Page 140 of Carson

“I thought her brain was just doing crazy things, but now that I know she was right about some of it, I wonder if the rest of it will come true.”

“Let’s just take it one day at a time, okay?”

I hug myself, because if the vision is true then maybe … just maybe someday I’ll be able to be intimate with Carson.

“Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that you letting me stay here helped. You checking in on me every night helped. You … just you … helped. I’ve never felt safer than here with you.”

“You helped me too. Look how happy Lily has been since your arrival. You’ve brought life back to our home, Luna. We were so caught up in her diagnosis that we forgot to look around and see how much we weren’t losing. We learned that we can adapt, and so can our family and our club. You breathed life into a woman who had all but given up.”

“I don’t want her to be sad when we all leave.”

He chucks me under the chin. “She predicted that tomorrow would be the day. She’ll be okay. She knows how all of this works, Luna. We’ve said goodbye to our kids a lot over the years. They might be gone physically, but we always hold them right here.” He pats his chest.

“Okay, if you’re sure.”

“I am.”

“I think I’ll move my things back over there when the boys are at work tomorrow.”

He grins, because he knows I’m planning on surprising them.

“Lily and I will help you, okay?”

This time I accept the help without hesitation. “I’d like that.”

He leans over and places a kiss on my forehead, and then he tucks me in. “Good night, Luna.”

“Good night, Dan.”

After he goes to bed, I head downstairs to find my brother lying awake on the sofa bed on his phone.

“I was just texting Serenity good night,” he says, sitting up.

I lower myself beside him. “I know you need to get some sleep. You’ve got a long day of driving tomorrow, but I was wondering if … well, if I could talk to you about something.”

“Sure. I don’t sleep very well away from Serenity, so I’ll be fighting the insomnia for a few hours anyway.”

“I just wanted to say thank you for taking care of me when we were kids, and I’m sorry for what my father may have done to you.”

He looks away and I think this may have been a mistake.

“You don’t have to apologize for him. You are not responsible for his sins.” When he looks back at me, he has tears in his eyes. “Do you think Mila should apologize on his behalf as well?”

My head pulls back as if he’s just smacked me in the face. “No. Of course not, she’s just a child.”

“So were you. Luna, I want you to let all of that go. You and Mila were the only good things that came from that man. Accept that and move on. Please try to move on.”

I sit in what he’s saying for a moment.

“I can’t believe you saved all of the origami I made you,” he says, trying to lighten the mood.

I pick at imaginary fuzzies from the blanket. “It was the first time I realized that boys were capable of creating something beautiful and delicate.”

My brother is a big, brutal-looking man. Not unusual for most of the men you find in biker clubs. But if you look a little deeper, there is usually more. Not always, but usually.

“If you hadn’t showed me kindness all those years ago, I don’t know that I would have given Carson a chance.”

“I don’t think I can take credit for you and Carson.”