Page 48 of Chasing Honor

“Good. We’ll see you guys outside.”

“What, you’re not gonna offer us a beer, Uncle Jasper?” Ethan laughed.

“You got two arms.”

“Funny how ‘the look’ works just as well now as it did when we were kids,” Ethan joked.

“Damn right. I’m going to eat before there’s nothing left.” Jackson made his way to the back door.

“He’s right. We better hurry.”

* * *

I was sitting on the back deck, beer in hand, watching the guys throwing a football around, Carson chasing whomever had the ball. I don’t think she cared much about what team she was supposed to be on. As long as she could jump on whoever caught it, she was smiling.

Lily, Emily, Reagan, Blake, and the Walker girls, minus Quinn, all sat down at the table I was sitting at.

“This feels familiar,” Lily commented.

“It does. Only the first time we sat on this deck together we were watching the guys put together a swing set,” Emily mused.

“It was a nice sight wasn’t it? If I remember correctly, Jasper had his shirt off and was flexing, trying to get your attention,” Lily continued.

“He got it all right. It was hot as Hades. Jasper had sweat . . .”

“Gross. Please stop,” Delaney Walker complained.

“My ears are bleeding, Mom,” her sister Hadley added.

“I’ll need therapy for many years if I hear how hot my father is,” Adalynn Walker put in.

“Sorry, girls, but your father is pretty hot,” Emily poked.

The older women all laughed when the Walker girls groaned.

I had to agree with Emily, Jasper was hot. So were Clark and Levi. If the men looked this good in their fifties I couldn’t image what they’d looked like when they’d met their wives.

“Kayla’s cancer is back,” Emily whispered.

“No!” Lily gasped. “How long?”

“Awhile. They told us last night, but they’ve known for a bit. She’s decided not to do treatments this time.”

I heard the Walker girls sniff, and I felt like I was encroaching on a very private family discussion. When Carson gave me the Cliff Notes version of her family as she knew it, she’d mentioned that Jason Walker’s wife, Kayla, was very sick when they got married, but she’d gotten better and all was well. Sadly, Carson’s intel was out of date.

“What? Why? She fought so hard the first time,” Blake said.

“And second,” Adalynn reminded them.

“That’s exactly why. The doctor told her that at this point there’s nothing left to do,” Emily informed them. “She wants what time she has left not to be spent in the hospital.”

“How long?” Reagan asked.

“Not long. Maybe a couple of months. Tops.”

Tears pricked the corner of my eyes, and I mentally went through the pictures I’d taken today. I knew I had some of Jason and Kayla but made a note to take more.

The women continued to talk, however I’d gone back to watching the football game. Carson was slowing down, the ball was being passed, and she was no longer running after the receiver. When she looked over at me I knew something was wrong.