“No church, right?” Katie asked as she appeared, holding a bowl full of cereal.

“Not for us, but you can take your brother,” Phil said.

“Why don’t you just tell us?” Logan asked.

“That’s not fair,” Katie complained. “Why should I have to go if you’re not? You’re the one who likes it.”

“You can pray for Shiloh,” her father said.

“Grandma said she’s going to be fine. I don’t need to pray for her. Plus, if I don’t believe—”

“Katie, would you just listen to your dad and stop arguing?” Lina asked. “Please?”

“If he’s moving back here, you need to make him understand that Matt eats dinner here all the time. That’s not going to change.”

“Go,” Phil said, pointing towards the kitchen, “both of you. I need to talk to your mom.”

“How did we fall asleep here?” Lina asked, her head returning to his chest when Katie and Logan retreated to the kitchen.

“We were going to talk, but you fell asleep on me.” He began to scrape his fingers over the back of her scalp. “How are you feeling?”

“Tired.” She closed her eyes.

“Maybe we should go up to bed.”

“Maybe we should.”

Phil’s hand stilled in her hair. “Together?”

“Don’t stop rubbing my scalp. It felt good.”

His fingers again began to run over her head. “What do you want to do?”

“I want you to come home, Phil.”

Epilogue

Epilogue

Three Months Later

“Are you going to need this?” Phil asked, holding out a handkerchief.

Lina turned her head and saw the amusement in his eyes. “No.”

“Good, because I might, and I only brought one.”

“Behave,” she whispered, but couldn’t hide her smile.

“This means you’re no longer from a broken home. My mom will like that.”

“Shh, it’s starting.” She squeezed his thigh.

Her parents were getting married again. And as her mother had promised they weren’t just getting married at the courthouse like a normal sixty-something couple. No, Alice Rayburn, in her typical unconventional style, was having a traditional wedding in front of one hundred and fifty guests with the man who left her and her three daughters more than three decades earlier.

Lina watched Katie, in a strapless teal dress, begin to walk down the aisle. Lina’s eyes shifted to Matt, who was temporarily distracted enough by Katie’s appearance to stop pulling at the knot of his tie, which he’d insisted earlier was choking him. After Lina made Phil look at it to make sure it wasn’t actually choking him, Matt admitted it was the first time he’d ever worn one.

“How can you stand it?” he’d mumbled to Phil.