorry.”
He was right. She didn’t believe him. Dani balled her hands into fists. And she wasn’t forgiving him. He’d taken her family and twenty-five years of her life from her. She turned to go.
“Wait ... I’m not asking for me. See ... I know what happens when you don’t forgive. It eats away at you like a cancer.”
Dani faced him again. “Who was it you didn’t forgive?”
“My father. It was always about what he wanted. Instead offorgiving him and moving on, I hated him.” Rick held out his hand. “Don’t let that be you.”
Forgiveness wasn’t something she could just turn on. “I’ll think about it.”
“That’s all I can ask.”
She turned to leave and stopped. “Your father. Did you ever forgive him?”
He nodded. “Today.”
She was halfway to the ICU doors when an alarm went off. Nurses ran past her toward Rick’s room. She kept walking and pressed the button. When the doors opened, Mark stood waiting for her.
Dani stared out the window of the plane, trying to see if she could recognize Pearl Springs from the air as the plane flew toward Chattanooga.
Two weeks ago, she’d flown to Montana to say her goodbyes and to bring Keith’s ashes home. She’d been working on the forgiveness thing. She’d forgiven Keith for keeping the truth from her. She was still working on forgiving Rick. He’d taken so much from her.
The tires touched down on the runway, and she breathed a prayer of thanks. She was so anxious to see everyone. The Stones, Nonny ... and Mark. Especially Mark.
They’d talked every day she was in Montana, sometimes twice a day. Without a murderer dogging their trail at every turn, it was like getting to know him all over again. He’d feared once the danger was past, she might find him boring. Never in a hundred years.
Fifteen minutes later, she rode the escalator down to the baggage claim, her heart jumping at the sight of Mark as he leaned against a pillar with his arms folded.
A slow grin spread over his face when he saw her, and two seconds later he wrapped her in his arms.
“I thought you’d never get here.”
“Me either.” She laid her head on his chest, liking the way his heart pounded. “I thought Alex was picking me up.”
“Nope. You got me.” He tilted her face up. “You know, we’ve never had a real date ... or an understanding.”
“Understanding?”
“Yep. Like maybe you’ll go out on a few dates with me?”
Joy flowed through her body. She grinned. “I think that can be arranged.”
