Page 113 of Galen's Redemption
“I know the feeling. The lawyers told me they calledyou first, and that I was an afterthought. The funny thing was, I believed it.”
Noel came back in and went straight to Lincoln, who wrapped him in his arms. “What did I miss?”
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
Noel’s glance darted from Robert to Galen to Lincoln. “So that’s it? He’s forgiven?”
“No, I’m not forgiven. I can’t be, because I haven’t heard it from you.”
Noel’s gaze snappedin Galen’s direction. “Wait. You’re saying what I want counts in this?”
Lincoln reached down and smacked Noel lightly on the ass. “Of course it matters, pup. But there are things you should know. I didn’t want you to know, but our father—”
“No, please don’t tell him that.” When everyone looked at Galen, he sighed. “If I’m going to have his forgiveness, I need to earn it. I don’t want it becausehe feels sorry for me. Can we sit down? I promise not to keep you—I know you’ve got to open in the morning.”
“Not me. I worked for Tyler tonight, so he’s covering lunch tomorrow. But yeah, let’s sit. I want to hear this, because now I’m wondering what I’m upset about.”
They went into the dining room. Colby and Terrell had left after putting down a nice tip for Noel. He cleaned the table quickly,wiping it down so it sparkled. Then he did something curious. He went and poured coffee for them, including Galen. He set it down in front of each person, then took a chair.
“Okay, spill it.”
The words Galen wanted to say seemed inadequate. “I’m trying to earn redemption. I was cruel to people and said some awful things. I regret them all and will spend the rest of my life trying to make thingsright.”
“Wow. Okay, I admit, I didn’t expect this. I thought you were going to come in here and try to spin some bullshit story about why we shouldn’t be mad at you.”
“No. You’ve every right to be angry with me. I treated you like crap, and you didn’t deserve it. You were up at the crack of dawn, trying to help Lincoln, and I should have appreciated that. And when Father pulled out those photos,I should have stood up and said how disgusted I was. I didn’t because I was a coward.”
“Noel, you remember how you told me you liked the changes that were done to the shelter? Galen is responsible for them. He’s working his ass off, going out and seeking donations and sponsors. If it wasn’t for him, I would have lost the shelter.”
Noel’s eyes went wide. “Wait. What?”
“We were in the red. Like,deep. Even now, we’re barely holding it together, but Galen’s doing everything humanly possible to ensure we’re up to code and we have money to pay for things we desperately need.” Robert blew out a breath. “You once asked me what I wanted for myself. I told you I could never make that kind of choice, because the people in the shelter were first in my heart. I was wrong. Galen is everything… no,he’smorethan everything I’ve ever hoped for in a relationship. He’s kind, loving, and he cares about the people at the shelter. There’s a girl there—the other day she told Galen she loves him. She calls him Uncle Galen. Today he gave her a stuffed lion named Lincoln.”
Noel’s eyebrows went up. “You named a lion Lincoln? Why?”
“Because I missed him. When Cassie asked me to tell her stories,I went with what I knew.”
“Tell him what you named the other characters.”
“But—”
“Tell him, Galen. He needs to know.”
Galen sighed. “Lincoln the Lion, Robert Rabbit, Andy the Aardvark, Prissy Peter, Marco the Mink and….” He didn’t want to do this. “Noel the Narwhal.”
Lincoln chuckled. “I’m sorry. What?”
“Noel the Narwhal. It was the only animal I could think of that started withN. I’m sorry.”
“I’m a narwhal? Awesome. The unicorn of the sea, baby!”
That set Robert to laughing, and Lincoln joined him.
“I’m really sorry, Noel. To both you and Lincoln. And to Katy, who I never tipped properly. I know that you’re going to need time to think about it, but I want you to know I’m not going anywhere. I’ll always be at the shelter if you need me.”
“Yeah, about that.”
Galen turned to Robert.“What?”
