John left True alone to visit her Mom as long as she wanted, but he didn’t venture far. He wanted to be there in case she had questions or needed him to hold her.

He looked up from the fallen tree in which he had been sitting on to see Devon approaching. He scooted over to make room for her. They sat touching shoulders and knees even though there had been more than ample space on the log.

She nudged him. “Doing a good thing there, John. Even if it hurts you, she deserved to know.” If one good thing came out of the whole ordeal with Dell Curry, it was True finally being able to see her mother.

"I know." He glanced off in True’s direction. "Just stubborn, I guess." He kicked at a drift of snow, making it puff up slightly. "She’s so much like her, ya know? All of you think she’s stubborn like me." He chuckled softly. "I’m nothin’ compared to Elle." He lowered his head and sighed. "The universe works in mysterious ways, huh? Givin’ me a kid I didn’t know the first thing about…"

"You’ve done a damn fine job, John." She took his hand gently in hers then and squeezed. "Trust me. It’s part of the reason I was jealous of you in the first place. She’s going to be a wonderful young woman."

He looked down at their joined hands. Things were changing between them, and he was confused, happy, and sad all rolled into one. And he didn’t know what to make of it, but they had time. And plenty of it.