I looked around the grand, lonely room. I thought of the helicopter ride, of four bright, beautiful children singing Silent Night around a piano, completely whole and untouched by this darkness. I had built a life of light out of the wreckage they had left me in.
“You have a long road ahead of you, Patricia,” I said gently. “If you want to know those children, it won’t be as a family that sweeps this under the rug. It will be on my terms, in my city, at my pace. Marcus…”
Marcus looked at me, his eyes hollow with heartbreak.
“You have a lot of work to do on yourself before you are worthy of being in their lives,” I told him. “I won’t keep them from knowing who you are. But you will earn every second. You will earn every smile.”
Marcus swallowed hard and gave a single, devastatingly painful nod. “I’ll do whatever it takes. Even if it takes the rest of my life.”
“Good,” I said.
I picked up my leather coat, zipped it against the cold, and walked toward the door.
As I stepped out onto the porch, the freezing mountain air hit my face. Behind me, the Reynolds house was quiet, buried in snow and long-overdue accountability. Ahead of me, the sky was clear, bright blue, and wide open.
I got into my car and started the engine.
I didn’t look back in the rearview mirror. My life, my strength, and my four greatest blessings were waiting for me at home.
