The holidays no longer reminded me of loss.
They reminded me of hope.
New Year’s was celebrated at Liam’s house that year. The evening stretched long into the night with music, food, and stories shared around the table. Eventually, the children fell asleep, and rather than wake them to drive home, we all stayed overnight.
The next morning, the house stirred slowly back to life.
I was standing in the kitchen pouring coffee when I heard Liam’s voice from the living room.
“Have you lost weight?” he asked Cole.
I paused immediately, my attention sharpening.I stepped into the room and looked at Cole carefully.
“He has, hasn’t he?” I said, my brows furrowing as I studied him more closely. “I thought it was just me.”
Cole shrugged casually.
“Just a little bit,” he said with a light smile. “Maybe it’s the new workout that I am trying at the gym.”
Liam laughed and clapped him on the shoulder.“Don’t disappear on us there, brother.”
They both chuckled, but the uneasy feeling inside my chest refused to fade.
I had noticed the changes.
The slight weight loss.
The way his appetite had decreased.
The occasional tenderness in his stomach… the vomiting.
He had thrown up several times over the past few weeks, and every time, he dismissed it as something minor.
Something about it did not sit right with me.
I decided I would start packing lunches for him, making sure he only ate home-cooked meals. If something outside had upset his stomach, then at least I could control that part.
Several times, I had tried to convince him to see a doctor, and each time, he brushed the idea aside.
“I hate hospitals and doctors,” he had said with a dramatic grimace. “I hate them.” He leaned back in his chair and waved a hand dismissively.Who liked them?“They bring nothing but bad news. I prefer home remedies instead.” He had smiled then, trying to lighten the mood. “They work much better than pills and syrups. Don’t you think?”
At the time, I had laughed and nodded, not wanting to start an argument. But now, as I stood watching him across the room, laughing with Liam, the smile on my face barely masked the tightening knot of worry inside me.
And the uneasy feeling growing in the pit of my stomach refused to be ignored any longer.
As I watched him, I made a decision.
One way or another…
I was going to take him to the doctor.
42
COLE
In February, on Jiya’s thirtieth birthday, I planned a romantic getaway to Sierra Resort. By then, we had been dating for almost seven months, and during those months, I knew there was no other woman I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.
I loved everything about her.
