AllFreeNovel
Share Us
But Joe’s eyes were on his son, and so Lucas had nothing left to do but obey, the door wheezing shut behind him.
The hallway was dark and quiet. A nurse went by, her eyes kind.
He could call Colleen. She’d wait with him.
He had no one else, after all.
Instead, he just stood there. After a while, he sat, looking at the closed door, and it was hard to breathe because of the pain in his chest, like a cold, thick spike had been driven through it.
He’d call Steph after it was over. Didi, too, and Ellen. He’d do what needed to be done, what Joe had asked him to do, and then he wanted to leave this little town and not come back, because all he’d ever been here was an outsider, an impostor.
Except with Colleen.
The door opened, and Lucas lurched to his feet.
“He’s gone,” Bryce said. “He’s really gone.”
He burst into racking sobs, and Lucas opened his arms and hugged his cousin.
He could see Joe in the bed, undeniably still.
“I got to tell him about my job,” Bryce wept, “and he said he was proud of me, and I was an entrepreneur, like him, and I’d do great.”
“Good. I’m glad.”
“You know what else he said?” Bryce said wetly, pulling back to mop his face.
“What’s that, buddy?”
“He said I was everything he ever hoped for in a son.” Bryce’s face crumpled again.
“Hi,” said the kindly nurse. “Do you need some more time with your dad, boys?”
“He’s my dad,” Bryce corrected. “Not his.”
And that about summed it up.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
COLLEENHADJUSTcome out of the shower and was contemplating a binge of Ben & Jerry’s to help resist the urge to call Lucas. He had shit going on and didn’t need her bugging him with stupid texts likeThinking of you!orHey, wanna come over?And it was 1:33 a.m. He could well be asleep, and it had hurt her heart to see how tired he looked earlier.
Yep. Ben & Jerry’s it was, the only two men who’d never let her down. Vanilla Heath Bar, or Peanut Brittle? Peanut Brittle it was, the crystal meth of the ice cream world. She’d bought eleven pints last week, terrified that Faith would hit the market first and clean them out.
Rufus lumbered to his feet.Ah rah! Ah rah! Ah rooroo rah!he bellowed in his mighty baritone. Sure enough, a knock came at the door.
She tossed the ice cream back in the freezer and opened the door.
It was Lucas, and those pirate eyes were unbearably sad.
“Oh, honey,” she said, and wrapped her arms around him because it was written all over his face.
“He’s gone,” Lucas said. He let her hold him, but he seemed...lost.
Ah rah! Ah rah roo!her beastie said.
“Come in,” she murmured. “Are you hungry? Want a drink?”
“No. Colleen—” He stopped. She waited.
