Well, that’s why she was here—to protect him. She pinned her gaze on the woman sitting in the chair by his bed holding his hand.

What on earth?

“Dad. What is going on?”

“Calm down,” said Effie, who got up. “I heard your dad was here, and I had to see him.”

“You had to see him?” She just stared at Effie, who wore her hair back in a surgical cap. She had on a pair of orange scrubs, as if she’d just come from delivering a baby.

“Yes. I had to see him.” Something almost tender crossed her expression as she turned to her former husband. “I missed him.”

He smiled back at her.

No, no—

Effie looked up at Echo and took a breath. “You were right—what you said to me. I was the poorer for not having you or your father in my life. I was scared of a future I couldn’t see an end to, and I ran. And thought—I always thought—I could never come back.”

“You can’t.”

“Echo,” her father said quietly. “Listen to her.”

“But I wanted to,” Effie said. “I think that’s why I kept reaching out to your father. And why he kept reaching back. Because love doesn’t stop just because you run. Love keeps reaching out. Keeps believing, even when it feels impossible.” She drew in a breath. “If there is one thing I’ve learned in my career, it’s that true love is at once painful and freeing and so worth the effort. And in the darkness of my world, I forgot that.”

Whatever.

“And I let her go,” her father said. “When you went after her and got lost—and nearly died—I wanted to hate her for it. But I couldn’t convince my heart of that. The love inside just kept wanting out.”

She stared at them, hollow.

“Forgive us,” her mother said. “Please forgive us.”

What? “No—”

“Listen, honey,” her father said. “I’m so sorry. I kept you two apart because I feared losing you to her world too.” He swallowed. “I wanted you in mine.”

Her eyes burned. “Are you kidding me?” She looked at her mother, her father. “What you did—what you both did—eviscerated me. My entire life I grew up thinking that you left because of me.” She turned to Effie. “I get it, really. It is dark—so dark—in the winter that it’s easy to forget the sunrise, and even when the sun does come up, it never really dents the darkness. But then comes spring, and Alaska awakens and suddenly everything comes alive, and it’s then that you know there was a reason to keep living, keep hoping.”