Page 80 of Girl Lost
Luna glanced at him, a flicker of understanding in her eyes. Of course she remembered. She’d been there for the fallout, after all.
“I know you saw the news reports,” he said. “The trial. But there was so much more I never told you. So much I couldn’t face back then.”
They walked in silence for a few steps. A seagull cried overhead, its mournful call echoing the ache in his heart. He’d never said these words out loud before.
“He didn’t just drink. He beat my mom. Beat me. For years. And I just took it.” The words felt like broken glass in his mouth. “I didn’t protect my mom, and I grew up thinking how my father acted is what it meant to be a man. To be a cop. He planted evidence, beat confessions out of suspects. And the day they finally fired him...”
Luna’s hand brushed against his, a fleeting touch that nearly broke him. He pressed on, the words tumbling out now that the dam had burst.
“When they fired him, when he killed those officers ... I was relieved. Can you believe that? My own father goes on a rampage, gets arrested, and all I felt was relief that it was finally over.”
He picked up a piece of driftwood and threw it, sending it skittering across the sand. Childish, maybe, but it helped release some of the tension coiled inside him.
“I changed my name because I couldn’t bear to be associated withhim anymore. I wanted to be like Stryker, to be good. But when you told me you were pregnant...” He swallowed hard, shame burning in his chest. “All I could think was that I’d end up just like him. I was already drinking, Luna. Already struggling with my anger. What if I snapped one day? What if I hurt you or our baby?”
He forced himself to meet her gaze, to face the hurt he’d caused. “I thought I was protecting you both by breaking it off and signing my paternal rights away. But, if I’m being honest with myself, I was just a coward. A coward running away from my fears instead of facing them.”
They’d stopped walking now and were facing each other as the sun began to peek over the horizon. Luna’s face was bathed in golden light, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears. Corbin’s chest tightened. He’d put those tears there, years ago and now.
“So you ran,” she said.
Corbin nodded, shame burning in his chest. “I didn’t want to hurt you. But that’s exactly what I did, just in a different way.”
Luna was quiet for a long moment, her gaze fixed on the ocean. She caught a stray strand of hair and scraped it behind her ear.
Corbin held his breath, waiting for her response. Would she understand? Could she ever forgive him?
“You’re not the only one who ran, Corbin.” She turned to him, her eyes soft. “We were both so young. Scared and unprepared. We made mistakes.”
“I’ve spent all these years trying to be nothing like him.” The admission burned in his throat. “Changing my name, working with Stryker, joining FDLE. But sometimes I wonder if it’s enough. If I can ever truly escape his shadow.”
Luna reached out, her hands slipping around his shoulders. The warmth from her touch chased away the frost of old wounds.
“You’re not your father, Corbin,” she said firmly. “The man I’ve seen these past few days? He’s brave, compassionate, dedicated to justice. That’s who you are.”
Her words washed over him, a balm to wounds he’d carried forso long. But doubt still gnawed at him, a persistent whispering that he didn’t deserve her kindness. “How can you be so sure?”
“Because I see you,” Luna said simply. “The good and the bad. While we’ll always face the consequences of our choices, I’m learning that trusting in Christ gives us forgiveness for our past and the chance to walk a new path.”
Could it really be that simple? That the grace he’d denied himself for years was being offered so freely?
“I don’t deserve your forgiveness.”
“Maybe not,” Luna said, a small smile playing at her lips. “But you have it anyway. That’s what grace is all about, isn’t it?”
The mention of grace caught him off guard. How long had it been since he’d thought about faith, about the God that Stryker was always talking about? He’d turned his back on all of that, convinced he was beyond redemption.
“I’m not sure I know much about grace,” he admitted.
“Then maybe it’s time we both learned.”
Corbin’s heart raced as he gazed into Luna’s eyes. She was even more beautiful now. How was that possible? He found himself drawn to the subtle lines at the corners of her eyes. What stories could those lines tell? What had she been through in all these years apart? What made her build so many walls? And how could he break them down?
Luna’s hands slid from his shoulders to the back of his neck. Her touch conveyed a tenderness that took his breath away. The rising sun bathed them in a warm, golden light, as if God himself was conspiring to create this perfect moment.
She hesitated for a heartbeat, searching his face. Then, with a soft exhale, she closed the distance between them.
Their lips met in a kiss that spoke of forgiveness, of lost time, of a love that had never truly died. Corbin’s arms encircled her waist, not out of passion but out of a deep-seated need to be close, to reconnect with the other half of his soul.
