Page 80 of Tangled Up In You

Drew looked taken aback by his words. "He said that?"

"Yes. He felt guilty."

"Well, I'm fine, so it doesn't matter."

"I'm glad you're enjoying your life here, but I don't think you're fine, Drew. It's okay to still be grieving."

"It's pointless. It doesn't change anything."

"It's just a process. We all go through it when we lose someone. I mourned your sister for a long time."

"And where did that get you? You're alone."

"Well, I'm not alone because of that. I'm just happy being single."

"Yeah, right."

He frowned at Drew's disbelieving comment. "I have a busy job. And I'm not going to be alone forever. Not that I'm alone. I go out. I have friends. I have a great life." He suddenly wondered who he was trying to convince—Drew or himself.

"Whatever you say. But you don't seem anything like the guy who dated my sister. That guy laughed. He knew how to have fun. He broke the rules; he didn't enforce them."

"When Gina died, things changed. I changed. I had to act differently. I had to grow up."

Drew gave him a long look. "It wasn't your fault."

His gut twisted. "You don't know what happened that night."

"I know enough. It was just…random. And that's why it's so pointless to try to control anything, because anything can happen at any time. You should know that. You're a cop."

"I do. I also know that good decisions can prevent some of the bad from happening."

"My dad certainly believed that. He wouldn't let me do anything after Gina died. I had to stay safe. I had to live. They couldn't lose another kid. I never got to go anywhere. No high school trips, like Gina took. I had to be home by curfew every night. And that only changed when I left home to go to school. I picked California because I had to get away from my dad. I couldn't stand living under his rules. Then two years later, my mom dies, and I didn't spend hardly any time with her because I was away. If my dad hadn't made it so impossible to stay near home, I would have gone to school in Denver. I would have spent more time with my mom. But I couldn't take his constant worry about me being hurt. In the end, I got hurt anyway. My mom died."

Drew gave an angry, bitter shake of his head, then continued. "My dad couldn't stop that from happening, just like he couldn't stop Gina from dying. And he can't protect me whether I'm sitting right next to him or I'm far away." Drew blew out a breath, as if exhausted by the words that had just poured out of him. Then he said, "Go ahead, tell me I'm wrong. You're just like my dad. You're living your life like you think you can control it, but you can't."

"I can't tell you you're wrong because you're not. But I know how your dad feels. He couldn't protect Gina, so he had to protect you."

"And you couldn't protect Gina. So, what—you're protecting the whole world?"

"I can't take credit for the whole world, but maybe just Whisper Lake."

"Okay, Superman," Drew said dryly.

He smiled. "One day, you should tell your dad what you just told me."

"He doesn't want to hear it. He never thinks he's wrong about anything."

"That's probably true. Gina used to say that about him, too. But she also knew that he really loved his family, so his worry always came from a good place."

"I gotta go," Drew said.

"Are you coming to the lake this afternoon for the barbecue?"

"Yeah, I'm bringing Cassie."

"Sounds good."

As Drew left, he started pedaling once more. He needed to ride a few more miles while he thought about what Drew had said. He knew he had an issue with control. And if he was Superman, he definitely had his kryptonite—Molly.

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