Page 62 of Salvation

Chapter 67

Blake

Elain and I were officially moved into Wesley’s, the latter ecstatic at having her own room. Wesley even took her down to the department store to pick out a new paint color and some décor to make it her own. Moving in with him was an easy decision to make. Wesley was my home, and it didn’t matter where we stayed or where we went. That wouldn’t change. Plus, seeing how well he did with Elain and how easily their friendship formed was the selling point for me.

That little cottage I found when I moved here would now become Clover-Hills’ very first Therapeutic Treatment Center.

It’ll be a safe space for anyone who needs it. For anyone who needs a place to stay. For anyone who just needs someone to talk to. We’ll hold weekly or daily therapy groups where everyone can share their stories. Residents can come for counseling and advice, and it will be completely free for anyone who needs it. It’ll be a cozy space, where you can come and just sit on a couchbefore the fireplace, drinking a coffee and reading a book. One where you can feel comfortable enough to not even talk, but to just be surrounded by people who you knowcare.

People will use it to heal. To find peace.

That’s exactly why I’ve decided to visit my father today. To find my peace.

Wesley offered to come, but Elain was the one who insisted she tag along. He didn’t fight her on that. We now sit at the front of the prison, having already gone through the gates and whatnot. Elain’s going to stay in the car, but I’m beyond grateful that she’s chosen to join me. That she’ll be my support. Someone who understands what this is like. I can’t help but wonder if when she’s further along in her healing journey, I’ll be the one to join her when she sees her father for the first time.

“You’ve got this.” I don’t respond, only nod before slamming the driver-side door before heading to the front.

***

I’m not as nervous as I was when I first stepped in here. I’m oddly calm, and somehow that’s more nerve-racking. I wait on the other side of the glass that separates civilians from the inmates. A phone sits on a hook beside the cubby.

Soon, a buzzing fills the air, and my father comes into view. He’s dressed in orange, shackles on his hands and feet. His face was bruised from what I can assume was a brawl within the prison. I’m not surprised, as I hear child abuse doesn’t sit well with one’s fellow inmates. I don’t feel any pity for the man as he sits across from me. He picks up the phone, and I do, too. He goes to open his mouth, but I put my hand up to stop it. Surprisingly, he listens. “I’m not here for you. I’m here for me.”

I lift my chin and meet his eyes. Refusing to cast my gaze downward. “What you did? I’ll never forget. Ican’tforget. Thatyou made sure of.” His face scrunches, and he looks like he wants to speak, but I forge ahead. Not giving him the chance. “I love you because I unconditionally love the father you were to the little girl I was. But I don’t understand you. I don’tknowyou. How you can hurt the one person you’re supposed to protect is beyond me. It hurts that you’d choose this,” I wave my hand around us, “Over what you could have had. Thefamilyyou could have had. That is a decision you will have to live with for the rest of your life.” I shake my head. “You don’t deserve my forgiveness, so you won’t get it. But I do deserve to move on. So that is why I’m here.”

I pull in a long breath, choosing to fight back that part of me that wants to scream and tear this entire room to shreds. The side that wants to lunge at this man and shake him for all the pain he’s caused. “I hope you get help while you’re in there. I hope you sit in there and you understand why what you did a few months ago was wrong, and why what you didyearsago was wrong.”

“I don’t need you. I never did. And I hope you find peace in your life choices, the same way I’ve found peace in letting you go.” I pull the phone away from my ear as he begins speaking, spewing an apology I don’t want to hear. I lay it down before me and stand. I turn away from him without another glance, not even having to fight tears because I’ve already shed more for this monster than I’ll ever shed again. It hurts, but it’s better to feel this kind of pain than nothing at all.

I leave, content in that this is the last moment I ever see my father again.

***

I barrel into my car seat again when Elain turns her body toward mine. “You, okay?”

Worry is etched onto her features. Not pity, not sadness, but worry. Knowing what kind of toll this kind of situation can take. But I just reach forward and squeeze her hands. “I will be.” She smiles at me, and that smile tells me that I really will be okay. That we both will be. Because while we both need to heal, we’ll get there. And we’ll be stronger because of it. If she can smile after everything, so can I.

She squeezes my hand back. “Let’s go home, then.”

Chapter 68

Blake

“I’m gonna go read.” Elain declares as we reach the front steps to the house.

We watch as she goes inside, and Wesley stands from the rocker chair to come stand in front of me. He cups the side of my face and lands a quick kiss on my forehead. “How’d it go?” He asks.

“As good as you think it would.” I shrug.

He just looks at me, brows slowly rising in question. “It was…good. For me, it was. It hurt, but it was freeing. I think I needed it.”

He nods, not pushing me any further. And I’m thankful for it. He cranes his head to look behind me. “Want to go for a walk?”

I nod, turning my head to follow his gaze, knowing exactly where he wants to go. I gracefully take the coat he’s handing me and place my hand in his awaiting one.

***

We walk for just a few minutes before we’re standing at the pond nestled next to my previous home. Our hands, still interlocked. It’s frozen over now due to how harshly cold the weather has become, but it’s our pond all the same. I breathe out, watching as my breath fogs in the air before me. “It’s crazy what time can do to a place like this.”

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