Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 85399 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 427(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85399 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 427(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
I giggle, leaning my head on Jack in relief. He wraps a hand around my waist and squeezes.
“First question—are you okay?” I ask.
“Yes, I’m okay. Don’t I look all right to you?”
“Well . . .”
“No, Dad. You look like shit, to be honest.”
“Well, nobody asked you.” Harvey’s tired smirk grows into a smile. “It took you long enough to find me. I’ve been sitting out here forever.”
Jack tries to touch Harvey’s forehead but gets his hand swatted away.
“If you’d told me where you were going, we would’ve come sooner,” I say.
“That would’ve been a good plan, wouldn’t it?” He shakes an unsteady finger at me. “But if I’d told you I was coming, one of you would’ve come with me. And everyone had something to do today instead of farting around with an old man.”
“Looks like we’re farting around with you anyway, doesn’t it?” I ask.
Snaps paws at Harvey’s arm. “You. You’re the hero of this story, young man.”
“Don’t build his ego. I can barely live with him the way it is,” I say.
Harvey chuckles, but the movement makes him wince.
“All joking aside, are you all right or not?” Jack asks. “What in the hell happened?”
He slumps against the tree. “I don’t really know. I came out here, and it was just fine. I’ve been out here a million times. But a storm rolled in, and I got turned around and . . .” He looks up at me with watery eyes. “And I couldn’t find my way out.”
Tears fall down his wrinkled cheeks.
“Oh, Harvey,” I say, pulling him into a hug. “We’re here now.”
He lays his forehead on my shoulder and cries.
Jack’s hand touches the middle of my back as tears fall down my face too. I can’t risk looking at him. If he’s crying, I’ll lose all my sensibilities and fall completely apart.
Harvey lifts a shaky hand and taps around until he finds mine. He pats the top of my hand until I turn my palm over and let him hold it.
The emotions of the day—from Maddie’s breakup, Jack’s distance, my second-guessing my choices, and Harvey’s stunt—pile too high.
I crumble.
Jack’s arms cover me from behind, enclosing his father in his hug.
If something had happened to Harvey, nothing would be the same. Nothing would ever be the same.
Suddenly, everything comes into perspective.
My life may not be perfect. My marriage certainly isn’t. But my life with these people, with Jack and Harvey, is infinitely better than my life would be without them. I don’t need them—I’ve proven that.
But I want them.
Over the last twenty years, we’ve built a foundation of trust and loyalty. The blocks are mortared together with laughter and tears. Our bond tells a story of a family going to wild lengths to ensure it stays together—because together is the only way.
I can feel Jack’s love for me and his father as he holds us, and Harvey’s love for us is evident in the way he leans on me and his son. We’ve all been through shit, both separately and together. And through it all, we’ve built something special.
We love each other.
And this kind of love—this deep, layered, genuine love—isn’t something to be taken for granted. Almost losing Harvey has made me realize just how lucky I am to have found it once, and how much I’m willing to fight to keep it.
It makes me think back to what Mrs. Shaw said about the watershed moments of her marriage. We all have them.
“The thing that got us through them was simple—we wanted to get through them. It’s amazing how far that one little thing goes.”
It’s time to stop fighting that and embrace it, because I know with absolute certainty that Jack wants to get through this. He wants us.
There is no out to this. Only an in.
Harvey pulls back and wipes his eyes with the backs of his hands. “If you ever tell anyone I cried, I’ll call you a liar.”
I chuckle, pulling the top of my shirt up and wiping my nose.
“I don’t know why I got so confused,” he says, looking bewildered. “I couldn’t find north. Nothing looked the same to me anymore. And I got . . . scared.” He gulps. “Then my feet got all tangled up in some vines, and I fell.”
Snaps whines, digging at Harvey until he lets him on his lap.
“Well, no more berry picking unassisted,” I say. “I mean it.”
“You don’t tell me what I can do.”
I snort and get to my feet. I start collecting his buckets. “That’s what you think. No more berry picking alone. No more keeping secrets from us.”
“Jack, you snitch.”
I look at my husband and grin. “Don’t be mad at Jack. He did the right thing.”
Harvey scoffs. “You two were hiding stuff from me too. How’s that any different?”
Good point. “I guess it’s not.”
“Damn right, it’s not. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander,” Harvey says.