“Yes. She told you that?” his dad asked in surprise. “She never talks about it. She works hard and sacrifices to take care of everyone else, even on the job. It’s not great pay, and she deals with a lot of people’s BS. It’s hard work, mentally and physically, something I’m sure you can relate to, given your own vocation. But for Piper, it goes on both at home and at work, and wears her down because she’s the sort to take everything on her shoulders, no matter the weight.”

His dad was right; she hadn’t talked about any of this much, but he could read between the lines. She was resilient. Smart. Loving, though he had a feeling she’d deny that. And . . . well, amazing.

“You were so self-sufficient and insistent that you were okay on the East Coast with your mom. I let myself believe it, because I felt like I was drowning raising Rowan,” his dad said. “But in hindsight, it was easier than I thought, and in fact, I might’ve been too easy on him.” His good humor faded. “I miss that kid like crazy.” With a long exhale, he turned to Cam. “I read the police report and the news, but you and I haven’t talked about it. The car accident.”

Cam tried to swallow, but there was a sudden lump in his throat the size of a regulation football. So he shifted, turning so he could see down the hill, beyond the house, to the lake.

“Sometimes I close my eyes at night,” his dad said, “and it’s all I can think about. Was he in pain? Did he . . . suffer?”

Cam felt his heartbeat change, start a heavy thudding that he still woke up to in the middle of the night. Panic. Fear. Terror. He’d been trained by the military on how to deal with all of that, and he’d gotten good at shoving his feelings deep.

Real good.

But that one night . . . Hell, that one half hour with Rowan had ripped through his training like it was nothing, and he’d not been able to get back to that numb place since.

His dad was still facing him, but Cam didn’t move or stop taking in the sight of the water, one of the only places he felt at peace.

The car had T-boned them at sixty miles per hour. Rowan had taken the hit and he’d been bleeding . . . everywhere. Two major arteries severed. There hadn’t been time to do anything but crawl to where he lay and pull him close.