Chapter 18 - THE DINNER SIX YEARS LATEAvery finally kept her promise.
Dinner.
Nothing classified.
Nothing tactical.
Just Avery, Thomas, and her mother around a small table.
At first, conversation was painful.
Her mother asked questions Thomas could barely answer.
Birthdays.
Christmases.
Hospital visits.
Six years of absence could not be repaired with one explanation.
Thomas apologized without defending himself.
That mattered.
Later, Avery found him alone on the porch.
“I don't know how to be your father anymore,” he admitted.
Avery sat beside him.
“Then don't try to become the man you were.”
He looked at her.
“Become the man who's here.”
Thomas cried quietly.
May you like
Avery leaned against his shoulder.
For the first time, reunion felt less like recovering the past and more like building something new.
