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His Adam’s apple bobbed again. “I... I wasn’t...”
“Right.” She gave him a smile. “I’m in the trailer by the shed. You can always stop by to talk if you need to. I’m not only your aunt but I’m also a nurse. If you have a question, I’ll do my best to answer it. I know losing your mom like that had to be hard.”
His expression went blank. “Yes, it was difficult.” His answer was robotic as if he was used to saying it automatically. “I miss her.”
“I’m sure you do,” she murmured, finding it weird his words lacked any sadness. His mother didn’t die long ago, so it still should be very fresh.
If Jemma let it, she could still cry while thinking about Walter. Especially with how he suffered toward the end. It had been heartbreaking.
She was sure Jen’s death had been difficult for a teenager, too. From what Ry told Judge, Jen had died from lung cancer. She was a heavy smoker her whole adult life and that habit got her in the end. It also left a barely-baked boy without a mother.
Not that Jen was a perfect one. But Ry was a good, clean-cut kid, so his mother had to do something right.
“I miss Walt. He was like a father to me. I wish he could’ve gotten to know you. He’d be super proud of you heading to college and I know Lottie is, too. And it’s also important to your dad. Even though you didn’t know he was alive all these years, he knew you were and loved you the second you were born. He wanted nothing more than to be your father.”
And your fucking bitch of a mother robbed him of that chance.
The same could’ve happened to Cage. If Dyna’s maternal family had given the baby away to someone in their community, Cage would’ve never known he had a daughter and Dyna would’ve never known her father.
But at least in that case, Cage wouldn’t be pining away for a child he knew nothing about. Not like Judge, who knew, and everything he did to try to be in his son’s life failed.
Cage would’ve been blissfully unaware.
Ry still looked absolutely miserable holding Dyna, so Jemma took pity on him and took her back. The baby immediately began to root at her boob and get frustrated.
It was time to go.
Jemma settled Dyna back in the stroller and before she wheeled the baby back to the trailer, she paused and reached up to cup her nephew’s cheek, because even at eighteen he was much taller than her. If he wasn’t already as tall as Judge, he would be soon.
“Thank you for giving your father a chance, Ry. You don’t know how much that means to him. And me. I’m here for you if you ever need anything. Please, please, please don’t hesitate to come to me, or even Deacon. You’re blood. Don’t forget that.”
Ry pinned his lips together and nodded.
“And don’t worry, I won’t snitch to Judge that you visited Saylor today. Just promise me you won’t do anything stupid.”
A look of relief crossed his face and a small smile curled his lips. “I promise.”
Jemma dropped her hand from his face and grabbed the stroller handles.
“I’m going to hold you to that. Now, get the door for me, please.”
As soon as he did, Jemma took a now wailing Dyna back to the trailer to get her belly full.
Chapter Eleven
Cage parked his sled in the shed, pulled what he brought home from his saddlebag and headed out of the open garage door toward his trailer.
Their trailer.
He needed to start looking for something more permanent. He just wished he had more money to do so. They’d only been in the trailer for two weeks and Dutch wasn’t bugging him about finding something else. At least, not yet. But Cage knew it would be coming.
He was still borrowing the Honda, the shop’s loaner, too.
Dutch may not be bitching about the trailer rent, but he’d been bitching about the Honda. Everyone at the shop used it during the day to run for lunch or parts, or whatever, but Dutch didn’t have a loaner to offer his long-time customers when Cage needed it.
Since Cage didn’t have the money to buy a car, he and Rook had scoured the yard to find something in half-decent shape they could fix up after hours.
Rook suggested he sell the Impala. Doing so would make Cage flush for a while. But his brother also said he should leave that option as a last resort, since he knew Cage would never be able to recover close to the amount he’d invested in just parts alone.
But, with his ribs not bothering him as much, he was back to riding his sled and only needed the Honda when he had to take Dyna somewhere. With Jemma around, she hauled his daughter in the Volvo to places like the pediatrician while Cage worked.
