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Matt had recently learned to forgive himself; it was time his father did too

“Dad…turn off the television, please,” Matt said He watched as his father picked up the remote and did as Matt asked

“You knohen I was little, I used to watch you get ready for work every day You’d come home exhausted, dirty, but you always had a smile on your face And you alent to work too—even when you were sick Even when your back would hurt, and Mom would tell you to stay home You went because it was important to you to do the best daave up You never let anything get the best of you You kept going and all I could think was…that’s the kind ofto the factory to ith you”

Matt looked at his father’s hand on the ar

“I…” he started “I didn’t know…”

“It’s true,” Matt told hiot, the more I started to realize what I wanted I fell in love with music and it was like I realized, yes This is who I anized myself I craved music all the time At first, it scared me because if I was a composer, I couldn’t be you I looked up to you so daht if I could work half as hard atthat I loved—as you’d alorked, then I would be okay But the s that I started to want in my life, the more I felt like I started to disappoint you”

“What?” His father’s green eyes ide They were the sareen as Matt’s “You don’t disappointyou are? You have always been true to who you are and what you want Not everyone has the strength to do that I’ve never been more proud of anyone than I am of you”

Matt’s eyes started to blur, to fill with unshed tears His father was proud of him? Respected him?

“Why didn’t you ever tellthat filled in so it now “I needed to hear it”

His dad wrung his shaking hands together “Because I’ood with stuff like that I feel it inthe words couess while you orried you were disappointingwhen it came to you I never felt like the dad you deserved I couldn’t give you the things you wanted Hell, I didn’t even talk to you the way I should have I always felt like I failed you…like I let you down, especially when I had to stop working When I couldn’t pay to get you into the school you deserved or…”

And then his father looked down, and for the first time in Matt’s life, he saw him cry His shoulders shook as he silently let the tears fall, and then it was his dad who stood His dad who hobbled over and sat next to Matt His dad who pulled Matt into a hug and held hiled to breathe

“You have nothing to feel bad about I was so lucky to groith you as a role model You showed me what hard work is Dedication…and love” His father had worked so hard because he loved his family Because he wanted to take care of them

“I love you, son I’m so damn proud of you”

“I love you too,” Matt told hied him

When they pulled apart, they talked soot ho—ery he’d alainst but said he wanted to hear how Matt felt about it first His dad told Matt so up, and they laughed

They were going to be okay They were going to be more than okay, and for the first time in Matt’s life, he saw himself in his dad, and he knew his dad saw himself in Matt too

Oliver’s fingers moved rapidly across the keyboard

He’d finished his last Davis novel about three weeks before, and then he’d been hit with a new idea so powerfully that he practically had to force himself away from his computer on a daily basis