had been something real to run from.
“I wasn’t going to come here at all. I was heading for College Station. Amanda Graceson asked me to come and I figured it would be better for everyone if I just left. But then I couldn’t somehow. I don’t know, I felt guilty, I guess. So I came here.”
“It’s a beautiful place,” he said, looking out across the lake and meadow, seemingly content to just sit with her here.
She sucked in a breath, lifting her gaze to Patrick’s, the tender concern reflected there almost her undoing. “My mother?” The words came out on a whisper, and Dakota realized she was afraid of his answer.
“She’s in the hospital. She’s pretty banged up. But the doc said she’ll be okay.”
Dakota nodded, the reel still playing in her head. “And my father?”
Patrick released a long puff of air. “He’s dead, Dakota.”
She nodded. She’d already known it, of course, but somehow Patrick saying the words was what made it seem true.
“Dillon didn’t have a choice.” His words were careful, as if he was afraid she’d argue. But there was no doubt. If Dillon hadn’t fired, she’d be dead. Or her mother. Or her brother. Or maybe all of them. Hector had been beyond any kind of reasoning. He’d been so filled with his own version of reality that he’d lost his grip on sanity.
“I know.” She sighed, turning to watch as a bird skimmed across the top of the water. “He did what he had to. And he probably saved our lives. Daddy had a gun. And I know he would have used it.”
“Dakota, I’m so sorry.”
“For what? You didn’t make my family so dysfunctional. My father did that. And me. I’m just like him, you know? So full of hatred and anger.”
“But you don’t have to be.”
“How can I be anything else? I’ve fucked my life up so royally. I mean, first with the senator, and then with Ginny and the announcement and all the rest. I screwed over people who cared about me. And I believed in people who didn’t. What kind of person does that make me?”
“Human,” Patrick said, reaching for her hand. “It makes you human.”
“But how can they ever forgive me? How can I forgive myself? I’ve made so many mistakes, Patrick.” She laid her cheek against her knee, ignoring the pain as she brushed against her bruises. “I’ve hurt so many people.”
“My grandfather always says that the only way to go forward is to begin as you mean to go on.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means you have to decide the kind of person you are. And if you truly want to change, then you have to take the first step.”
“I don’t know how.”
“Sure you do,” he said, tipping her chin up again, forcing her to meet his gaze. “It’s there inside you, Dakota. Beneath the fear and anger, there’s the real you. And I think if you’d give her a chance, you might even like her.”
“Do you always see the good in really awful people?” she asked, losing herself in the pale blue of his eyes.
“Only when I know there’s a good heart in there somewhere.” His smile stole her breath away as he leaned in to kiss her. For a minute the world shrank until it contained just the two of them, his warmth promising things she’d never believed in. And then a mockingbird scolded from the tree above, the moment broken.
He pushed to his feet and held out his hand. “Come on. I’ll take you to your mother.”
For a moment fear held her immobile, and then she squared her shoulders and placed her fingers in his. And as he pulled her to her feet, Dakota wondered if people really did get second chances. Because God knew she wanted one.
Chapter 6
“We don’t have to walk in together,” Mary Louise Prager said as she looked across the yard toward the gathering at the Johnsons’.
The entire family was present for an impromptu barbeque to celebrate Anna Mae and Chase’s engagement. Well, both families. Hers and Tate’s. Which meant that Mary Louise had to go. But she didn’t
“I wasn’t going to come here at all. I was heading for College Station. Amanda Graceson asked me to come and I figured it would be better for everyone if I just left. But then I couldn’t somehow. I don’t know, I felt guilty, I guess. So I came here.”
“It’s a beautiful place,” he said, looking out across the lake and meadow, seemingly content to just sit with her here.
She sucked in a breath, lifting her gaze to Patrick’s, the tender concern reflected there almost her undoing. “My mother?” The words came out on a whisper, and Dakota realized she was afraid of his answer.
“She’s in the hospital. She’s pretty banged up. But the doc said she’ll be okay.”
Dakota nodded, the reel still playing in her head. “And my father?”
Patrick released a long puff of air. “He’s dead, Dakota.”
She nodded. She’d already known it, of course, but somehow Patrick saying the words was what made it seem true.
“Dillon didn’t have a choice.” His words were careful, as if he was afraid she’d argue. But there was no doubt. If Dillon hadn’t fired, she’d be dead. Or her mother. Or her brother. Or maybe all of them. Hector had been beyond any kind of reasoning. He’d been so filled with his own version of reality that he’d lost his grip on sanity.
“I know.” She sighed, turning to watch as a bird skimmed across the top of the water. “He did what he had to. And he probably saved our lives. Daddy had a gun. And I know he would have used it.”
“Dakota, I’m so sorry.”
“For what? You didn’t make my family so dysfunctional. My father did that. And me. I’m just like him, you know? So full of hatred and anger.”
“But you don’t have to be.”
“How can I be anything else? I’ve fucked my life up so royally. I mean, first with the senator, and then with Ginny and the announcement and all the rest. I screwed over people who cared about me. And I believed in people who didn’t. What kind of person does that make me?”
“Human,” Patrick said, reaching for her hand. “It makes you human.”
“But how can they ever forgive me? How can I forgive myself? I’ve made so many mistakes, Patrick.” She laid her cheek against her knee, ignoring the pain as she brushed against her bruises. “I’ve hurt so many people.”
“My grandfather always says that the only way to go forward is to begin as you mean to go on.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means you have to decide the kind of person you are. And if you truly want to change, then you have to take the first step.”
“I don’t know how.”
“Sure you do,” he said, tipping her chin up again, forcing her to meet his gaze. “It’s there inside you, Dakota. Beneath the fear and anger, there’s the real you. And I think if you’d give her a chance, you might even like her.”
“Do you always see the good in really awful people?” she asked, losing herself in the pale blue of his eyes.
“Only when I know there’s a good heart in there somewhere.” His smile stole her breath away as he leaned in to kiss her. For a minute the world shrank until it contained just the two of them, his warmth promising things she’d never believed in. And then a mockingbird scolded from the tree above, the moment broken.
He pushed to his feet and held out his hand. “Come on. I’ll take you to your mother.”
For a moment fear held her immobile, and then she squared her shoulders and placed her fingers in his. And as he pulled her to her feet, Dakota wondered if people really did get second chances. Because God knew she wanted one.
Chapter 6
“We don’t have to walk in together,” Mary Louise Prager said as she looked across the yard toward the gathering at the Johnsons’.
The entire family was present for an impromptu barbeque to celebrate Anna Mae and Chase’s engagement. Well, both families. Hers and Tate’s. Which meant that Mary Louise had to go. But she didn’t
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