Page 100 of Always Be Mine
He glanced at Kat in wonder, but she wasn’t looking at him.
After a minute, Craig chuckled. “How did you get so smart?”
When Kat turned to face him, there were unshed tears in her eyes. “The same way you did, dummy. Mom and Dad.”
Her words hit him in the gut, and he swallowed down the sudden lump in his throat.
“For the record, I’m jealous it was your turn.”
Again, his sister had surprised him. “Why on earth would you be jealous? This is hell trying to navigate whatever whims Dad had before he died. It’s definitely nothing to be jealous of, Kat.”
She stood and brushed the grass from her jeans. “I take it back. You’re not smart at all.” There was laughter in her voice. “You don’t get it. First it was Chase, and then Charli and now you. You all got one last chance to have Dad on your shoulder, giving you advice and rooting for you.”
That was not at all how Craig was viewing this experience. Not. Even. Close.
“And the letter…I can’t wait to get my letter, too.”
“Letter?”
“You got one, right?”
He’d forgotten all about the letter. Again. “I did.”
She spun and faced him. “What did it say?”
“I didn’t read it.” He clenched his teeth together, the tension radiating up his jaw. “I don’t need to know any more about how he thought I lacked as a father.”
Kat smacked his arm. “Haven’t you been paying attention, Craig? Seriously. He didn’t think that. That’s not what this is about. Think about it. Chase had to stay in Trickle Creek. Why? Because he needed to be forced to realize how important family and connection was. And Charli? She had to start a business from nothing and turn it into a success in only a few months. Why did she have to do that?”
She didn’t wait for his answer.
“Because she needed to learn how to believe in herself.”
Craig took a staggering step back as if he’d been struck.
Kat let out a long, low sigh. “Read the letter, Craig. And figure out what the hell it is you’re supposed to learn before you lose everything.”
ChapterTwenty-Six
She’d been homefor three days. Only Vancouver didn’t feel like home anymore. The city streets were too busy, full of anonymous people who were all hurrying to get anywhere but where they already were.
Lucy longed for the plaza and the friendly faces she was getting to know by name. She missed looking up and seeing the mountains right there. The long nature walks she’d take on the forest trails with Meri, where they’d count how many squirrels they could see and thrill when they saw the deer with her fawns.
She missed Trickle Creek.
But it wasn’t just the small mountain town she missed.
She needed to go back. Even if she didn’t know what she was going back to.
It was the right thing to do. She couldn’t keep running away.
She was going to run out of places to run to.
After yet another night of very little sleep, Lucy pulled herself off Mandi’s couch and reached for her phone.
No new messages.
Not that she expected any.
