Jax’s jaw tightened.
“That I’d find you. That I’d protect you. That I’d make sure you never felt alone again.”
Cassie’s knees buckled.
Jax caught her.
“Your dad,” he said softly, “was my best friend. And tonight? Tonight was just the beginning.”
Cassie looked up at him, tears streaming.
“Beginning of what?”
Jax smiled.
“Of the rest of your life, kid. Because you’re not going back to that trailer. You’re staying here.”
He gestured to the woman.
“This is your grandmother. Your dad’s mom. And she’s been looking for you for seventeen years.”
The woman pulled Cassie into her arms.
“Welcome home, baby.”
And for the first time since she could remember, Cassie felt safe.
Her grandmother, Margaret, led her inside.
The house was small but filled with a warmth Cassie had only ever read about in books.
Photos lined the mantelpiece.
A young man with a kind smile and the same blue eyes as Cassie was in almost every one.
“That’s your dad,” Margaret said, her voice thick with emotion.
“Daniel. He was so proud of you.”
Cassie touched the glass of one frame.
“My mother told me he ran off. That he didn’t want us.”
Jax stepped forward, his expression hard.
“That’s a lie. He loved you more than anything.”
He explained that he and Daniel had served together.
