Page 149 of The Woman Left Behind

Harry wasn’t sure what he was talking about.

“Care to explain?” he invited.

“One, Lillian’s it for you.”

No hesitation, Harry nodded to confirm.

“You two gonna have kids?”

Harry nodded again.

“Well, I’ve had discussions with Caro. I like the weather down there, but I hate missing out on my boys’ lives and watching my grandbabies grow up. I told her I wanted to become a snowbird, find something small somewhere up here so I’m closer to you both for half a year. If you and Lillian move on with what you got, that move is definitely going to happen. Caroline came to Phoenix with her ex when her kids were in grade school. They’re all close, though obviously not the ex.”

When his dad smiled, Harry smiled back.

Greg kept talking.

“She gets all the good stuff all the time. But she says she’ll be happy to spend six months up here with me. Gets her out of grandma duties, something she loves, but I’ll be frank, one of her daughters takes advantage. Acts like Caro has no life outside looking after her kids. She can’t pull that shit if Caro is fifteen hundred miles away.”

Harry didn’t say anything, even if he thought it sucked one of Caroline’s daughters was thoughtless and treated her mom like that.

His father did say something.

“I got love and memories in that house, Harry. I raised my two sons in that house. I may have lost my wife while we were there, but I did right by our boys there. Josh and I spoke, and he feels the same. We see the writing on the wall. You’ve cared for it, but you don’t care for it.”

Harry opened his mouth, but his dad kept talking.

“We understand. Absolutely. But Josh and me want to buy it from you, pull down the stables, put up something we can put toys in, ATVs, snowmobiles, a boat. Spruce up the house. New kitchen. New décor. Amanda and Caroline would love digging into that. I come up in the summer, got a place to stay that’s closer to my boys, real close to you, and Josh has a weekend getaway where he can take his family.” A heavy pause and then, “And you’re shot of it, and what you lost there, but maybe we can make it into something different, for us, for you, so we all can make new memories and keep it in the family.”

“You know Lillian and I are very new,” Harry warned.

His father’s brown eyes grew intent. “I know you. I see her. I know that’s true, and I know where this is going. And I’ll admit, that’s part of it. For me and for Caroline. Lillian lost her father. I’m a father. You’re not. You don’t get what it feels like, even though I don’t know her all that well, to know she’s a woman alone in this world without her dad. Caroline feels the same about Lillian losing her mom. I know Ronetta and George fill those shoes. But you can’t have enough people looking out for you.”

Fuck, but Harry loved his dad.

And Caroline was a damn fine woman.

Greg wasn’t finished.

“And I will be beholden to her until my dying day for making you see there’s life after Winnie.”

Harry felt his chest squeeze.

His father kept going, but this time, his voice lowered.

“I loved that girl like a daughter. She was perfect for you. I miss her to this day. I hurt for you…to this day. I will say, I was a little concerned, what with you meeting Lillian during this sad time, and what that might mean, you being you and what you do for a living.”

Harry spoke, and his tone was steely. “It isn’t that.”

“I know, son,” Greg said quietly. “Again, when you’re a father, you’ll get it. You worry about pretty much everything, especially if it has to do with your child’s happiness. Even if I met her at her parents’ memorial, I saw right away it wasn’t that. Is she leaning on you? Yes. Are you a man who doesn’t feel right if he isn’t strong enough for the people he cares about to lean on? Yes again. But it’s very obviously not about that. And even if I didn’t notice it, the way Ronetta and George are with you two, I would have gotten it.”

Greg took a moment, and Harry let him, before his dad hit him with it.

“Lillian isn’t a thing like Winnie. Doesn’t look like her. Doesn’t act like her. I don’t know how you did it, Harry. But you found another wonderful woman who’s perfect for you.”

Harry didn’t realize he was holding his breath until his father said that, and he let it out.

Greg went on, “It isn’t like the buyback of the house has to happen tomorrow. But I don’t want some asshole to get it in his head that maybe he can trip your trigger faster, say he burns the place down or something. And I want more time with you. I miss my son. I want to get to know Lillian better. And frankly, Harry, I miss home.”

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