Seriously? He’s going to play father now? I rub my face, wishing this day would end already. “That’s none of your business.”
“You’re right. I have to earn that, but I never stopped loving you guys. My mistake was thinking you’d be better off without me than trying to get well so I could be with you. That’s my biggest regret, so—Luke.”
“So what are you saying, then?”
“If you love Sophie, fight for her. Do whatever’s necessary to make things right because you have to live with your choices for the rest of your life. I’d hate to see my son live with regrets like I do.” His eyes turn glassy.
Something shifts in my chest. My eyes start to burn. I grunt, then clear my throat.
I could blame weariness or the high emotions of the day, but those meticulously placed walls I’ve relied on to hold everything in are crashing down to dust at the moment.
“You don’t think I live with regret?” A mix of sarcasm and pain coats my words.
I glance back at the window out of concern for Kinsley because I’m not ready for her to hear this, then bypass the steps in a jump that lands me in front of my father.
“You want to hear the truth?” I stab my chest with my thumb. “I’m the reason Mom’s not here. I was on the starting line that night for the first time, and she didn’t want to miss it. So she rushed out of a last-minute meeting to get there.”
I turn away as a flood of tears accompany my confession.
My father rests a hand on my shoulder. I want to shrug him off, but I’m too tired and maybe a little desperate for someone to tell me a different story about that night. But I can’t change the past.
Sophie’s words slam into my head like a lifeline.
You can’t live life forward when you’re constantly looking back.
He nudges me to face him. “Life doesn’t work that way, son. Things happen in this life that we have no control over, no matter what you tell yourself. Your mother’s death wasn’t your fault. She wanted to be there because she loved you. Hold on to that—same thing regarding Sophie. Make the right choice out of your love for her. Not your fear.”
My gaze locks with his and for the first time, the weight of the guilt I’ve carried for so long seems to lighten like a heavy curtain pulled back to reveal the light of day.
Both of my father’s hands are resting on my shoulders now. He tightens his hold with an unspoken ask for permission sitting in his eyes. After a moment’s pause, I nod.
He pulls me into a hug. I stiffen at first, but then the fight drains out of me. I bury my face in his shoulder, inhaling his unfamiliar scent of clean linen and soap.
Footsteps sound from behind. I lift my head just in time to catch Kinsley rushing toward us. She wraps her arms around both of us but says nothing.
I lean over and kiss the top of her head. “Were you listening?”
She nods against me.
“I’m sorry you had to find out that way.” Raw emotion coats my voice.
“I already knew all that.”
I shake my head with my disbelief. “How?”
Kins does her typical snarky shrug. “I get what makes people tick. Seemed pretty obvious, if you ask me.”
My father…my dad splits a grin between us. “You sure you don’t want to study psychology instead?”
“Exactly,” I blurt out.
Kins splits a grin between us. “Nah, too much drama.”
CHAPTER 29
SOPHIE
It’s wedding day.
