Page 117 of Somewhere You Belong

“Hey, Dallas. I wanted to get your opinion on the tree that needs trimming out back. Come with me, yeah?” Penn stands from his chair, motioning toward the backyard.

“Sure.” Dallas turns to me and says, “You’ll be okay if I’m gone a minute?”

“Yes, she’ll be fine,” Katherine answers for me. “In fact, all boys outside. Now. I’ll let you know when dinner is ready.”

Parker pops the top on his beer as he follows Penn and Dallas to the back door. “It’s just like when we were kids. Some things never change, I guess.”

All three boys hustle outside, leaving me alone with Hazel and the matriarch of the family.

“Hazel, honey. Can you go outside and make sure those boys aren’t talking about rearranging my yard, please? You know how Penn gets when he gets an idea in his mind.”

Hazel rolls her eyes, grabbing her glass of wine and moving toward the door. “Sure, but you and I both know none of them listen to me.”

“That’s not true. Now go on. Willow can help me with the last-minute touches on dinner.”

Hazel grumbles as she heads outside, leaving me and Katherine alone.

Finally.

“Take a deep breath, Willow,” she tells me, like she could sense that I was holding mine in.

I inhale and release just as quickly. “I’m sorry. This is just…”

“Nerve-wracking. I know.” She reaches out for my hand across the counter before darting her eyes to the window that gives a view of the backyard. “But you haven’t said anything to him, have you?”

“No, but I have a feeling he’s not going to be so thrilled with me when he finds out.”

“Well, that depends on what you’ve decided to do.”

“I want to stay here,” I tell her. “I’m falling for your son, but this is so complicated, Katherine.”

She hangs her head. “I know, but I signed on for this, Willow. Michael and I knew Dallas would be angry, but my husband was adamant that the house was yours.”

“I just don’t get it. Why me?”

She straightens her spine. “My husband was not in a good place after he came back home, after your parents…” She clears her throat. “The guilt he was living with was so heavy I thought I was going to lose him to it. Then, one day, he came up with a way to give you something in an attempt to make amends, even though he knew it would never bring your parents back. It was all he had to give, a piece of our town that he felt could make a difference in your life.”

“But I never thought I’d fall for your son…”

“Neither did we, honey.” Her face softens and a smile forms on her lips. “But I’d say that’s a pretty amazing thing to come out of all this, wouldn’t you?” I shrug, not sure how to answer that because part of me thinks it’s true, and the other part is so frustrated by the circumstances. “You’ve made my son smile again, Willow—find his light. He’s different with you, more of the boy he was before he leftfor the Marines, my son who wanted to help people, who loved to laugh and enjoy life, not the one who fought with his dad in a circle about the path he chose for his life or the man who witnessed death and destruction that no one should ever have to see.”

“If my parents never died, this mess wouldn’t have happened.” The emotion I’ve been shoving down starts to bubble up. “I wouldn’t be here…”

Katherine comes around the counter to wrap her arms around me as I let a few tears free. “Oh, honey. It was an accident, a horrible accident that impacted us all.”

“My entire life changed because of that day, and now so has Dallas’s.”

With her hand, she gently grabs my chin and turns my face toward hers. “Honey, you can sit here, blaming everyone else for how your life has turned out…or, you can start living your story the way you want it written. Those are your options and I have a feeling you know which one makes sense.” My bottom lip trembles as her hand moves to my shoulder.

“I’m just so angry, for how everything has played out and put me in this position now. I’m so mad at them for leaving me—”

“A parent’s love is unwavering, Willow,” she says, cutting me off. “No matter what you think, your mother and father loved you. No one could have known what was going to happen. And it’s okay to be angry, but know that your parents were human, just like you and me. And sometimes, that means we have to make the best choice for ourselves despite the potential consequences. We don’t know how our decisions will eventually impact those we care about. And it’s unfair really, because as parents, we think we’re supposed to have all the answers. But we don’t, because we’re still learning about life right alongside our children.” She brushes away a tear from my cheek. “AndDallas not knowing his father left that house to you, that’s something that we had to live with, and I will have to deal with the consequences of.”

At that moment, the back door creaks open. Dallas stares between us as I whip around to look at him, but turn back around just as quickly, trying to hide the fact that I’ve been crying.

“What’s going on? Are you making her cry already, Mom? Jesus, I was gone for ten minutes…”

Katherine places her hands on her hips. “Why on earth would I be doing that?”

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