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Dad shrugs. “I gather not everything was right in paradise between him and Bree. What’s that saying again…? Ah, the grass is always greener on the other side.”

“Well, he can choose another grass. This grass is taken.” When dad laughs, I shake my head. “Shut up. You know what I meant.”

He’s silent for the next couple of miles.

After what happened with mom, I didn’t believe I would have any sort of relationship with my dad.

We drive for the next several miles in silence.

He’s not usually so quiet, so that sets off alarm bells. When I look at him, he’s serious. “What is it? You look like you’re thinking hard.”

“It’s nothing.”

But his expression doesn’t change.

An hour later, when we’re both hungry, I pull into a drive-thru and drop everyone a text to find out where they are.

Keeping track of everyone on the long drive was impossible, so before we left Winter Lake, we agreed to check in a coupleof times on the way to Karson, Michigan, and meet up there to regroup and consider our options.

It’s there we’ll find somewhere to stay and hopefully get close to find out if the Raleighs have rebuilt before we decide how we’re going to get Aerin and the rest of the omegas out.

We’ve demolished our burgers, fries, and shakes, and I’m reaching for the door to go dump the trash when my dad says quietly, “I didn’t mean what I said.”

I twist to face him, confused. “Didn’t mean what?”

“About your mom being weak. About Aerin being the same. I just…”

“You just…” I prompt.

He stares ahead at the traffic, and his jaw is tight.

“Dad? What is it?”

“I’m not much of a talker,” he eventually says.

“Yes, I know.”

He glances at me. “No need to take that tone with me.”

I release a sigh of frustration. “Look, you’re the one who started this. I have no idea why or what this is about, but either tell me or don’t tell me. I’ve tried getting you to talk before and soon realized the futility of my actions.”

He’s silent for several seconds.

“I just meant to say that I was sorry, okay?” he eventually says.

I nearly ram the car ahead of me. “What?”

He’s still staring straight ahead. “The way I treated your mom and Aerin wasn’t right. And leaving you behind… It was a shit thing to do. That’s what I wanted to say.”

This is the first time he’s voiced any sympathy or regret about what he did, and it’s a surprise.

I don’t know how to respond, so I say nothing.

It would be a lie to tell him I forgave all because I’m not sure I can. Not for everything. And not just like that.

“Can you forgive me?” he asks.

My fingers tighten around the steering wheel. “I don’t know, dad. I don’t know.”

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