96

A slow drizzle of rain fell as Cyrus sat under the tent by the gravesite with his son in his arms. Only the Evans family and a few IWX stars had attended the funeral. Not one of her friends who pretended to care for her was there. Not even her parents took the effort to show up.

Mia took Cyrus’s hand in hers, kissing his knuckles. It was clear he was exhausted and unsure of how to feel.

“It was a lovely funeral. You did a good job planning it all. What you said about her was lovely.”

“I can’t believe she’s gone. I’m sorry I’ve been so out of it the last few days. None of this is fair to you. I’m just so… numb.”

Mia took a breath as she watched the coffin being lowered into the ground. “You know, I don’t regret it. I can’t imagine a life where people never cared for me. We were all she had, and I think it gave us all some closure.”

“You know what she told me? It was while you were on the media blitz. She said you were the only true friend she ever had and wished things were different. She knew none of those other women were her friends. Mia? How can you be so understanding?”

Mia sat looking at the baby, thinking about what he had asked. “When I was a kid, I was being bullied by another girl about my weight. Every day this little girl would pull my pigtails and call me awful names. I had all I could take one day, and I hit her. I hit her so hard that I broke her nose. When I got home, my mom was sitting at the kitchen table and I knew she had gotten a call from the school. My parents always said to never hit someone unless defending myself. That day I just went up to the girl and punched her straight in the face. She hadn’t even been teasing me that day. I sat at the table and mom just watched me and shook her head. She was so disappointed in me.”

“Why? You were taking up for yourself.”

“Was I? I was retaliating out of anger, not in defense. Until that night with Holly, I have never been in a real fight. I attacked the girl. Anyway, my mom cried, and I told her I was sorry just so I wouldn’t be in trouble. When she looked at me, I knew sorry didn’t cut it.”

“What happened?” Cyrus stood from his seat next to the coffin and walked her away from the tent as the rain stopped.

Mia followed, saying, “She asked me why I was sorry, and I didn’t know. I just knew I didn’t want to be in trouble for fighting.”

“Sounds like something I would have done as a kid. My mom used to get so mad at Wraith and me for fighting on the playground. We always had some lame excuse.”

“Well, my mom explained to me that the girl had a rough life. Mama said that if I would have just told her about the bullying, she could have helped me work it out. The girl was acting out because she was jealous I had a good life. The next day, my mom took me to a women’s shelter she volunteered at and the girl and her mother were there. I saw all these women and kids who had almost nothing but each other, and it broke my heart. When we approached the girl and her mom, she ran from me trying to hide.”

“She was scared after all that bullying?” Cyrus asked.

“Yep. I had scared her so badly that it traumatized her. She wet herself because she was afraid I would hurt her again. I learned later her father abused her and her mom. That was why she was there. My mom explained that people act out sometimes because there is something in their lives that they can’t handle. Sometimes they know nothing else to do but cause conflict.”

“So, it made you have more compassion for those who sometimes don’t deserve it.”

Mia nudged him asking, “Don’t you do the same thing? Everything you have been through; you see everyone as a person you can protect and be a comfort. Even Tammy became a project for you to fix. I guess I sort of do the same thing. I try to see who the person is behind the veil. Just like your sister. I might have kicked her ass, but down deep, I knew she was just looking out for her big brother. That’s an admirable quality. Even Tammy had some good qualities when you took time to sat down and talked to her.”

“Like what?”

“She loves her son for one. She was just looking for a place to fit in. Maybe she just never found it.”

Cyrus agreed. “That’s true. She never really knew what she wanted in her life.”

“My mother taught me one thing that day at the shelter. Forgiveness. She showed me everyone is redeemable, and she was right. That little girl ended up being my friend and to this day, still is.”

“And you think Tammy was redeemable?”

Mia shrugged, saying, “That’s not for me to decide. She didn’t hurt me. Was she redeemable to you?”

“I guess so. She changed a lot in the last few months. Maybe even after Grayson left her. Maybe it was a waking up point for her.”

“Do you forgive her?”

“I do. It was hard, but I do.” Cyrus nodded as Mia took the sleeping baby from his arms.

“Good. Because forgiveness isn’t about the person who hurt you. It’s about letting go of pain for your peace of mind. If you hold on to the hurt, they win.”

