AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Answer the phone, Adam. You have a son. You can’t ignore phone calls anymore.” When he still looks reluctant, I insist, “It could be an emergency.”
His expression shutters. “It’s not Rowan.”
“What?” I ease back. The thin straps of my dress slide further down to my elbows. “How do you know?”
Adam sighs and gently sets me away from him. Then he takes out the phone and shows me the screen.
“It’s the company I hired to find Alexa.”
I jolt harder than if the entire swing had come crashing down. The desire and need that had been pulsing in my stomach is ripped away, replaced by a feeling of cold dread.
“Where is she?” I whisper with a hint ofplease don’t answer thatin my tone.
“The address he gave me…” Adam’s eyes go dark, “was a hospital.”
* * *
Clay Bolton is big.
Bigger than Adam.
And since, only an hour ago, I was holding onto Adam’s very broad shoulders while rubbing against him like some wild beast during mating season, I know how big and muscular my boss is.
Clay Bolton is built like a tank.
A really grumpy, really blond tank with a perpetual scowl and shocking blue eyes that would be beautiful if not for the jaded sheen in them.
I glance over at Adam, comparing the two men. Even somber and serious, Adam emits such positive energy. His belief and faith in the world is unshakeable. I’m glad I found someone like him, someone who would remind me of the sunshine when I get lost in my darkness.
“It took me a while to find her because she was living at the hospital.” Clay Bolton slides a file over to Adam. “She sold her apartment, quit her job and made zero financial transactions on the outside. It’s like her life shrank to the size of that building.”
“What does she have?” I ask tightly.
“Cancer.”
I have to tell myself to blink.
I have to tell myself to breathe.
Clay Bolton’s expression softens with a hint of humanity for the first time since we met in his fancy office. “It’s terminal.”
I recoil on the inside, but on the outside I’m perfectly calm. Adam, on the other hand, is visibly tense. His fingers close into fists and he stares at the files as if waiting for it to tell him something different.
“The timeline of her moving into the hospital aligns with the date that your son showed up on your doorstep,” Clay Bolton says.
I shift in my chair as the pieces click into place.
I hadn’t told Adam, or anyone really, but the more I got to know Rowan, the more I started judging Alexa. How could she send her own kid away? How could she not visit Rowanonce? I’d only known him for a short time and I already knew that he was important to me. Why wouldn’t the woman who’d given birth to him recognize that?
Turns out, I was wrong. Alexa hadn’t abandoned Rowan. She’d been trying to give him the best chance at building a life without her.
Tears sting my eyes and my heart moves with compassion for a woman I’ve never met and yet had hated.
“How much time does she have to live?” Adam asks weakly.
“Not long,” Clay responds, glancing away.
I place my hand on Adam’s back and rub.
