Page 130 of Red River

As I closed the patio door behind us, I caught Archer’s voice saying, "It’s important to recognize our limitations, Aiden. And it actually takes bravery to admit when we can’t do something as well as we’d like…"

Near the greenhouse—where for the last month, Lake and Aiden had been diligently watering and weeding the pea plants, now fully grown—I stopped and turned to Igor.

His face was calm, his heartbeat steady.

Unsure of what he was about to say, I smiled, but his expression remained serious.

"There’s something I’ve wanted to show you for a few weeks now, Dad."

"A few weeks?"

"Yeah. I’ve been struggling with what to do, but…"

Igor pulled out his phone, scrolled for a moment, then held it up for me to see.

"I think it’s time you saw this."

Still hesitant, I leaned in and read the comment under the video of his waterfall accident.

And then I froze.

I couldn’t believe my eyes.

The username wasL-NOL.

And the comment read:

This video broke my heart, but it also filled me with hope again. You don’t know me, but I’m your granddad. Seeing my son, my grandson—all my grandkids on that bridge… watching that whole dramatic moment unfold… I realized how close I came to never having the chance to meet you. And I want to. So badly. I want to hug you and know all about you. I hope your dad can forgive us someday and give us the chance to be a family again.

—Your granddad, Lake.

I stared at the screen, blinking like a glitching android, reading the words over and over again.

And then—

I broke. I turned and ran, leaving Igor standing alone by the greenhouse, gaping.

Shock surged through me. Powerful, intense.

And despair.

Pain.

As if on cue, Archer came sprinting from the house, his face painted with concern. He must’ve sensed my state the moment I took off running. He rushed past a bewildered Igor and caught up with me just as I collapsed onto the sand at the lake’s edge.

"My dad…" My voice cracked. "My dad saw Igor’s video. He—he wrote that he hopes I’ll forgive him. That maybe… we can be a family again!"

Archer knelt beside me, taking my hands in his. His grip was grounding.

"Igor showed you this now?"

"Yes, he struggled with it…"

Something flickered across Archer’s face, and immediately, I knew something wasn’t right.

"Archer? Did you know?"

"Yes. He told me. But it was before our conversation about your family, so I left it up to him whether he wanted to show you. And to be honest… I only remembered it today, early in the morning, after I received another message—"

---