Page 121 of Somewhere You Belong

“I can’t even look at you right now, Willow,” he says flatly as he reaches the front door.

I choke back a sob. “But I meant what I said. I want a life with you. We can work past this…”

He glares at me over his shoulder as he opens the door. “That’s nice, Willow, but I’m not sure I can trust a word that comes out of your mouth. Turns out you’re just as good an actress as you are a CEO. Who would have thought?”

As the door slams shut, I sink to the floor and let the tears fall, sobbing and crumbling because there’s nothing more I can do.

And I hate that it all came about like this.

Chapter twenty

Dallas

Willow,

I can only imagine what must be going through your head right now, receiving a letter from a man that you’ve never met. But the truth is, I feel like I’ve known you your entire life, and I regret that we will never meet, although that’s probably for the best.

My name is Staff Sergeant Michael Sheppard of the United States Marine Corps, and I knew your parents. In fact, I was with them the day they died. Correction: I’m the person responsible for their deaths.

I hate that I even have to write those words, let alone be the one to admit this to you, but please know that your parents loved you. In fact, moments before they died, they were bragging about their daughter and how full of life she was—the little girl with pigtails holding a stuffed duck in the picture your mother was clutching in her hands. I only hope that’s still true about the woman you’ve grown into, minus the stuffed animal, that is.

I want you to know how sorry I am, how much I have suffered with guilt over taking your parents away from you. As a father myself, I can’t imagine my children having to grow up without me or my wife, let alone both of us.

But hopefully, after you’ve read this letter and you visit my attorney, you’ll understand that this is my way of trying to make up for my mistakes. This is the only way I could think of to do that, so please at least hear what my attorney has to say.

I hope life has treated you well. I hope you’ve found love and joy in other ways. And I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me one day for the love that my actions stole from you.

When you read this letter, I will have left this earth as well. If I see your parents, I hope to stand beside them and watch you live your life to the fullest from the other side, if that place even exists.

But most importantly, I hope you find peace and love in my hometown of Carrington Cove—because that town is what saved me.

Best wishes,

Michael Sheppard

***

“Mother fucker!” I slam the heels of my hands against the steering wheel as I speed away from Willow’s house—the housemy fathergave to her.

I swear to God, this better be a dream.

More like a fucking nightmare, Dallas.

I have no idea where I’m headed, but what I do know is that I couldn’t be near her for one more second.

She fucking knew.

I wonder when she found out.

Has she known this entire time?

These are all questions I could have asked her if I’d kept my cool, but I couldn’t bear to look at her any longer, betrayal clouding my sight and fury racing through my veins.

It’s not as if my father and I had the best relationship to begin with, but now this? He’s freaking messing with my life from the grave?

How can I not feel like he just fucked up my life completely? Stole yet another choice from me and tainted it with his actions?

There’s only one person who can answer these questions, though, so that’s where I’m headed—back to my mom’s house, hoping to God she can help me make sense of this.

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