Chapter 165: Garth

Garth HAD ALWAYS THOUGHT the hardest thing he'd ever done was bury his parents and accept responsibility for Benji and Scarlett.

That had been easy. A simple process and an obvious life altering decision.

Neither of those moments had anything on what he was about to do.

Garth stood on the front porch of the brick house and glanced to his left, where Noemi was likely sleeping. He hoped that she was getting rest. She never took off except for holidays and if he remembered correctly, she had events this weekend. With any luck, she'd have someone in her corner that would look after her properly.

He turned his attention back to the door. There was one of the new, electronic doorbells. He pressed it, listened to the chime and waited.

It was early still, but he hadn't been able to make himself wait any longer.

After a few moments the locks clanked and the door swung open.

Ángel stood on the welcome mat in sweatpants, a T-shirt and a hoodie draped over his shoulders. His hair was