Cal's face went pale. "Daisy, I didn't know."
"No. You didn't. Because you never asked." I pressed my hand to my chest, trying to ease the ache. "You assumed Knox would hurt me because of where he came from. You assumed Garrett was safe because of where he came from. And you were wrong. About both of them."
The silence stretched. Cal stood there, looking older than I'd ever seen him, the weight of my words settling on his shoulders.
"I thought I was doing the right thing," he said finally. His voice was rough and broken. "Your mother asked me to look out for you. When she got sick, when she knew she might not... She made me promise. To keep you safe. To make sure you had the life she wanted for you."
My heart cracked. Mom. Always, it came back to Mom.
"Mom wanted me to be happy," I said softly. "That's all she ever wanted. And I was happy with Knox. Happier than I've ever been, before or since."
"I know." Cal's eyes were wet. I'd never seen him cry. Not at Mom's funeral. Not ever. "I knew it then, and I made myself ignore it. Because I was scared. Scared of losing you the way I lost her. Scared of watching you make a choice that would take you away from me."
"So you made the choice for me."
"Yes." He didn't try to justify it anymore. He didn't defend himself. He stood there, stripped bare, letting me see the fear and love and regret that had been driving him all along. "And I've regretted it every day since. Watching Knox become the man he is now. Watching you come back broken from the life I thought I was saving you for. Knowing that I caused all of it."
I wanted to stay angry and to hold onto the fury that had been building since Knox told me the truth. But looking at Cal now, seeing the grief in his eyes, I couldn't.
He'd been wrong. Devastatingly, unforgivably wrong. But he'd done it because he loved me. Because he was terrified of losing the only family he had left.
"I don't know how to forgive you," I said. "Not yet. Maybe not for a long time."
Cal nodded. "I don't expect you to."
"But I'm not going to let this destroy us." I took a breath. "You're the only family I have. And I love you. Even when I'm furious at you."
Something in his face crumpled. Relief and pain and gratitude, all tangled together.
"I love you too," he said. "More than anything."
"Then prove it." I straightened my shoulders. "Knox is outside. He's been waiting in his truck while I talked to you. And he's going to keep being in my life, Cal. I'm choosing him. The way I should have been allowed to choose him eight years ago."
Cal was quiet for a long moment. I watched him wrestle with it. The instinct to protect warring with the knowledge that protection had cost us all too much already.
"You want me to accept him," he said. “Accept him as part of your life.”
"I want you to try." I held his gaze. "He's not the kid you threatened eight years ago. He's a good man. A man who lovesme enough to have walked away when you told him to, and who spent every year since then trying to become someone worthy of a second chance. That's more than most people would do."
Cal exhaled slowly. Then he nodded.
"I know that Daisy. Knox and I made peace with ourselves a while back, but that was between us. Accepting him as part of my life was easy. Accepting him as being with you will be harder, but I’m willing to try. Bring him in."
My heart stuttered. "What?"
"You heard me." Cal's voice was rough but steady. "If he's going to be in your life, we need to clear the air. All three of us."
I stared at him for a moment, not sure whether to laugh or cry. Then I walked to the front door and opened it.
Knox was leaning against his truck, arms crossed, watching the cabin. He straightened when he saw me.
"Cal wants to talk to you," I said. "Both of us."
He nodded as he walked toward me, took my hand, and together we went inside.
***
Cal had moved to the living room, positioning himself in front of the fireplace like a man preparing for battle.