Page 94 of A Vintage of Regret
Erin exhaled a breath that seemed to take the last of her strength with it. “The kids?” she questioned.”
“Walking the vines with Devon,” Bryson said. “Kelly couldn’t send them off to school.”
“I’m glad. I just want to go hug them. No idea how or what to tell them, but for now, I just need to see my babies.” She raced down the steps and around the side of the house without another word.
That left Riley standing on the porch, hands hanging at her sides. Her gaze tracked the empty stretch of road where Grant had gone, and for a moment, she didn’t seem to notice Bryson was still there.
“Ry,” he said softly.
Her head turned, and the raw, unguarded truth of the day shown in her eyes. The strain of holding in too much for too long. The sorrow of losing both parents. The deep grief etched in her dark blue irises.
He opened his arms. She hesitated for only a breath before crossing the space between them. When she stepped into him, it wasn’t a graceful fall but a gradual surrender—her forehead pressing against his collarbone, her fingers curling lightly into the back of his shirt.
At first, she held herself rigid, like she could still keep some of it in. Then her knees softened, her weight leaning into him, and the first shaky exhale feathered against his chest.
He lifted her into his arms. “I’ve got you,” he murmured, carrying her all the way to the back of the house, where his mother quickly opened the porch door for them before quietly retreating inside.
The ceiling fan swirled warm air around them. He settled onto the loveseat, its new green cushions cradling them both.She curled into him, knees tucked, her cheek pressed over his heart.
He didn’t speak right away, just traced slow circles along her arm with his thumb, the rhythm matching the steady beat of his breath. As she cried, the tension bled out of her, leaving only the tremors of release.
“It’s okay now,” he said, his voice low.
Her answer was a quiet, humorless laugh mixed with a sob. “Nothing about this is okay.”
“No,” he agreed. “But you’ve got Grant. You’ve got Erin. And you’ve got me.” He tipped his head, brushing his lips over her hair. “That’s not changing.”
Her fingers gently twisted in the fabric of his shirt. “It feels different now. Knowing they’re… mine again. That we’re us again.”
“You deserve that. You all do.”
They sat there in the hush of the fading morning, listening to the birds’ chorus in the vineyard beyond. She shifted just enough to tip her head back and meet his gaze. “I don’t know what comes next.”
“You don’t have to,” he said. “All you need to know is you’re not facing it alone.”
Her throat moved as she swallowed. “I’ve lived my entire adult life from a distance. As if I were living it in the shadows of home. Not really letting myself be part of it, but never really letting go.”
“Now you can have it. You can reach out and touch it. Be part of all that you’ve wanted.”
“But my dad… he’s gone. And that’s left a hole so deep. And my mom, she took that. Stole it from all of us.”
“I know.” He kissed her temple. “But you never have to go through anything in the shadows again. It’s not going to be easy. It’s going to hurt. It’s going to take time to heal, and it will leave ascar. The difference is, you won’t have to face any of this without the love and support you’ve craved for the last twelve years.”
For a long beat, neither of them moved. Then she lowered her forehead to his jaw, closing her eyes. He held her tighter, letting that promise rest between them without needing to be spoken again.
Whatever storms were still ahead, they’d face them together. And for now, that was enough.
Twenty
TWO WEEKS LATER
The late-afternoon sun spilled gold across the Boone lawn, the light rich and warm as honey. It turned the glasses of wine into glowing rubies, the laughter of children into something that felt almost sacred. From her place on the back porch, Riley could see everyone—Grant crouching in the grass to listen to Willa’s animated story about a “butterfly that chased her.” Kelly tackled Randy as he raced with a football tucked under his arm. Erin kneeled to tie Nathan’s shoelace while he tried to dart off to catch Bryson.
Erin’s hair caught the sunlight. The light brown shade shimmered warmly. It was stunning. It suited her far better than the blonde she’d been sporting. And with the new look came confidence. Riley couldn’t be prouder of her sister.
“Hey, squirt. Watch where you’re going.” Jessica barely looked up from her cell as Willa bumped into her, spilling her soda. So far, today, Jessica had rolled her eyes in preteen boredom at least ten times.
But that boredom was about to turn into either a shriek of laughter or something dangerous as Devon and Mateo snuck up on her with two nearly bursting water balloons in their hands.
