Fallon

THE SUN BEAT DOWN ON ME AS I LAY IN THE GRASS ALONG THE creek’s embankment, my head resting on Kye’s chest as I listened to his heart. That steady beat, without the assistance of machines, told me this was a dream. But I didn’t care.

Kye felt so real in this moment. His fingers sifted through my hair, tangling in the strands. “Used to stare at you after I came to live with the Colsons and wish I could run my fingers through your silky strands.”

“Kyler.”

“My name on your lips … nothing better.” He hauled me against him, kissing me long and deep. And when he released my mouth, he laid me half on top of him, in that spot where I fit perfectly.

With the steady beat of his heart against my cheek, I stared down at the creek and the dogwoods lining either side. “Nothing is more perfect than this.”

“Love you, Sparrow. My hope in the dark. My haven.”

A pressure around my pinky scattered the dream like a hand cutting through smoke. I tried to hold on, but the tendrils of hope—of Kyler—slipped right through my fingers.

The pressure around my pinky intensified, and I jerked upright, blinking rapidly.

Each swish of my eyelids hurt, and my muscles protested the abrupt movement.

But when I looked down at the man in the bed, I didn’t give a damn about my aching muscles or gritty eyes from lack of sleep.

Because for the first time in five days, amber orbs looked back into mine.

“Kyler,” I croaked.

He squeezed my pinky. “Sparrow.”

His voice was barely audible, but it didn’t matter. He was awake, and he knew who I was. He was here.

The tears were instant, trailing down my face and falling onto our joined hands. “They said … they said you might not make it. But I knew better. You crawled right out of the beyond and back to me all on your own.”

Kye searched my eyes, pain lacing his expression. “Not … on … my … own. With. You.”

I lifted our joined hands to my lips, ghosting a kiss over his skin as if assuring my body that he was really there. “I love you.”

“You taught me what love is,” Kye rasped. “Never knew until you showed me. No one ever chose me … until you.”

The tears came faster then.

“Sparrow.” Kye shifted, and pain flashed in his amber depths.

“Let me get a nurse. They can—”

“No.” His pinky spasmed around mine. “Just need a minute with my girl.”

“You’re here.”

“I promised, didn’t I?”

My heart cracked, but Kye’s golden light was there, filling the broken places. “You did.”

Kye’s gaze roamed over my face as if he were reacquainting himself with the look of me. “How long was I out?”

A shudder raced through me. “Five days. You were breathing on your own after two, but you wouldn’t wake up.”

“I’ve never been especially fond of mornings.”

I wanted to laugh or smile, but I couldn’t quite get there.

“Renee?” Kye asked.

I shook my head. “Gone.”

A mixture of emotions swept over his face as he struggled to swallow. “Evan?”

There was so much grief in that single word, that one name. A lifetime of unknown agony.

“He made it through surgery,” I said softly. “They moved him to a prison with a hospital ward for his recovery. The facility also has psychiatric care.”

Kye’s eyes glittered with unshed tears. “He’s so broken. I can’t help but think it’s my fault.”

I moved then, unable to stop myself. I leaned forward and framed Kye’s face in my hands, relishing the feel of his scruff against my palms. “He is broken. But that’s not on you, Kyler.

You gave him a haven, even when you had no idea who he was to you.

How could you know his mind had twisted like that? Fixated?”

“I just … he was all alone.”

My thumbs stroked across Kye’s cheeks. “He wasn’t. You gave him a family. His mind just … played tricks on him.”

Tears crested over his lower lids and landed on my thumbs. “I can’t hate him. I should, but—”

“Your heart’s too good. You love too hard. You could never hate someone who means that much to you,” I whispered.

“Most beautiful soul in the world, my sparrow,” Kye rasped.

I brushed my lips against his. “Love you. And there are three girls who really need to see you. Can I text Mom to bring them in?”

Kye’s eyes shone. “Nothing would make me happier than having all my girls together.”

By the time I heard Gracie’s chattering voice coming down the hall, we’d gotten Kye sitting up and cleaned him up the best we could without him being able to leave the bed.

But his first glimpse of his sisters who’d become daughters did the most healing.

His whole face lit up as they swept into the room.

“Daddy Kye Kye!” Gracie yelled, racing for the bed.

I caught her around the middle, hauling her onto my lap. “Careful, remember? He’s got a tender chest.”

“Daddy Kye Kye,” she amended, dropping her voice to a whisper.

“You don’t have to whisper,” Clem said, rolling her eyes. “You just can’t jump on him.”

“‘Gentle words, gentle hands,’ Hay Hay says,” Gracie shot back.

Mom wrapped an arm around Hayden’s shoulders and brought them both closer to the bed. “Great words to live by.”

Hayden was still a little pale, and dark circles shadowed her eyes. She swallowed hard. “Are you … are you really okay?”

Kye held out a hand for her, and she instantly went to him, taking it. He squeezed her hand and met her gaze. “Doc said I’m healing well. Lungs and heart look good. Apparently, I just needed an extra-long nap.”

“Sometimes, I need a nap if we have a field trip at school,” Gracie offered.

Kye chuckled and then winced. “Gonna need you girls to minimize the funny stuff for a bit.”

Gracie frowned. “That’s gonna be really hard for me. I’m hilarious.”

Kye grinned. “Damn straight, you are.”

Hayden’s mouth kicked up. “That’s one for the swear jar … Dad.”

“Never gonna get tired of hearing that,” Kye rasped.

“Good,” Hayden said, giving his hand a squeeze before releasing it.

Kye’s gaze moved to Clem. “You want to come over here?”

She pulled her lip into her mouth, worrying the corner of it with her teeth. “I don’t wanna bump anything. I read about the tube that drains your chest and how they reinflated your lung and—”

“My little genius, come here. You’re not gonna hurt me,” Kye assured her.

Clem slowly walked toward him, standing next to Hayden before finally taking the hand he offered her. “I was scared,” she admitted.

“Me, too,” Kye told her. “But I felt you all with me. I heard Fallon telling me how much you all loved me. You made me strong so I could fight.”

“We do love you,” Hayden choked out. “So much.”

“The mostest,” Gracie said, bobbing her head. “Our favoritest brother-dad.”

Clem laughed at that. “Maybe we could call him our Baddie.”

Kye’s mouth quirked. “That does make me sound like a badass.” His gaze moved around the room. “I love you. All of you. Greatest gifts I’ve ever been given.”

Hayden’s eyes, so similar to Kye’s, shimmered. “Thank you for giving us a family. We never had anything like this. You made us safe. Loved. You brought us home.”