Her chest rose and fell with even breaths while I wondered, Where do we go from here?

I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to let go of what my father had done. Likewise, Ari would carry her brother’s actions with her for life.

It still shredded me to realize that two of the most important people in my life had betrayed me and everything I believed in. Heath had been closer to me than my brothers, and somehow I’d been completely oblivious to what was happening beneath the surface. I should have been a better friend, a better son, and maybe . . .

There I went again.

It was going to be a hard habit to break, for Ari and me both.

Separately, we were two broken people struggling to make sense of things, but together, maybe we could heal each other. I wasn’t going to consider any other alternative, so I hoped like hell I was right.

My phone vibrated and I stepped outside the room, still watching her from the cracked door as I answered.

“Please tell me she’s really going to be okay.” My mom’s voice carried a heavy dose of fear, even though I’d kept her updated by text.

“She’s going to be fine, Mom. I promise.”

“Thank the Lord.” She paused. “And I swear, Rhett Hennessy, you’ve damn near given me a heart attack for the very last time. No more of those I’m in the hospital messages. I’m done.”

“I know.”

“You going to talk her into staying? Plant some roots back where she belongs?”

I had to smile. My mom could jump from subject to subject without any hesitation. “We’ve talked about it.”

“Well, stop talking and just do it. Life is too short to waste time. I learned that the hard way.”

The sorrow in her voice gutted me.

“I wish I would’ve found out something different, Mom. I wish we would’ve found out he had nothing to do with it.”

She got quiet for a moment. “Me too, but it doesn’t change the fact that he was the love of my life. Good people do bad things, Rhett. Sometimes for good reasons, sometimes for bad ones, but that doesn’t mean all those memories we have are somehow worth less. And it surely doesn’t mean that what he did has any bearing on you. You didn’t do this.”

“Ari said something along those lines.”

“And she’s right. Focus on the future, Rhett. Ari will need all the support you can give. You both deserve to be happy. I love you.”

“Love you too, Mom.”

I ended the call and watched Ari sleep.

She was alive. I was alive. And that was all that mattered right now. Everything else could wait.

66

Ariel

Mist blanketed the cemetery as the priest said the final prayer to lay Heath to rest. My heart broke as my father wiped his eyes with a handkerchief. He’d finally been seen by a specialist who determined that he wasn’t suffering from dementia due to early-onset Alzheimer’s, but due to a toxic cocktail of the drugs he’d been taking. It had been another blow to realize that only Heath had the ability to switch out the pills in one of his arthritis prescriptions to cause it.

As my brother’s ashes were now being interred, we couldn’t ask him why, but had to assume that it was because my father must have asked too many questions and Heath had needed them to stop.

As much as I wanted to assign a noble motive to what Heath had done, this was the final nail in that coffin. He couldn’t be exonerated, and I would have to live with that knowledge. But Rhett and I made a deal—we wouldn’t assume responsibility for actions that weren’t our own, and even though it was difficult to adhere to, I was trying.

Rhett’s arm tightened around my shoulders as the priest said the final amen for the service.

I’d held Esme as we both cried what seemed like a million tears for Erik. Nothing would ever be the same without him, and Esme had been apologetic when she handed me her resignation. She couldn’t be in the office without him. It hurt too much, and I didn’t blame her. I’d offered her the capital she needed to start her own company, no strings attached, and she was still considering my offer. We’d said good-bye to Jan the next day in a small service as well.

Too many funerals in too short a time. Too much loss, heartache, and regret.

It was time to start fresh. But how?

Rhett pushed my father’s wheelchair beside me, and assisted him into the van that would take him back to the rehab center. He was scheduled to move home in a couple of weeks, but he’d surprised me by saying he’d rather check out a senior-living community because his house was too empty and quiet after the hustle and bustle of his current place.

If my brother weren’t already laid to rest, I would kill him for what he did to Dad.

Stop. Right there. We’re letting things go.

It was easier said than done, obviously.

Forgiveness was a process, or so I was told, and I was still working on it.

* * *

Two hours later, we were finally home again. It wasn’t technically “home” yet, though.

“Who did you say owns the house?” Rhett asked when I got off the phone with the leasing agency.

“Some guy named Lachlan Mount.” The name rang a bell, but I couldn’t remember why.

Rhett spun around in the kitchen and stared at me. “You’re fucking kidding me right now.”

I shook my head. “No. That’s what they said. They said he’d consider selling for the right price. They told me to make an offer.”

“No. Not a chance. We’re packing our shit and leaving.” His tone was implacable.

“Excuse me?”

“This guy is fucking everywhere. Has his hands in everything. He’s Carver’s fucking boss. Owns the security agency you used, and at least half the city. We are not living in a house he’s probably still got wired with his own surveillance.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Then we rip it all out and start over. This is where I fell in love with the real Rhett Hennessy, and I want to stay.”

Rhett froze. “What did you say?”

“I want to stay.” I felt strongly about it, and I wasn’t going to let whoever owned this house run us off.

“Before that. You said this is where you fell in love with me . . .”