Chapter 20 - The Horizon
"Dad! The stars are coming out!" Leo yelled from the porch, adjusting the lens on the telescope we had bought for his birthday.
I walked back toward the house, the warmth of the cabin lights spilling onto the grass, a beacon of safety and love.
"Show me," I said, stepping onto the porch and looking through the lens. The cosmos stretched out before us, endless and bright.
Leo leaned against my side, and I wrapped my arm around his shoulders. He was warm. He was safe.
"Do you think Mom can see us?" he asked softly, looking up at the sky.
May you like
"I know she can," I said, my voice thick with emotion but free of pain. "And I know she's incredibly proud of the man you're becoming."
We stood there for a long time in the quiet Oregon night. The family I was born into had tried to break me, but they had only forged me into something unbreakable. The Thorne family was gone. We were the Vances now. And as I looked out over the dark silhouette of the trees, I knew that no matter how deep the woods ever got, we would always find our way home.
