Everything is as it should be. Max and Pearl will never hurt my girls again.
Why, you ask? Because dead people stay dead.
Twenty-one years later
Harper’s engagement to Dylan, someone she met in college, wasn’t a shock to me. It was to Bryant. I had to hide all of the guns in our house, and Devon’s house, for the first six months that she was dating him. Bryant hated him.
Bryant still hates him.
“My baby girl!” Bryant stretches his big, muscular arms wide, wrapping them around Harper. He wears his salt and pepper hair short on the sides and slicked back on the top. His tattoos are as clean as they were the day I met him, and he’s every bit the same asshole too.
“Hey, Daddy! Are you ready?” Harper drives home once a month so she and he can go on their father-daughter dates. It was part of the requirement from Bryant for allowing her to date Dylan.
As I said.
He still hates him.
“Hi, sweetie.” I give her a hug before pulling Dylan in for his own. I, on the other hand, adore Dylan. He takes care of her in the way that Bryant did me. He’s just too stubborn to see it right now.
“Hi, Mrs. Royal.” Dylan walks in, shaking off the snow on his hat and hanging it on the stand.
“Dylan,” Bryant grunts, his eyes narrowing. “Did I ever tell you about Heart Island?”
I shove Bryant out the door with Harper. “Get out. Now. Leave Dylan alone.” They both leave, and I lean against the doorframe just as they’re sliding into the back seat, with Jer popping out of the driver’s side.
Jer waves at me from a distance.
I wave back. Jer has helped immensely over the years with my building of Sane, my psychiatric hospital. We now have four clinics over America and are looking at opening another in Australia. My mom is still here, and she and Harper share a strong bond that frightens me on the best of days. Harper’s personality is infectious, sweet, and unique. I’m not sure what Bryant and I did to deserve her.
The sun sets in the background as the limo drives off into the sunset, and I sigh, resting my head against the doorframe and inhaling the leftover oxygen of the day.
We made it.
And we will keep making it.
One step at a time, but the steps will always be taken together.