Page 97 of Severed Heart (The Ravenhood Legacy #2)

Chapter Fifty-One

T YLER

W HEN DELPHINE HAS drifted into a sound enough sleep, I carefully unwrap myself from her to lock up the house so I can rejoin her and be there when she wakes.

Reeling from what transpired today, my need to get back to her hastens my every step.

It’s when I reach our front door that I pause, spotting my mother sitting on the lone porch step.

“Mom?” I call softly, walking through the storm door and holding it so it doesn’t snap closed before joining her where she sits. “I thought you left.”

“I couldn’t just yet,” she admits in a tearful voice, wiping her eyes.

Glancing over at the woman who raised me, I track the splotches on her face, stinging at the sight of them while instantly running my palm down her back. “Shit, I’m sorry. I know that had to have taken a toll on you—”

“No, son.” She looks over to me, knuckling more of her tears away. “Make no mistake ,” she sniffs. “These are tears of pride . Utter pride that I had a hand in raising a man so remarkable...” She shakes her head in incredulity, and I drop my gaze, which she instantly refuses.

“Look at me, Tyler,” she demands adamantly until I do.

“A man so compassionate,” she continues, “that he’s a living, breathing example of empathy, who refuses to coax it gently both from and for the people he loves, but instead, rages for their peace .”

“You’re giving me far too much credit,” I tell her. “I’m capable of—”

“We all are, Tyler. We are all capable of bringing out whatever we fear from within ourselves, but what I’m speaking to and of right now is a huge part of who you are.

You’ve been taking care of others so dutifully and selflessly your whole life .

.. and though I’m naturally biased, I didn’t say you were perfect.

” She shakes her head with a light laugh.

“You’re not at all subtle. You get furious and frustrated and lash out at those you devote yourself to for whatever solution you think might bring them that peace.

You tend to give them hell if they don’t recognize it the way you do,” she imparts on a long exhale.

“ But , it is still, very much, an expression of love . And for that, I’m so very proud of the man you’ve become. ”

I swallow before I give her my admission. “I’ve been trying to kill my inner hypocrite for a long time.”

“Self-awareness is half the battle, so don’t give yourself too much hell. And as we get older, what seemed so simple when we were young, the solutions that seemed so damned easy become far more complex, don’t they?”

“Understatement.” I let out a long exhale. “I don’t know how to thank you for this—for helping her.”

“I’ll take some credit, but you are the one who changed that woman’s life.

Sometimes, all it takes is one person to bring awareness to another in pain, to make them feel like they belong here on this earth and have their place.

You made and became that place for her , and she did the rest. I’m so proud of you both, but you need to take some of that recognition for your part in that, Son. Okay?”

“I’ll try... it’s... she”—I shake my head—“she calls me her miracle.”

“Biased as I may be, by choosing you, she’s since developed great taste in men.” She winks at me before scanning the orchard and night noise. “You both have built a beautiful life here.”

“I want you to like her,” I utter, “and I’m not asking for approval—”

“And you don’t have to.” She covers the hand on my knee as she holds my gaze.

“Easily done, Son. I love her and my God, the way you look at one another. It’s a beautiful thing.

Of course, I feared your relationship with her early on, but with the trust you gave me and seeing what’s become of it, I’m so thankful you entrusted me with this.

I’ve never seen you so happy and honestly”—she nudges me—“I can’t wait to get to know her on a more familial level .

.. though we still have some things we need to work through.

” I nod as she stands, turning back to look down at me where I sit, giving me a pointed look too easy to decipher. “And one day, hopefully soon —”

“Mom—” I utter due to exhaustion, “can we not tonight?”

“ Please, Son. Please try to find some of that empathy for the only human being who comes close to garnering the level of love you have for Delphine.”

“That’s not true,” I counter.

She stares down at me for long seconds in a call of bullshit, her gaze unrelenting. “I’m fine being second to your father, always have been since you two bonded so deeply when you were young, but what I’m not fine with is getting all the love and attention you have for both of us.”

