I stepped toward him, hand going to touch his arm, but he moved away.

His gaze swung down to meet mine. “My younger son is poised to ruin his life following a path he hates, because he thinks it’s what I would have wanted, and my eldest is trapped between betraying himself and alienating the only family he has left.”

“So you know—”

“That Sean’s gay? I’m his father, Eve. I probably knew it before he did. I saw him struggling, trying to find his way, and I decided I had to let him find it himself. When he figured it out, I’d be there for him. Only I wasn’t, was I? Now he’s left wondering how I would have reacted, and I can’t help him, can’t support him. Just like I can’t tell Bryce that I never wanted him to follow in my footsteps. That life made me miserable, cost me the only woman I loved, and I thanked God every day that Bryce had the guts I didn’t have.”

I tried to say something, but my voice dried up in my throat.

He continued, “Even with Savannah, I made mistakes. I was so afraid of facing her, of seeing you in her, so afraid that she’d hate me, that I let Gabriel Sandford go to Boston in my place. His mistakes were my mistakes, and all the hell Savannah suffered because of him is my fault.”

“It wasn’t—”

“Do you know what I don’t regret, though? Going into that basement after her. Even if I couldn’t protect her, even if she accidentally killed me, I have not one regret about that. Do you know why? Because it brought me here. To you.”

“Kris—”

“So maybe I screwed up in my life. Maybe I can’t undo any of that. But coming here gave me the chance to fix the biggest mistake I ever made: letting go of you.”

I opened my mouth but, again, nothing came out.

“This is our chance to start over, Eve. Yours and mine. Forget everything we did before and start over. Not just with each other—that’s only part of it. Maybe you didn’t need a new life the way I did, but you got one, and there’s no going back now, no matter how hard you try.”

“You want me to choose,” I whispered. “You or Savannah.”