Page 94 of Tactical Revival

I stare at him, trying to process everything he’s saying. “I didn’t know you were there.”

“I left before you woke. But I checked in from time to time. And then one day, I came, and you had been discharged and sent home.”

My heart thaws toward him, and suddenly the weight of forgiveness is not nearly as heavy as it had been. “For what it’s worth, I forgive you.”

He turns to me again, hope burning in his eyes. “You do?”

“I do.”

His eyes fill. “Can I?” He holds out his arms, and I embrace him, pulling his slight form in for the first hug I think my father and I have ever shared. Even before, when I’d been young, I can’t remember ever hugging my dad.

Even when I’d been scared or hurt as a boy, he’d push me aside. Tell me to man up.

I thought I’d moved on. That I’d fully processed everything I went through as a child, but now I’m understanding that I wasn’t quite as far past it as I thought. Because this—this embrace—it feels an awful lot like healing.

Tears slip down my cheeks as we pull away. “Are you staying in town?”

“I checked out of my hotel this morning. I’ve been staying with Tyler. He offered to take me in until—you know.”

“I’ll be flying out to see you both,” I tell him. “I promise.”

He smiles. “I look forward to that. Both my boys in one place. I don’t deserve it.”

“None of us deserve the forgiveness we receive,” I tell him. “But Jesus loved us so much, He died for it.”

“Hey, stranger.” Margot slips her hand into mine and leans against my shoulder to stare out over the ocean. “I thought I’d find you down here.”

I look down at her and smile. Her hair is in a thick braid down her back, and she’s wearing a white T-shirt and baggy blue pants. Her toes are painted a bright coral that matches the tips of her fingers.

She’s light.

Hope.

Love.

“You are so beautiful.”

Her cheeks flush with color. “Why, thank you, Detective. You know, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were trying to woo me.”

“Always.”

“How did things go with your dad?”

“It was harder than I thought it would be to say goodbye to him.”

“So it went well?”

I nod. “He apologized. Told me that he wasn’t making excuses because he knows he messed up.” My throat tightens again as I picture him crying beside a hospital bed when I’d been so out of it I had no idea I wasn’t alone. “He came to see me at the hospital. When I was in a coma.”

“Really?” Her eyes fill. It’s one of the things I love about her. Margot feels everything. She’s empathetic and understanding, kind and forgiving. Even after everything Chad put her through, she’s been driving Matty to see him, even taking the man care packages so he doesn’t feel forgotten while he’s in rehab.

“Yeah.”

“How are you doing with all of it?”

“I’m good. Honestly. I feel better than I have in—I don’t even know how long.” I press a kiss to the top of her head.

“I’m so glad.”

---