Chapter forty-one
Ben
World War III hasn’t erupted by the time Amy and I step back inside, but Ivan scuttles around clearing plates and tidying up. Dinner’s over.
Amy leads me away into the back hallway before I can speak to anyone.
“What were you thinking?” she asks quietly. “Bringing her here today?”
“I didn’t think,” I admit. “I bumped into her at the graveyard. She approached me while I was at Bex’s grave and… it’s complicated.”
Antonia’s current situation isn’t mine to tell. But I know my sister-in-law would understand if she knew.
She sighs. “Things are always complicated. But today has always been Bex’s day. The kids expect that. That’s why Savannah’s here.”
Shame settles heavily in my chest. I know how badly I’ve handled this. No one needs to tell me, but it’s not Antonia’s fault.
And she left here believing it was.
I hear raised voices.
Liam. Savannah.
The argument is coming from Liam’s bedroom as Amy and I climb the stairs.
I peek through the gap in the slightly ajar door, and find they’re nose to nose. Similar in height, it looks more like a stand-off in a duel rather than a disagreement between siblings.
“Today wasn’t the right day,” Savannah yells. “It’s not fair. She shouldn’t have been here.”
“It’s not her fault,” Liam fires back.
“It is her fault. She should’ve known not to come.”
Liam sighs, shaking his head as his hands lift in frustration. “Savannah, she didn’t know.”
“Do you really believe that?” she snaps. “Do you honestly believe she didn’t? She can’t read a headstone?”
I stand in the hallway listening to my son defend the woman who I thought might one day take a place in my life where his mum once stood. And my daughter defends the honor of the woman we all lost.
Neither of them is wrong. And neither of them is entirely right.
“Sav,” Liam says quietly. “She was my mum. I miss her more than any of you.”
Savannah freezes. Her mouth snaps shut, her anger faltering. “I understand,” she mutters.
“No, you don’t,” Liam says. “You can’t. And I hope you won’t anytime soon.” He pauses, glancing toward the door. Our eyes lock, and my chest tightens. “But Dad deserves to be happy.”
His sister wipes at her face, and tears streak mascara across her cheek.
“I want him to be happy,” Liam adds with a small shrug. “And… she seems nice.”
“He’s right,” Amy whispers, giving me a small smile. “He’s a clever boy.”
I step back, moving out of Savannah’s way just as she storms out of the bedroom and marches past us, not even acknowledging we’re there.
“She’ll cool down eventually,” Amy murmurs.
Liam steps out into the hallway just as Amy turns to me. “If you care about that woman at all,” she says quietly, “you’ll go after her. Tonight wasn’t her fault.”
I look at my son.
The boy who lost his mother.
The woman we’re here remembering tonight.
“You should go, Dad,” he says with a nod. “Go find her. Make sure she’s okay. She looked really sad.” He clears his throat, and emotion catches in my own. “I meant what I said… you deserve to be happy.”
That’s all I needed to hear. All I needed was permission from the young man who makes me so damn proud every day—the boy I didn’t even know existed until he was five years old, and who now stands here, telling me to go after the woman I’ve fallen for.