Page 85 of Shattering

Gray hesitated.

The thought of it felt... foreign. Uncomfortable.

But then he thought of Cadi. Of the way she looked at him sometimes—closed off, unreadable.

An' he thought of Tomos. His little boy. His everythin'.

Slowly, he nodded.

Chapter 40

As the weeks passed, things changed.

Gray cooked more. He burned less.

Cadi and Tomos laughed more.

The house, which had felt so heavy with grief and tension, felt lighter.

And the anger that had lived in Gray for years—the rage that had always sat at the edges of his skin, ready to explode—was starting to quiet.

One night, Cadi found a letter on her bedside table.

Gray's handwriting.

She unfolded it, heart pounding.

"Cadi, you know talking isn't easy for me. But I need you to know this—I love you. I always have. And I want to be better. For you. For Tomos. For myself. I don't know if I can ever fix what I've broken. But I promise you, I'm going to try."

Cadi exhaled, clutching the paper to her chest.

Her heart felt lighter, just reading that.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Gray always went to sleep in the guest room.

But he never stayed there.

Cadi had gotten used to hearing him move around at night, his footsteps soft but unmistakable. The first few times, she didn't question it. But then, she started noticing things.

The slight indent on the pillow beside her.

The way Tomos never woke up alone.

And Tomos, ever the observer, had his own take on it.

"Da doesn't like sleepin' alone," he told her one morning, his voice serious as he munched on toast.

Cadi arched a brow. "Is that so?"

Tomos nodded. "Aye. He's always in me room when I wake up. Bet he's scared o' the dark."

Gray had been listening from the doorway. He didn't deny it. He just smiled, ruffling Tomos's hair.

Cadi pretended not to notice .But her chest felt like a vice was tightening in there.

It was hard for her too.

---