Page 210 of This Life of Mine

Reese and I spent years chasing a network no one can seem to identify. A woman I love survives an attempted murder. My estranged father independently uncovers the same operation from inside his own organization. And somehow every road leads back to Lina. Back to Redwillow. Back to this table.

Fate. Or something far darker.

My father studies me, like he’s memorizing my face. Like time is something he no longer has the luxury to waste.

“Do not decide anything yet,” he says.

It’s not a command but a request. That alone is unusual.

“Think. Observe. You have always been good at that.”

He reaches into the inside pocket of his jacket and pulls out a card, placing it on the table between us.

Thick stock. Minimal. His name printed in restrained lettering beside a local number.

“I’m staying at the Drover,” he says. “For now.”

I don’t touch the card.

He pushes himself to his feet, the weight of his body evident now in a way it never used to be. Age and illness have begun to collect their due.

Then he turns to Lina. And something unexpected happens.

His expression softens—not performative or calculated. Real. He looks at her the way a man looks at something rare he hadn’t known existed until it was before him.

“I am glad,” he says, his accent thicker now, his voice warm, “to see my son happy.”

He inclines his head to her, respectful. Sincere. “With you.”

Lina meets his gaze and nods, grace intact even in a moment that would rattle anyone else.

My father looks back at me once more.

Then he turns and leaves, his men falling into step behind him as the door closes in his wake.

Silence blankets the table.

He came with history. With unfinished business. And he left me with a choice I thought I’d already made. Only now, it’s no longer only about me.

The room echoes with his absence. I’m still staring at the place where my father stood when Lina turns to me.

Her eyes are steady. Clear. No fear in them. “Whatever you choose,” she says, “I’m with you.”

I stare at her.

“I’m by your side.”

There’s no catch waiting beneath the surface. Only choice. Only loyalty, freely given.

It hits me harder than anything my father said.

She doesn’t ask me to explain. She doesn’t demand promises or guarantees I can’t make yet. She doesn’t try to steer me away or pull me closer.

She onlystands with me.

This is what family is supposed to be. Beyond obligation. Beyond blood. Beyond guilt disguised as duty. Just someone choosing you because they want to.

I pull her closer to me, my voice rough when I speak. “You don’t even know what that choice might cost.”