No Saint (Wild Men 6)

I bite my lip, trying to control myself. Too many years of frustrated fury to bottle it up so easily. “Sorry.”

“No, I am the one who is sorry,” Mom says. “Maybe... I was wrong. I couldn’t see another choice, back then. I couldn’t see a way out. Medication can do wonders, I tell you. She gives a hushed laugh. The sound is strained. Now I can see more clearly. Now... I wish I hadn’t left. Gosh, I miss you guys so much.”

“Mom.” Josh leans toward the phone. “Will you come back? Will you...?” His voice cracks. “Please, come back?”

God, my vision has gone all blurry.

“Honey...” Mom has to stop and take a breath. “I will come visit. How does that sound? If you all want me to, that is.”

“Please,” I manage, my throat closing. “Please, Mom.”

“I will talk to your dad, see when it would be a good time.”

“But soon?” Josh asks, the hope in his voice painful to hear.

“Soon,” Mom agrees, and I think she’s smiling now. “My beautiful children. Very soon. You know I love you very much, right?”

“Yes.” I’ve always known. And it took a man who believed in his mom’s love, even though he thought she abandoned him, to convince me to open my eyes and get my own mom back.

Sometimes, you see, the monsters under the bed, or in the schoolyard, are not who they seem to be.

Sometimes, hoping and believing are the same thing.

Sometimes we have to open our hearts and accept the pain and love that we feel, so we can be saved.

Jo Says:

Many, many thanks to my wonderful beta reader and friend Ana Rita Clemente for insisting this scene was needed to give Luna closure. She was right. Also many thanks for her suggestions.

JO SAYS...

I hope you have enjoyed reading Ross’s story. From the start, from the moment he appeared in Caveman, Ross demanded to have his story told. He was too damaged, too angry not to interest me. I hate bullies, and deciding his novelistic fate took me a while. All told, I resisted this urge to write about him and to give him a happy ending. From the get go it was obvious to me that he’d have to work hard to earn that happy ending, suffer a lot, and make amends when and where possible.

It seemed like an impossible task, redeeming him. But that’s what I set out to do because he just wouldn’t shut up and let go. I guess he’s stubborn, like me...

A lot of his anger and the reasons behind it were set up in Mancave (the epilogue to Caveman) and later in Dark Child, so I had a lot of material to work with. And I tortured him so much, mentally and physically, that I felt satisfied that he had done his penance.

I really hope he finds redemption in your eyes in the end, like he did in mine.