Cyrus pulled Mia to his side and kissed her temple. Letting out a breath, he looked down at his son and realized what she was saying was true. It was time for him to let go of all his pain and start over. Cyrus reached to touch his scar and looked upon the hill where a double gravestone stood under a willow tree. His parents’ final resting place was lit from the sun's rays peeking through the clouds, almost seeming angelic.

“I love you, Mia. You are an amazing woman and your right. It’s time I do some forgiving of my own. Come with me. I want you to meet my parents.”

As they made their way to the grave, Holly, Isis, and Wraith followed behind, leaving everyone else behind to talk. Wraith placed his hand on his brother’s shoulder with a light squeeze, as Holly leaned into Wraith, wrapping her arms around his bicep. Mia could hear Holly weeping as she looked at her parent’s grave and Isis hugged her from behind.

Cyrus tried to fight back tears as he spoke to his parent’s grave. “Momma. Dad. This is my girl Mia and this little one is my son, Elias. He’s named after your dad. I wanted to introduce you to her. She’s the love of my life and I plan on making her mine one day. I wanted you to know, I’m okay now. I’ve held onto all this anger for so long. I hated the world and tried to protect Holly, Isis, and Wraith from it. I know now, I can’t and can only love them as best as I can. I was so filled with anger that I couldn’t give Tammy the man she needed. She cheated to find someone who could. She only found more pain. And I blamed myself because I know what kind of monster Grayson is. I led her right into that monster’s arms. I know now I have to stop trying to fix everyone.”

Wraith wrapped his arm over his brother’s shoulder and leaned his head on his. For the first time, Wraith was crying too. He hadn’t cried in years and here he was finally letting go of his parent’s death.

Cyrus continued, “I have to fix myself. It’s not fair to any of my family or friends to keep trying to control everything. Mia said something I never considered. I always thought forgiving someone meant letting them off the hook. She made me understand it’s not about that. It’s about letting go of anger for your mental being.”

Wraith nodded. “Well said, Brother.”

Cyrus turned to her. “Mia, I’m sorry I wasn’t strong enough to deal with this alone. I leaned on you to fix my broken parts. I don’t need that anymore. I just need you to love me. I need to fix myself for you and our son.”

“Our son?”

Cyrus wiped a tear from her cheek. “If you’ll have us when the time comes. I hope you don’t leave me. After I asked you to do all this and ripped you away from your life, I wouldn’t blame you. I was selfish.”

“Cyrus, it’s okay. I understand.”

“No. It’s not okay. I asked you to take on all this responsibility because I didn’t want to deal with it alone. You stood right by me without even a second thought. You were the one protecting me. That’s never happened to me before. I’m the one who must be the protector. Here you are holding my broken heart in your hands with little pieces missing. That’s not fair to you. You deserve the best of me, not the leftover broken parts. I want to give you all of me. So, from here on, no matter what happens, I want to give you that. I may not be perfect, but I’m yours.”

Mia leaned up, kissing his cheek. “And I’m yours. I love you, Cyrus Evans. All the broken pieces to the absolute best parts.”

Wraith’s cell phone vibrated in his pocket and he looked to see Kevin’s number appear. “I have to take this.”

Cyrus watched his brother walk away, and Holly went to snuggle up to Cyrus. “I miss them.”

“I do too, Holly. I know Mom and Dad are watching over us.”

“I’m sorry I’m so angry all the time. I didn’t know you were too.”

“We could see that therapist together, Sis. Start over together.”

“I’d like that. I love ya, big Brother.”

“I love you too, Holly.”

As they turned to head back to the cars where the family was waiting, Wraith stopped them. “Cy. Holly. We need to go. Kevin has news that could help the case, but someone tipped off Grayson. Miles says he thinks it’s someone in his department and it worries them he will come for us.”

“Shit. Okay. What do we do?”

Wraith went into action. “Isis, take the baby back to my house with your kids to play. Mia, can you take Cy’s truck and meet us back at my place? Get some bags packed from the cabin. I want you guys to stay at my house tonight. It’s not safe at the cabin if that old fool is onto us. My place is more secure.”

“Okay. Cyrus, please be safe.”

“I will, flower. We will be there as soon as we find out what’s going on. I love you.”

“I love you too. Wait. I had something for you. A letter from Tammy. It’s in the truck.”

“I’ll read it when I get back. Get going and watch the roads. Another storm is coming up.”

“All right. Be safe. I’ll see you at Wraith’s.”