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“He’s okay, though, right?”
“He’s going to be. You both are, thank God.”
“It was the weirdest thing, Dad. We were skiing, and then the next thing I knew, we were here. I heard we were on a helicopter. I’m bummed I missed that.”
Max laughed. “We’ll ask Patrick to take you for a ride on his helicopter. That’s how I got here from New York.”
“Was it sick?”
“So sick.”
Molly came into the room and hugged Max.
“How’s Chase?”
“He’s doing well, but he’s got to have surgery on his jaw. They’re hoping to do that tomorrow.”
“I hit his face with my helmet,” Caden said, his chin trembling. “He knows it wasn’t on purpose, right?”
“Of course he does, sweetheart,” Molly said. “He feels bad that you got hurt, too.”
“When can I see him?”
“Hopefully tomorrow,” Molly said.
“You can stay, right, Daddy?”
“I’m not going anywhere,” Max said.
ChapterNineteen
“Nobody has ever measured, not even poets,
how much the heart can hold.”—Zelda Fitzgerald
Caden was released from the hospital two days later with orders to stay home from school and stay quiet for two weeks to give his ribs time to heal. They were holding Chase for one more day to work on his nutritional needs while his jaw was immobilized. The boys had seen each other on the second night in the hospital, which had raised their spirits tremendously.
Since Lucas and Landon had arranged to get Max’s truck from the airport and back home the day before, Max and Caden drove to Butler with Linc and Molly. Elmer had stayed in Butler to take care of all the pets while the others were away and was looking forward to welcoming them home.
Max had left the hospital only long enough to go to his parents’ lake home in Burlington to shower and change into clothes his mom had brought from home since he’d packed for much warmer weather in Houston.
The getaway with Lexi in Galveston felt like months ago rather than only days. They’d had a few quick conversations and had been texting a lot. Max appreciated her kind thoughts for Caden and Chase and how she asked frequently howhewas doing while taking care of his son.
He missed her terribly, and as soon as he got Caden settled at home, he planned to ask her to come up. His dad’s words from the other day had stayed with Max. Linc was right that Max deserved a life of his own in addition to being Caden’s dad, and now that the crisis had passed, he was able to see that more clearly than he had during it.
Max glanced over at his son, who was asleep. He looked tired and pale, but otherwise, he was doing well despite a lot of pain from his broken ribs. It would take a long time before Max’s nerves fully settled from the events of the last few days, but he was taking his lead from Caden, who’d rolled with serious injuries with his usual wit and resilience.
“Mom. What day is it?”
“Wednesday.”
“Shit. Chloe is coming today.” Max sent her a text.Hey, sorry for the short notice, but we can’t do it today. Can we move to next week? Sorry.
She wrote back a few minutes later.Disappointed, but sure. Same time next week?
Yes, and thank you.
“I moved it to next week.”
