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“I won’t make you wait that long.”
“You promise?”
“I promise.”
ChapterTwenty
“Children begin by loving their parents; as they grow older they judge them; sometimes they forgive them.”—Oscar Wilde
The following Wednesday, Max cleaned the house while Caden rested on the sofa watchingPaw Patroland working on some of the schoolwork his teacher had sent home so he wouldn’t fall behind. Max wanted his home to be standing tall when Chloe visited for the first time so she would see a single father who had his shit together.
And thank God he worked for the family business and could be out of work while Caden needed him.
After speaking with Grayson the other day, he felt much better about sharing the news of the accident with Chloe.
“The document she signed giving up her parental rights was airtight,” Grayson had said. “She gave full custody to you in front of multiple witnesses. Even if she’s had a come-to-Jesus since then, she’d have zero chance of taking you to court to upend the custody agreement. It’s entirely up to you as to how much she gets to see Caden, and I have no doubt she’s gotten that same information if she’s consulted with a lawyer.”
Max had been so reassured by Grayson’s input that he’d shared the news of Caden’s accident with Chloe by text.
Oh my God, she’d responded.I’m so glad he and his cousin are all right. You must’ve been terrified.
I was,he’d replied.I’d like to never go through that ever again.
I’m sure! Thank you for letting me know. Please tell him I hope he feels much better, and I can’t wait to see him on Wednesday.
I will, thanks.
So now it was Wednesday, and he was going to see Chloe for the first time in seven years and introduce her to their son. The whole thing was surreal, to say the least.
A knock on the door had Max putting down the mop to admit his grandfather, who’d come by every day to see Caden since he’d been home.
“How are my boys today?” Elmer asked.
“The boys are good and so is the girl,” Caden said of Daisy, who sat up with excitement when she saw Elmer come in. She’d been amazingly well behaved and gentle with Caden.
Elmer had a treat for Daisy and a bag of penny candy from the store for Caden. “Got your favorite, chocolate raisins,” Elmer said.
“Thanks, Gramps.”
“You’re welcome, buddy. How’re you feeling?”
“A lot better. Dad said I can go back to school next week.”
“Only if Dr. McKinley says it’s okay,” Max said.
“I gotta go see him tomorrow,” Caden said.
“How’s the homework coming?” Elmer asked, taking a seat next to the sofa.
“Not great, but Dad said if I get it done before dinner, I can have two scoops of ice cream for dessert.”
“That sounds like a pretty good deal to me.” Elmer ruffled his hair. “I’ll let you get to it. Time’s a-wastin’, my friend.”
“If you were really my friend, you’d do it for me,” Caden said with an impish grin.
Elmer howled with laughter. “I’m the best friend you’ll ever have, but I ain’t doing your homework.”
“Fine. Be that way.”
