“It’s hard for my mother. She struggles to forgive Jada for taking me to that party when she wasn’t supposed to, Maddox for pressuring Jada to come even though she wasn’t allowed and Tobias for ever taking acid and picking up that gun. You can only imagine what she’s been through. But even she can’t deny that Tobias has grown into a good man.” He motioned to her packed vehicle. “Now that you know, you’re free to go. I’m not trying to stop you. I just wanted you to hear the truth, to tell you that if you decide not to be part of his life only because of his past, you’ll be missing out on someone pretty special. Take it from me. I’m the man he shot, the reason he went to prison, and—” he choked up a little “—the simple truth is that I love him like a brother. And I believe he loves me the same way, which is why the regret he feels bites so deeply.”

With a rueful smile, he gave her a nod and wheeled himself back to his truck, where he used the lift to help him get in the driver’s seat before he drove off.

Karoline must’ve been watching through the window because she came out as soon as he was gone. “What’d he say?”

“He told me I’m making a mistake to leave Tobias.”

There was a slight pause as her sister absorbed this news. Then she asked, “Do you believe him?”

Harper turned to face her. “Yes, I do.”

Tobias was muddy when he pulled into his driveway. The trail he’d been on this morning had been wet. But he wasn’t as tired as usual. Although he and Maddox were starting to train for Yosemite, Maddox wasn’t quite as strong a hiker as Tobias was—hadn’t done nearly as much of it in the past five months—so Tobias had chosen a fairly easy trail. He hadn’t had the opportunity to push himself as hard as he liked, but having his brother along made up for it. They were already talking about asking Atticus to join them in a few weeks so they could try out the carrier.

Uriah waved from his window as Tobias got out of his truck, and Tobias smiled. It was so nice not to have Carl around.

Fortunately, Uriah didn’t seem to feel too bad that his son was gone. Tobias got the impression he was equally relieved.

“You ready?” Uriah called, coming out of the house.