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“Nellie.”

Nell paused the careful strumming of her guitar and looked up at her dad standing with a soft smile on his mouth in the entryway of the living room.

She’d been so focused on trying to place her fingers correctly on the strings that she hadn’t heard him come in.

“Hi, Dad.” She relaxed her hold on the neck of her guitar and rested her right arm on the top of it.

“You sound great,” he said, walking into the room and nodding at her instrument.

Nell laughed.

She wasn’t a natural guitar talent by any means, but she loved it with all her heart.

Since the day she got it on Christmas two months ago, her guitar had quickly become her main outlet.

Almost every day was spent sitting in her room or various spots around the house, picking the strings and strumming slowly to notes in the beginner’s guide.

It was a good way to use her hands that no longer constantly shook and busy her mind that slowly but surely wandered away from her less.

Her parents had even asked her if she wanted them to find her a guitar teacher, but Nell ultimately decided to handle this one on her own for now.

Her dad took a seat next to her, and she made room by putting the guitar aside, leaning it against the cushions. He held something out to her when her hands were free; it was a small pack of guitar picks.

Nell held them both up, observing them with a grin.

“I thought you might like some options.”

Nell nodded and chuckled. “You can never have too many.”

There was a moment of silence, and when she looked over at him, she could see he wanted to say something. “What is it?”

“Janelle, lately I’ve . . .” He took a deep breath.

“I’ve thought a lot about things. Not just about what happened last year, but what’s been happening a lot longer than that.

I realize I haven’t exactly been the most honest man, and I’m sorry that you’ve been the one who had to bear the burden of knowing that. ”

Nell looked down at the picks, holding them between her thumb and pointer finger, and rubbing them together. All these years, and never had he directly addressed his problems to her. It was an elephant in the room only he and she had been aware of, and until now, it had just stayed that way.

How was she supposed to react? She’d been pretending it didn’t exist for so long that she’d never learned how to look directly at it.

He noticed her hesitation and, thankfully, didn’t expect her to say anything.

“It took me a long time to admit my own faults to myself. But I need you to know”—he paused, and she felt his head turn to look at her—“I’ve watched you your entire life and always been so proud of the girl you were.

We had a rough patch but, Nellie, the way you’ve grown recently is the proudest I have ever been of you.

As your father, I should have been a role model for you, but now you’re my role model. ”

Nell finally looked up, and when she met her father’s eyes, they were red around the rim. Seeing it sent an immediate shock of emotion into her throat.

She’d never seen her dad cry before.

“It hasn’t been easy for you; I know that. So I figured it would be easier if we did it together. Would you be okay with that?”

Nell blinked, trying to keep the tears at bay, but it was no use. They fell from her eyes and dropped down her cheeks as she let out a short sob before throwing herself into his arms.

He was ready to catch her, his arms wrapping around her in a tight hug. She cried into his shoulder, and even though he was silent, his shoulders shook every few seconds.

“I’ve been wrong about a lot of things . . . and a lot of people,” he choked out, and Nell’s heart ached for a million different reasons. “Without you, I never would have realized it.”

Nell knew she would get better. She could already feel the healing inside of her, faint but present. But how nice was it to know that she had someone willing to change with her, because of her, and for her?

It just made it all more real.