I scrape my lip with my teeth as the distant ache becomes present. “I don’t know why I can’t let it go.”

“Because he’s the first great love of your life and broke your heart in a way you can’t quite get over.” She shivers as an icy breeze whispers over us. “But avoiding it isn’t working, is it?”

“No,” I admit grudgingly.

“So, just think about it, okay?”

I nod as she starts to walk toward her SUV and stops, turning back to me. “I heard the entire exchange with your father the morning you left home, Tyler. It was all I could do to keep from ripping open my bedroom door.”

I gape up at her. “ All of it?”

She nods solemnly. “You wanted to protect me from it, and so I wanted you to believe you did,” she relays shakily, “and God, how I love you for it.” She raises her hand as I go to speak.

“Don’t you dare apologize. It was me who should have better protected you , and I still fight at times to forgive myself for that.

But I understood your reasons. Hell, I sided with you, which is why I let you go without a fight, as much as it damn near killed me.

But you should know you left your mark, and I came so close to leaving him hours after you did.

In hindsight ... I’m so glad I stayed.

It didn’t happen overnight, not at all. It was hell, but eventually, your father lit fire to his mistakes and forgave himself.

He earned my forgiveness and has since given me some of the best years of our marriage. ”

I stare back at her, trying to absorb her words as truth, and she nods in confirmation, sensing my doubt. “My best friend came back to me, Tyler. So don’t thank me for anything.”

Emotion swells my chest as I cup my jaw, heart heavy.

“Your father has done the work and is desperate for you to get to know who he is now,” she releases a pained sigh.

“He’s never made peace with your absence and never will.

He’s waiting on you, but you need to know he’s breaking a little more with your fly-throughs and overly polite exchanges.

Please, my boy. I know she’s your priority right now, but please consider talking to him soon. Really talking to him.”

“I will, Mom,” I manage through the burn in my throat. “I promise.”

“Maybe you two could come to the house for Christmas?” she prompts, opening her SUV door.

“Let’s not push it,” I mutter in jest, which has us sharing a smile shortly after trading ‘I love you’s’ before she drives away.

* * *

The morning sun beams on my back, its heat welcome due to the frigid cold.

Tugging down my beanie, I prop the hood of my truck, needing the busywork to keep myself occupied.

When I flip open my toolbox, Delphine’s guttural scream again rings through my psyche, temporarily paralyzing me.

A scream that’s been on replay since I heard it yesterday.

The length of it alone, the way it morphed from one of fear to precisely what she spoke—outrage—damn near took me to my knees.

I’ve been hovering and suspicious since Delphine left a few nights ago to ‘run an errand she would explain later,’ knowing that something was coming.

It was when my mom suggested I stay close by before they started their session yesterday that those suspicions were confirmed.

But it was the gravity of what was happening behind our spare bedroom door, her eruption just after, feeling every bit like a physical and mental blow, that had me outside that fucking door within the same heartbeat.

Pacing the hall outside of it, I tuned out what was happening to respect her privacy, preferring to hear it from the source.

A trust I’ve broken in the past and knew I would have to earn back.

One she solidified I redeemed after she prompted my last confession.

A confession I fully intended to give her but was hesitant to due to the picture it could’ve painted.

Of a possible shift in her perception. My fears erased wholly by her reaction after.

By the way she regarded me, thanked me. All secrets between us now shared.

Even if it means continually deceiving my brother.

Keeping him ignorant of the lengths we’ve both gone to and will continue to go to have his back.

To keep him safe from evils unknown. Neither Delphine nor I blind to the sacrifices T’s made for us thus far.

But as she suspected, I have learned the nature of the beast Delphine spoke of.

Having committed the necessary evils while learning of my ability to do so, and with ease.

Something that initially scared me, that I feared would repel her, which has now only brought us closer.

Solidifying what I’ve always known. She is, and forever will be, the only woman to know me.

All of me.

In awe of her resilience, and though I know it will take more therapy to continue to incorporate coping mechanisms she will utilize for the day-to-day, I also know the fighter I fell in love with is far stronger than my mom might give her credit for.