Never Let Me Go (Welcome To Redemption) by Donna Marie Rogers

when she smiled and said hello to him, his face grew red as an apple.” Drew let out a quiet chuckle. “It was good to see him not pining, even if just for a minute.”
    Hannah wasn’t sure how she felt about the fact her father felt an attraction to another woman. She loved him so much and wanted nothing but happiness for him, but it just seemed…too soon. Then again, her mother had been hospitalized for years before her shocking death a few months back. Maybe it wasn’t too soon for her father, but really for Hannah herself. Truth was, it had been an eternity since her father had been with a woman. Though he never spoke about it, Hannah knew he’d remained faithful to her mother ‘til the very end. Which was sad and sweet and incredibly romantic. But also very lonely. He’d been a shell of himself for years, and though the effects of her mother’s death had been crushing, in an odd way, it had also helped him to do something he’d never been able to do—let go.
    So, if some random woman made him blush and feel alive again for the first time in who knew how long, who was Hannah to begrudge him?
    “Wish I could have seen it. I’ll give him a call in a couple hours…hope he remembered to charge his cell.”
    “Lindy reminded him to plug it in last night. She and dad…they have a special little bond. It’s nice to see.”
    Hannah could hear the smile in his voice. Lindy made Drew happier than she’d ever seen him. The only thing that could make them complete was if they’d get around to setting a wedding date. “Lindy’s an amazing woman. I’m just glad you finally pulled your head out of your ass long enough to see it.”
    “Good one. Okay, I’ll call again in a couple days. Take care of yourself. And listen, Chase is doing me a great favor by personally seeing to your safety. Please don’t give him a hard time if he gets a little overprotective. He cares about you. Make sure he knows how much you appreciate what he’s doing, okay?”
    I tried, but then you called and ruined the mood. “Don’t worry, I will. I’ve already made him my pork chops and mushroom risotto, and tonight I’m making spaghetti.”
    “I’m sure he’ll love that. Poor guy eats more frozen pizza than anyone I know. Okay, I’ll talk to you soon.”
    With a weary sigh, Hannah hung up the phone. Deciding she needed something a little stronger than tea, she poured the nuked water down the drain, pulled a wine glass from the cabinet, and poured herself a healthy dose of merlot.
    It had been years since she’d looked through her parents’ wedding album, and the thought of looking at pictures of those happiest of moments seemed appropriate. So she dug it out of the hall closet and laid it out on the kitchen table. Andrew Porter & Elizabeth Geirut: Together Forever had been written with a black Sharpie in her mother’s sprawling handwriting on the front cover. A silent sigh escaped Hannah on a shaky breath. After a hasty gulp of wine, she flipped open to the first page.
    And was completely unprepared for the overwhelming surge of emotion that stole her breath. Tears sprang to her eyes and she quickly swiped them away.
    She remembered how much her parents loved telling the story of how they’d met and fallen in love when they were in the fourth grade. Her paternal grandparents were both born and raised Redemptionites, with roots going back to the founding town members. But her mother’s parents moved down from Iron Mountain, Michigan when her grandpa transferred for a job.
    Ten years later, they were married down by beautiful Milner’s pond.
    Hutch’s brother, Wally, had taken the pictures since they couldn’t afford a professional photographer. But Wally’s keen eye proved to be perfect for taking the kind of random shots every bride dreams of putting in her wedding album, her mother no exception.
    Hannah took another sip as she stared down at the beautiful picture he’d taken of her parents just after the ‘I dos’. Her