“He shouldn’t have pushed you away like that,” I say. “He knows that now, but he was in a really bad place after the firethat burned his arm…the one that burned down that family’s home. Do you remember?”
Dad grunts, his face pinched with regret. “I remember. I was out sick when it happened. Had a nasty kidney infection and ended up in the hospital. But I heard all about it when I got back. Three people died: a father and two kids, a boy and a girl. Cast a big shadow over the station, I can tell you.”
“Wyatt blamed himself,” I murmur. “He missed the little boy’s room while he was searching. That’s why he stayed in the house so long and ended up with his arm burned.”
Dad is quiet for a moment. “I knew about the burns. Didn’t know he missed the boy’s room. Wyatt would have taken something like that hard.”
“He did. It ate away at him, and he was so ashamed of his mistake that he couldn’t bear to see anybody.” I swallow hard, wincing as I remember the pain in Wyatt’s eyes when he recounted the story. “He was embarrassed for struggling so much with it, and so he pushed everyone away instead of talking about it. That’s when he started drinking a lot.”
Dad’s eyebrows rise. “Drinking? He never drank that much when I knew him.”
“I think it started after you left Cherry Hollow. He’s okay now…he’s been sober for eight years. But he was an alcoholic for a long time.”
He flinches. “Shit. I tried to get through to him. Used to go around to his cabin and knock every day, but then after I found you…well, I guess I gave up on him.”
I’m surprised by the guilt on my dad’s face. It feels like he’s momentarily forgotten how pissed off he is with Wyatt, his mind back in the past instead of the present.
“It’s not your fault,” I tell him. “You did what you could. Wyatt shut you out, and you couldn’t force him to talk to you.”
“Yeah. He always was a stubborn motherfucker.”
Dad really has a way with words.
With a sigh, I look him straight in the eye, mustering up all my courage. “I know you don’t approve of me and Wyatt, and for what it’s worth, I really am sorry for breaking your trust. But this is real, Dad. He’s a good man. He’s kind and caring, and he makes me so happy. I want to be with him more than anything.”
He doesn’t speak for a long time. His eyes are downcast, and I can almost hear his brain whirring as he thinks it all over. “Of all the men in the world, why did it have to be Wyatt?” he mutters more to himself than to me, shaking his head resignedly. Then he finally meets my gaze.
“I don’t want you to be unhappy, Izz. Your happiness has been my priority from the minute I found you on the doorstep, and that’s never gonna change. If being with Wyatt is really what you want, I won’t try to stop you. I can’t pretend I’m happy about it, but?—”
I cut him off by throwing my arms around his neck, hugging him tight. My heart swells with relief as he hugs me back, ruffling my hair like I’m a kid. He smells of engine oil from the shop, and I breathe it in, feeling like everything is going to be okay.
“Thank you, Dad,” I mutter against his shoulder. “You’re the best.”
“It’s okay, Izz.”
I pull back to look at him. “Will you come and talk to Wyatt?”
I know I’m pushing my luck, and I see my dad’s walls rise straight up as he says, “I don’t know about that?—”
“Please, Dad. I know I owe you so much already, but this isn’t just for me; it’s for you and Wyatt, too. I think you need to talk about the past. It will be good for both of you.”
He huffs out a breath. “Alright, I’ll talk to him. Guess I owe it to Ralph. He left this place to both of us for a reason.”
“Wyatt said the same thing. He thinks Ralph wanted the two of you to make up.”
Dad’s lip quirks affectionately. “The old man never could mind his own business.”
With one last hug, we return to Wyatt’s cabin. He’s pacing around the living room, the tension in his face melting when he sees me. Dad steps toward him and Wyatt eyes him warily.
“I’m not here to fight.” Dad raises his hands in mock surrender, but he’s still scowling. “Just came to say that…well, even if I don’t like it, I’m not going to get in the way of Isabelle’s happiness.”
Slowly, Wyatt nods. “Appreciate that, Holden.”
The atmosphere is still tense, the two of them standing rigid and alert, but eventually, Dad says, “We should talk, you and me. About everything that happened in the past. Not now, but maybe sometime when tempers aren’t running so high.”
“Yeah. I’d like that.” Wyatt runs a hand over his beard, taking a step toward Dad. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry for how I handled things back then. I didn’t know how to deal with my feelings, so I hid from everyone. It was wrong…I know better now.”
Dad nods. “We’ll talk. There are things I wish I’d handled differently, too.”
