“I still hate motorcycles.”
“Excellent.”
“But I miss my dad.”
Colter looked away from everyone.
His eyes stung.
“I miss you too.”
“I also may have bought a helmet.”
He laughed.
“That sounds dangerously close to commitment.”
“Do not make this weird.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.”
“You are already making it weird.”
“When will you get here?”
“Tomorrow afternoon.”
“I’ll be here.”
“Promise?”
Colter looked toward the memorial.
Promise.
Such a small word.
Such a dangerous one.
Yet life without promises would mean never believing tomorrow deserved preparation.
“I promise.”
After the call, Anna smiled.
“Your daughter?”
“Apparently she’s coming to Kentucky.”
“On purpose?”
“Hard to believe.”
Lily ran toward him.
“Does she have light-up boots?”
“I sincerely hope not.”
The bikers prepared to leave.
Engines came alive one by one.
The quiet woods filled with their low thunder.
This time Lily did not fear the sound.
She stood beside her mother and waved.
Noah and Eli stood together a short distance away.
Not close enough to pretend everything had healed.
Close enough to show they intended to try.
Colter fastened his helmet.
Before mounting his motorcycle, he looked once more toward Cedar Hollow.
The place had frightened them because they thought something monstrous waited inside.
In a way, something had.
Fear.
Guilt.
Silence.
Years people could never recover.
But the woods had held something else too.
A father’s last promise.
A mother’s confession.
A frightened man’s chance to return.
A little girl’s courage.
And proof that even after years of darkness, there could still be a path leading out.
Colter started his motorcycle.
Tess pulled alongside him.
“Ready?”
He looked toward the highway.
“Yeah.”
The convoy rolled forward.
Anna held Lily’s hand as the motorcycles disappeared beyond the trees.
Lily waited until the final engine faded.
Then she looked up.
“Mom?”
“Yes?”
“Was Grandpa Thomas brave?”
Anna considered the question carefully.
She had learned enough about family stories to know that simple answers could become dangerous things.