Page 26 of High Water

“Look at me.” Grant waits patiently. “You’re doing your best. You go above and beyond for her. For so many people in your life, including us. We all see that.”

“You’re a good mom. All of us look up to you and hope to be half the parent you are to our own kids someday.” Ramsey gives me a soft smile and a look of encouragement.

But it’s Levi’s approval I want the most in this moment, and he’s quiet for a long beat.

“I agree with them, you know that. You and Fallon come first. But I also want what’s good for Bishop. Everything he’s done for us, for me. I owe him my life, quite literally. I know he’s hurting over all of this.” Levi offers up perspective.

“I can imagine it’s a huge shock to find out he’s had a daughter this whole time.” I feel for Bishop as much as anyone on that front. I spent years thinking about what it would be like for him to hear he’s a dad. The look on his face. The feelings he must be having.

“Especially given his own past.”

“I know that as well as you do. I was there too. And I know that he would be a good dad to her. It was one of the things I regretted most for her, that she’d never know what a great man he was. Now she gets that chance, and he gets the chance to know her.”

“I hope so. All I want is for you all to be better off for it.” Levi makes it clear that he’s not choosing sides in this, but he plans to advocate for Bishop in ways I doubt Grant or Ramsey would. I respect it.

“It’ll just take some time. They’ll get there.” Grant’s steadfast tone breaks through the tension, and Levi agrees with him, his eyes softening as they meet mine.

“I love you. I love Fallon. If there’s anything I can do, I’m here,” Levi offers.

“That goes for all of us,” Ramsey pipes in, and I have to swipe at a tear that’s started to roll down my cheek. I press my hand to my sternum, rubbing over the spot that feels tight from all the emotions dammed up inside.

“Thank you. I knew you all would understand, but I just didn’t know how to tell you. I didn’t want it to change anything. How you felt about Fallon, or Bishop, or me.”

“Hey,” Levi interjects and holds out his hand. I take it, and he squeezes me tight in reassurance. “Nothing will ever change. I promise you that. This family’s been through too damn much to let something break us now. We love you. We love Fallon. And we’ll always be here to fight for each other.”

“Sometimes I just need to hear it.” I admit to a vulnerability I’ve only ever felt safe telling my family.

And Bishop. Once upon a time. Many, many years ago.

ELEVEN

Bishop

“You gonna tell me the reason you brought me all the way out here?” Levi looks at me from the porch of Fool’s Gold Homestead. The sweeping view of the barn and the mine in the distance, the steep slope of the mountain beyond the pond, and my family’s ranch stretches out across the horizon.

It’s been forever since I’ve stood here, but every memory on this plot of land feels like it’s imprinted on me. The good and the bad. There’d been so much good, but that night so many years ago stains the good memories, and I’m desperate to finally scrub it out. I don’t get nervous. You can’t in the line of work I used to do, but as I stand here, ready to confess to my part in this, I feel the slight shiver that runs down my back. I’ve gotten a glimpse at what having the Stocktons back in my life would mean. How much more my life could be.

Now I’ve got to take the risk of losing it all in the hopes of finally burying the past where it belongs.

“I think I know where your relic is.”

Levi’s head swivels, and he looks at me over the rim of his glasses before he tilts his head.

“Yeah?” he asks, a look of curiosity brewing on his face. “Where?”

“Down in the valley. On my family’s ranch.” I gesture to the swath of land beyond us, grimacing when I see the way the wildfires have carved a path straight through it.

“And why do you think that?” Levi gives me a skeptical look.

“Because I buried it there.”

He turns to me then, his brow furrowed and a serious look marring his otherwise serene state.

“You’re gonna have to take me through that step by step.”

“As long as you let me finish telling you before you say anything.”

“All right.” I can tell by the uncharacteristic tone in his voice that I’m not the only one feeling anxious about this conversation now.