“Tell her I’ll see her at the end. She won’t be alone. That’s what she’s afraid of. She’s terrified there won’t be anyone waiting for her,” he whispered. “Don’t let her be afraid.”
“I won’t.”
We danced for a moment, a father and daughter swaying to the music, holding on to each other the way we had all of our lives, and I understood why he’d wanted his dance at the wedding. It was a good-bye of sorts, a sending off. It was a loving memory of a childhood that was ending and a new chapter to open.
This man had taught me how to love. How to dream. How to crack a safe. How to live.
I am who I am because Harry Wharton was my father.
We danced, the moment lengthening into a time I will never forget, never regret. That one song stretched out, encompassing our lives together, and I relived it all.
I was a child who sat on Daddy’s lap and listened to his stories.
I was held as I cried because my mother left us. I won’t leave. I won’t ever leave you, girl.
My father takes in Danny because his best friend is gone, and he can’t let that boy go into foster care. Somehow the man who’d never been ready for a child had two to raise.
My father snaps pictures at our graduation, and he’s so proud we’re going off to college.
My father stands with me as we realize Danny’s gone.
My dad fights with Dev and finally accepts him as his son.
My father plays with his grandkids, his smile wider than I can ever remember.
My father gives his life to save them and then fights death itself to watch over them.
The music changed, a bright rhythm starting up, and he kissed my forehead and I felt the moment he leaves. I felt a shudder go through Shy and a breeze lifted my hair up. I looked up and the sky was full of a million stars.
My father walked through the door we all walk through one day, the stars shining down on everyone he loved.
“Your Highness?” Tears flowed down Shy’s face. “He’s gone.”
I nodded. “I know.”
“He…he loved you so much.” She was shaking, and I realized how much she had lost, too.
He was my father, but they shared a body for years. “He loved you, too, Shy.”
“I know. I’m going to miss him.”
She hugged me, but it had changed. Where before she had been the one giving comfort, she was Shy again, and I would bet she felt alone. I held her tight, this kind young woman who offered my father’s soul refuge. Who’d made this moment possible.
We held each other under the stars, and I whispered the words that were in my heart. I whispered them to Shy and to my father. I whispered them to the goddess and the Heaven plane and the universe around us.
“Thank you.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
“I can’t believe he’s gone.” Daniel’s arms tightened around me hours later. It was deep in the night and I’d cried so much my chest hurt, but there was a feeling of peace, too.
My father was happy. My father had completed his journey and he could rest now. There was something good in that knowledge.
And I’d let go of my dreams of the past. I’d made the decision to live in the now, and that meant fighting for our future.
“I can’t believe he named our unborn child.” Dev held up the letter that had been written by my father. Shy had explained how he’d spent the whole afternoon writing his good-byes. There was one for all the children—including one who hadn’t been born. “To Harriet on her Eighteenth Birthday. I am not naming my sweet daughter Harriet. I learned my lesson with Evangeline. If we name our perfect baby girl Harriet, Daniel will inevitably call her Harry.”
“I think that was Harry’s point,” Danny said, rubbing his cheek against mine.
Dev set the letter down and joined us on the bed. “I was planning on convincing you to name her Rosalind. No one can make that name masculine.”
“I’m afraid she’s a Harriet.” It was a good name. It would always remind her that she had a grandfather who loved her, who fought for her even before she was born. “Did you read the letter he left you?”
“Yes, he told me to get a haircut, and there was a twenty dollar bill. What does he expect me to do with that? I can’t get my hair cut for that,” Dev said.
Danny laughed. “God, I’m going to miss that old man.”
“He also told me he loved me.” Dev sighed and leaned against me, surrounding me in their warmth and love. “I never imagined Harry would even think those words about me.”
“I think you grew on him.” Danny’s arm moved to encompass Dev. “I wish I could have talked to him.”