The Dance Part 2

Chapter 325 Lost

The trip to the old family home seemed longer than usual. Maybe because Gabe didn't have Rain and Bird to pass the time. The waters were dark and choppy just like the clouds that had settled on his heart and mind. Nothing was right to him and when things weighed heavily on him, he retreated from family and friends. Solitude gave him clarity even as he felt irrevocably broken by Lucy's miscarriage. He was angry at himself for putting pressure on her to have children. He was remorseful about the things he said to her out of anger and sadness. His world had come crashing down around him. His dreams were shattered like a million shards of broken glass.

By the time he had wrestled his boat onto the beach at Browntown he had little daylight left. He hastily loaded up what he could carry and made the hike to the family home. It was eeriely quiet. There were no howls from the family to greet him. Just dead silence. The campgrounds were left just as he remembered. As he entered the main cabin, he saw the traces of blood from his last visit and shuddered at the reminder of the thin line between life and death. He had lived. His baby had died. He couldn't reconcile that distinction in his mind.

That night, he chose to stay in the trapper shack. Afterall, it had been his home shortly after Bam and Lila had built their cabin. He would tackle the clean up of the family home tomorrow. But now he craved sleep if only to stop the madness in his mind.

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Rose was afraid to leave Lucy alone. She insisted on either Jill or Lila trading off shifts to keep a watchful eye on her. She wasn't sure if Lucy was capable of hurting herself but nevertheless she erred on the side of caution. Lucy refused to eat or drink anything and isolated herself to the bedroom she shared with Gabe. No amount of consolation could lure her out. The first night was the hardest. Rose heard her cry for hours and when she finally fell silent and she went to check on her, Lucy had wrapped herself in Gabe's buffalo plaid flannel shirt. As tough as nails as Lucy could be, she loved Gabe deeply. Sometimes it didn't come out in ways she hoped but Gabe was it for her. He was a gentle soul. He was the only one that could keep her centered, understood her insecurities, and loved her flaws and all.

That night two souls may have been seperated by distance but they both mourned an unimaginable loss.