“You should have told me. What if I drove past him or something? What if Dylan saw him out the window? He’s seen pictures, you know,” I hissed. “What were you all thinking? You know I require a lot of mental preparation before I do stuff,” I grumbled, threw myself back against the couch, and crossed my arms. I glared at Violet, but she didn’t notice. She was busy spoiling my baby. Calla would be totally rotten by the time this day was through.

“You won’t recognize him. He looks a lot different,” Violet answered distractedly, too wrapped up in Calla to pay any attention to me.

Dad reached for Calla, but Violet shook her head and turned in her chair, so he couldn’t get to her, he shrugged and laughed.

“Violet! Different? You’ve seen him?” I asked after I finally got her attention.

She looked at me for a second and waved her hand around. “I see him all the time. His office is right across the parking lot. He came to Sunday dinner a couple times with Jed. He stops here for coffee most mornings—oh, you have a day to mentally prepare for that,” she helpfully added, and I rolled my eyes at her. “He wants to talk to you and explain what happened. He wants you to forgive him.”

I was reeling, and it was only getting worse the more I heard. I closed my eyes and rested my head back against the sofa. An epic headache was imminently approaching, I needed a cookie, or a brownie, or something sweet so I could eat my feelings. I looked up in gratitude as Finn tapped me on the shoulder and handed me a scone and an iced tea.

“Sweetheart, he was devastated when he found out about Dylan,” Dad said gently and patted my knee. I looked at my dad out of the corner of my eye.

“How long has he been home? The way you are talking about this says it’s been a while,” I asked.

“Not long. He’s only been back for about three months. His injuries kept him in bed when he first got here. He stayed with Jed for about a month, but he’s living at Chuck’s place now and taking over the business. Chuck died of cancer not long after Will’s death; you already knew that.” Chuck had been Luke’s father and a total jerk. “The business” was construction, or contracting, or something like that.

“Why hasn’t he contacted me? Doesn’t he want to see Dylan?” Or me?

“Of course he does. He has PTSD. We think it’s what caused the incident in the hospital all those years ago. He decided to get his life in order before contacting you and meeting Dylan. I supported him in that decision, Lily. He was a mess when he got home,” Dad explained.