Page 103 of This Kind of Forever

“Hey, anybody here?” I call out as I slip off my boots.

“Living room!” Mom calls back.

I walk down the hall lined with photos of me and my siblings as kids. There are quite a few of Abbie, too, ranging from when she was a newborn to just last year. My eyes catch on a particular picture at the end of the hallway. She didn’t have the purple hair back then, but Hallie still stands out to me. She always has.

Rounding the corner into the living room, I find Mom sitting on the couch. A fire is roaring in the fireplace, and a throw blanket is thrown across her lap.

“Hi, sweetie,” she says when she looks up from her book. “What are you doing here?”

I bend to place a kiss on her cheek. “Can’t I come visit my favourite woman without an ulterior motive?”

She arches a brow. “You and I both know yourfavourite womanis on the other side of the island right now, in your house.”

I cross my arms. “You know?”

Mom laughs. She places her bookmark in between the pages and shuts her book. “Gabriel, of course I know. Weallknow. Why do you think we suddenly came down with a case of termites?”

I shake my head. “I knew you all were up to no good.”

She shrugs. “We simply provided a little forced proximity to get things moving. I’m not getting any younger, you know. I want more grandchildren before I’m too old to enjoy them.”

The laugh comes out before I can stop it. “Well,anyway, I actually came by to see Dad. Is he around?”

Mom flicks a hand toward the guest side of the house. “He’s fixing something or other in one of the bedrooms.”

Now that it’s winter, Haven House is closed to guests. While the tourist season is well and truly over, so there’s no point in staying open, it also gives my parents a break. After being constantly on the go for a good chunk of the year, it’s much needed.

I leave Mom to her book and head in search of my dad. Once I hit the second level, I can hear some banging and familiar cursing.

“Dad?”

“In here!”

I step into the bedroom, taking in the mess of tools on the floor. The door is off its hinges, leaning against the bed. “Need any help?”

“You know what, that’d be great,” he says. Then he narrows his eyes at me. Assessing. “I didn’t know you were coming by tonight.”

“It wasn’t planned. I, uh, was hoping to talk to you about something.”

Suddenly, the nerves hit me full-force. I haven’t been this nervous to share something with my dad since I had to tell him I’d gotten Larissa pregnant at twenty-one after a one-night stand. But I’m twenty-eight now, a full-blown adult. A father. Something like this shouldn’t rattle me, but deep down, I’m still that kid who seeks approval from his parents.

He leans back against the dresser. “Is this about Hallie?”

My brows furrow. “Hallie? No. Why would this be about her?”

He chuckles. “Oh, maybe because you’ve been mooning after her since you were a kid, and now she’s living in your house. Excuse me for assuming. What’s on your mind?”

I shake my head. “It’s about work.”

This gets all of his attention. “What about it?”

He’s been retired for a while now, but Dad took his job as seriously as Luke does. They both knew from a young age that they wanted to work for the department, and they both worked hard when they got there.

“I think I want to quit.”

Dad’s brows draw together. He’s quiet for a moment. Then he simply says, “Okay.”

“Okay? That’s all you have to say?” I shake my head. “You’re not going to ask how I plan to pay my bills? Keep supporting Abbie?”