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“Ourboy!” I cut her off without even thinking, narrowing my eyes in distaste at how quickly she forgets that I’m his damn father. “Our boy made…Christ, Summer.”
I rake my hands through my hair while anger simmers, barely restrained beneath the surface. It’s a sensation that’s utterly new to me, and I intensely dislike it already.
She holds up her hands, palms facing me in a quelling manner. “My apologies.Ourboy made a complete recovery. Kicked cancer’s ass.” She smirks softly, eyes glossing over as she remembers some anecdote or other that I missed being a part of. “He was checked over regularly, and all signs pointed to full remission. Until they didn’t.”
My lungs feel deprived of oxygen as her gaze falls from mine once more, and I feel more than a little light-headed, but she marches on unyieldingly.
“That was last year. He was slower to respond to the chemo. It was…” She shakes her head, her eyes pained. “It was rough.But, he fought hard, and—”
She breaks off and lets out a sound somewhere between a sob and a laugh that makes my heart clench in my chest with the need to pull her into my embrace. The ingrained desire to comfort her in her time of need.
Raising her eyes to mine again, I’m astounded to find tears streaming down her cheeks even while a smile lights up her face. “He’s a miracle, Cade. A walking, talking, living, breathingmiracle.”
I can’t stop my lips from turning up, and for a beat, we just hold one another’s eyes. She’s the first one to break away, glancing towards the door when voices in the hall draw our attention.
“I’ll show you to your room, Mr Jesse.”
There’s a boyish laugh that tugs at my fraying emotions. “It’s justJesse,okay, Maggie?”
My small smile disappears from my face at the reminder of what she stole from me—fromus—and I lose all semblance of patience. Reaching out, I grip those hands she’s refolded in her lap to tug her roughly to standing.
“Enough, Summer!Whynow? Spit it out, for fuck’s sake.”
My voice is louder and more intimidating than I’d meant, but even so, she stands tall, not backing down for a moment.
“He’s healthy now. Ten months cancer free.”
The pride is evident in her voice, and I can’t help but feel proud of both of them, having fought cancer twice.
And won.
“I’ve spoken to his doctors at length, and they believe the best course of action is to be proactive. Following the high doses of chemo, alongside the fact he’s a second cancer survivor, they would recommend doing a bone marrow transplant twelve months into his remission…but I’m not a match.”
She stops, letting that sink in. I frown heavily, unfamiliar with almost everything she’s said and having way too many questions to address while I’m still fuming mad over her deceit.
“Okay, so I’m guessing you’re here to ask if I’ll check whether I’m a match or not, right?”
She nods, starting to speak, but I cut her off, “Why not lead with that, Summer? Why spend the week when you knew this was what you really came back for? Why not ask that first day?”
A single tear glides down her cheek, but she answers without hesitation, her voice steady. “Every day since I’ve been gone has had one singular purpose: to do the best I could for my child. When I had no reason to get up in the morning, he gave me life. I’ve centred everything I do around him or with him in mind. So this week, while he was away at his annual camp for Childhood Cancer Survivors in Connecticut, I got on a plane with the intention of coming here. Of coming clean and begging for your help.”
She pauses, eyes flickering down to her clenched palms.
“But when I saw you again, you awoke feelings that I buried years ago.” Her voice breaks, and she raises pleading brown eyes to mine. “You welcomed me with open arms. It was more than I’d ever dared todream. And in that moment, I was helpless to deny myself the chance to feel your love after all this time. Because Ineverstopped loving you, Caden.”
She holds my eyes, willing me to feel the sincerity in her words. My heart cries out to take her in my arms and forget the rest. I’m about to do just that when the heavy oak door to my office flies open, slamming off the bookcase housing my favourite Jupiter’s Fallen records.
Jesse storms across the threshold, anger vibrating in the air as he fixes his mother with a look that knocks the wind from my sails.
Fuck, he’s a mini version of me!
His blonde, longer-than-the-norm hair is messy, falling into his sapphire blue eyes as he rakes a hand through it in annoyance. Every single inch of him is me—except his mouth. That’s all his mother’s.
My focus is on his lips in wonderment when they begin to move in earnest. “The man you’ve watched me idolise from afar foryearsis mydad! Are you fucking shitting me, Mom?”
CHAPTER22
SUMMER
