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SIX
For a week, things were…different.
For so long it had been just her and Cash, and now there were always people around. Now that everyone knew he was here, family members were stopping in to spend some time with him.
Austin and Garrett Coleman came around almost daily—mainly around dinnertime. But Jackson only showed up during the middle of the day while Savannah was at work.
Because…yeah, Parker had called and begged for another chance and she’d accepted.
Obviously he was determined for them not to interact with each other as much as humanly possible, and while she admired his respect for her decision, it pissed her off too.
Her whole life had been one long drawn-out soap opera filled with caution and sickness and drama. For once she wanted to be a reckless adult—as opposed to the reckless eighteen-year-old who married a dumbass loser—and grab life by the horns and take what she wanted.
And she wanted Jackson Coleman.
Badly.
How it was possible for one steamy kiss to keep her awake at night and make her yearn all damn day didn’t seem possible, and yet…here she was.
Mostly when she felt this…edgy, she blamed it on hormones and the fact that she missed sex. Over the last week she’d met a lot of very nice guys here in town—some with the last name Donovan—but even though they were good looking, none of them gave her even a tiny zip of awareness. It was like they were all good-looking and seemed like excellent dating prospects, but she didn’t want to kiss any of them.
Or rip their shirts off the way she did with Jackson that day at the beach.
Damn him.
And he was keeping his distance.
As usual, she was home by four and she found Cash watching TV. “Hey,” she said softly, doing her best not to startle him. “How was your day?”
Looking up at her, he smiled. “It was good. Jackson took me to lunch at the pub the two of you met at and you were right. Those potato skins with the ranch were awesome.”
“Never doubt my food recommendations. I take eating seriously,” she teased. “Who’s coming for dinner tonight? I’m making that spicy skillet chicken enchiladas like you requested. I just need to know how many I’m cooking for.”
Over the last week, she had gotten to know a lot of the Coleman family. Austin brought his wife Mia with him—who was a famous mystery writer!—and Savannah had geeked out a little after meeting her. Garrett brought his fiancée Emmaline with him and she was possibly the nicest woman in the world. She was enjoying this time with them almost as much as Cash was.
Grace—his ex-wife—hadn’t come over for a meal, but apparently the two of them had spoken on the phone at least once. She wasn’t going to pry and didn’t ask for specifics, but she could tell that it saddened Cash that he hadn’t seen her face to face yet.
Last night, dessert was brought over by Cash’s cousin Susannah—who owned a bed and breakfast in Magnolia Sound—and her husband Colton. They were incredibly sweet and super friendly, and it was nice to watch Cash laugh and reminisce about his childhood. Next weekend, Susannah was hosting a family barbecue in his honor and as wonderful as it sounded, Savannah was afraid to get her hopes up about it. Maybe she was the only one to notice, but she could tell he was getting weaker.
They had a hospice nurse who now came every day to sit with Cash and be with him while Savannah was at work. Her name was Amy and she helped with his pain management. Normally they crossed paths when Savannah got home, but since she’d stopped to buy groceries, they’d missed each other. Sighing, she made a mental note to talk to her tomorrow about this upcoming barbecue so she could be sure that it won’t be too much for him.
“So…who all is coming over tonight?”
“Um…the boys and the girls,” he said vaguely. “I told them to come over at six. Will that work?”
Nodding, she walked over and stood in front of him and saw that he looked sleepy. Crouching down, she placed a hand on his knee. “Hey,” she whispered. “Are you sure you’re up for it tonight? Maybe going out today was a little much.”
But he shook his head. “I don’t want to miss a thing, Savi. I don’t want to miss a minute of my time with them.” He was a little breathless after those few sentences and she worried.
With a smile, she added, “Okay,” but immediately walked to the kitchen and pulled out her phone to call Amy.
“Hey, Savannah,” Amy said when she answered. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, I think so. He seems a little tired tonight.”
“One of his sons took him out to lunch. Well, took us both to lunch,” she added with a small laugh. “Cash seemed to have a great time and he ate well, but by the time we were done, I knew it took a lot out of him. He napped for a couple of hours, but he was wide awake when I left.”
“I guess that’s normal, right? Nothing I should be freaked out about,” she said more to herself and then proceeded to tell Amy about the barbecue. “Should I say something to anyone about maybe…moving it up?”
