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But James carried on as if he hadn’t said a word

“I was hard on you Daht inside of you The light that reht that was your mother The two of you…” James shook his head, a sad, wistful, smile on his lips “The two of you were so h and how hts did the two of you wake me up because she let you of bed to watch those old Charlie Chaplin movies?”

Hearing his dad talk about his mother was bittersweet and Shane cleared his throat, that damn lump was back

“The thing is Shane, after your mother died I pushed you away because you were a constant reminder of what I’d lost Of what she had been I didtotally different and it backfired I lost you and you lost yourself”

Shit Did he have the strength to do this right now?

Taking a deep breath, Shane dug in “Dad, I’ Sure, you were an asshole An absolute prick most of the time but I was no better I hid behind you I hid behind your pain and your sorrow and I used it to justify every shit thing I ever did I did the same with Bobbi, but I’m done with that I’ve been done with that for a while now I just need to…I just need to tie up all those loose ends before I can move on”

For aand then spoke, his voice barely a whisper “I love Celia I do And Eden…she’s oes by that I don’t think about your mother And sometimes I let myself wonder what it would feel like if she was still here with us Would she have been able to hold us together?”

“But there’s no point in that She’s dead and we’re not” Shane took a step back and motioned with his hands “Come here”

Jaht Back toward his easel and when he stood beside Shane and glanced at the canvas, a sound escaped frouish and joy It was the sound of the living

“I sketched Eden yesterday while she was here and drew Celia froood depiction”

The water color was a portrait of the two girls—azing out into the eyes of whoever was looking her hile Celia’s eyes were closed, a shter

It was poignant Powerful Emotional

“Son,” Ja his arm “It’s…it’s…perfect”

“This is your reality and from what I can see, you’re one hell of a lucky et it fra it over next week”

James nodded and moved away, his eyes still on the canvas He was nearly to the door when he paused and held out his hand They shook, not like strangers, but not like father and son either They were still in that grey area—the in-between area of acceptance—but they were headed in the right direction For now that was enough