Then twenty.
He walked outside.
The road was empty.
He returned to the garage.
Then he saw the first drawing Lily had given him.
His portrait.
He remembered the words written across the bottom.
THANK YOU, BEAR.
Nobody’s ever done something like this for me.
He had said that.
But now he understood the mistake.
Lily had not given him a drawing.
She had given him a chance.
Bear ran back inside.
He grabbed his vest.
His helmet.
His keys.
The motorcycle roared to life.
PART 7
Daniel and Lily were already on the highway when Bear caught them.
The rain had returned.
Not heavy.
Just enough to blur the world.
Bear accelerated.
He passed two trucks.
Then a van.
Finally he saw Daniel’s old car.
Lily was in the back seat.
She saw him first.
Her face appeared against the window.
Then she screamed.
Bear could not hear her.
He did not need to.
He pulled alongside.
Lily began waving both hands.
Daniel slowed down.
Bear signaled toward the next exit.
They stopped at a small gas station.
Lily jumped out before the car had fully settled.
“BEAR!”
He barely had time to put down the kickstand before she wrapped herself around his waist.
Bear removed his helmet.
“Hey, kid.”
“You came.”
“Yeah.”
“You’re coming to Colorado?”
He looked at Daniel.
Daniel looked back.
Neither man smiled.
Neither man needed to.
“I’m coming,” Bear said.
Lily stepped away.
“For how long?”
Bear hesitated.
Then he made the decision he should have made years earlier.
“As long as I can.”
Lily stared at him.
“That means forever?”
Bear swallowed.
“It means I’m going to try.”
She seemed satisfied.
Then she reached into her backpack.
“One more surprise.”
Bear laughed.
“You really need to stop surprising me.”
“No.”
She handed him a folded piece of paper.
He opened it.
Another drawing.
This one showed Lily standing between Bear and a younger man.
Above the younger man she had written:
ETHAN.
Bear stared.
“You knew?”
“You talked to him on the phone.”
“How did you know his name?”
“You said it.”
He looked closer.
The three figures stood beside a house.
Above them, in crooked letters, Lily had written:
FAMILY CAN COME BACK.
Bear’s eyes burned.
He looked away.
Lily hugged him again.
“Don’t cry.”
“I’m not.”
“You are.”
“Rain.”
“We’re under a roof.”
Bear sighed.
“Fine.”
PART 8
Bear rode to Colorado two months later.
Lily had started at a new school.