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To be honest, it had kind of always been like that Growing up, Lori was Daddy’s little girl I was ato restaurants, to the zoo or a close to Mom Dad and I just never really connected, and it wasn’t all his fault I could’ve answered the phone when he called, especially after Mom told me why he’d left And he probably could’ve been a better dad toa brat
His eyes, the saaze “I’ve been worried about you”
“I’ better”
He sered in his eyes “I know you are You’re so strong and I don’t think you give yourself enough credit”
“I don’t know about that” I sat in the chair, placing the blanket in er, I probably wouldn’t have ended up in the situation I did”
He seemed to consider that “Maybe that part is true, but you had to be strong to get through this”
Pressing ether, I nodded
“You’re stronger than me,” he said, and I jerked inatand looked out over the yard “You know sorandfather used to say all the time that I hated? He’d always say ‘To or so bad happened, he’d say that ‘Tomorroill be better’ I didn’t hate it at first Not at all I lived that way for a very long ti around slowly, he faced me “Do you understand what I mean about that?”
I shifted ain, silent
“Every tiot hard or was broken or not what I wanted, I told myself it would be better tomorrow It didn’t make whatever it was easier It didn’t fix whatever was broken If I was unco, or if I just didn’t want to do it, tomorroays came and I still didn’t do it”
Closing hly
“It’s a nice senti to bad happens Whenever we’re filled with disappointuaranteed” He stopped to take a deep breath “Baby girl, you learned that lesson far too young”
The four of us will always be the four of us
No matter what
We would no longer be four of us Ever Dad was right I knew touaranteed
“We don’t always get tomorrow Sometimes it’s not because of death Sometimes it’s the decisions we make for ourselves” He lifted his hand and scrubbed it over his face, a habit I realized just then that I’d picked up fros with you Tomorrow I’d fix what’s broken between us But when tomorrow came, I never did”
My eyes started to sting “II don’t think I exactly made it easy for you”
“Doesn’t ruff, he went on to say, “I’m your father It’s on me Not you So I want I want today to be the to off What do you say?”
Dad extended a hand and for a long o of the blanket and laced my hand in his
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Sitting in my room, I held my phone to my chest as I stared at the map above my desk The circles Sebastian and I had drawn all over blurred and each breath I drew in felt shaky and raw
I’d finally done it
I’d read Megan’s texts
There were a lot of thees until I was forced to delete them
The tears that had welled up and fallen had h soes I wanted to reach into the phone and see her one last time The real her Not a picture Not a set of letters and sentences
But I knew I couldn’t