Chapter 6 - The Song Returns
The front gates of the Mercer estate swung open at 6:00 PM precisely.
I stood on the front porch, the rain having finally cleared to reveal a brilliant, golden Texas sunset stretching across the horizon. A single silver sedan pulled up the winding drive and parked near the fountain.
Hannah stepped out of the car. She wore the same faded denim jacket and sensible boots, carrying her canvas duffel bag over one shoulder. She looked up and saw me standing on the porch, waiting.
For a second, she hesitated, her hand resting on the car door frame.
I didn't wait for her to walk all the way up the steps. I descended them two at a time, crossing the gravel path until I stood right in front of her.
“You didn't have to come back,” she said softly, her amber eyes searching my face.
“Yes, I did,” I replied, my voice steady, stripped of all the arrogance that had defined my life for the past decade. “Because my house was just a building until you walked into it. And my daughters deserve a home, not a monument.”
Hannah let out a long, shuddering breath, a faint smile breaking through her tired features. “Did you read the journals?”
“Every single word,” I said. “Emily was right about me. But I’m going to spend the rest of my life proving she was right about my capacity to change, too.”
I stepped aside, gesturing toward the open front doors of the mansion.
From inside the foyer, the sound drifted out into the evening air.
It wasn't silence.
It wasn't the hum of an empty corporate machine or the ticking of a grandfather clock.
It was the sound of three little girls singing a ridiculous, made-up song about pancakes, flour, and superheroes, their laughter bouncing off the marble floors like music.
Hannah looked at me, her eyes shining with unshed tears. Then, without a word, she walked past me up the steps.
As she crossed the threshold into the foyer, Sophie and Lily came running down the hall, shouting her name in unison, throwing their small arms around her waist. Grace brought up the rear, waving a wooden mixing spoon like a magic wand.
May you like
I stood on the porch for a moment, watching them through the glass, letting the golden light of the Texas sunset warm my face.
The silence was finally broken. And for the first time in sixteen months, I knew my wife was resting easy.
