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I roll my eyes. “We help people with medical care, Mom. Whatever they need.”
Her shoulders fall. “At least you’re still a doctor. Are you hungry? Come and have a seat, and I’ll get you something to eat.” She turns over her shoulder. “Ellie, come and fix Kane something to eat.” Ellie’s the cook, and memories of her wonderful meals from my childhood make me smile.
“I’m fine, Mom.”
“I’m glad you came by,” she starts. “I wasn’t sure if you would.”
“Neither was I,” I admit easily. “But I’m here.”
“You are,” she smiles, touching my face like she can’t believe I’m here. “And I’m sorry, Kane. Sorry that I didn’t give you what you needed from a Mom. I regret it. I want you to know that, but I was too stubborn to fix it.”
That doesn’t surprise me, but the apology does. “I came here because I want to work on forgiving you. Both of you.”
“Whatever it takes,” my dad says. “Name it.”
“I don’t know. You abandoned me when I needed you. I was struggling so bad, I wasn’t sure if…well, it doesn’t matter now. The point is that I’m not all right, and trying to forgive you might help me get to ‘all right’.”
“That’s all we can ask of you, son.” My dad smiles, gripping my shoulder gently. “You decide how this goes, okay?”
“Lunch right now is an excellent place to start.” Mom smiles, clapping her hands while Eleanor, aka Ellie, shuffles around at the stove. “Don’t you think?” she adds. Mom is a force of nature, and it’ll kill her to let me lead our reconciliation. That alone might be worth the effort.
“Lunch sounds good,” I tell her.
She ushers us into the dining room while Ellie gets our food on the table.
“Are you seeing anyone?” Mom asks if the answer doesn’t matter when I know it does.
I think about Maggie, and my heart jumps. “I am. In fact, I’m thinking about marrying her.”
“Is this girl a biker, too?” Mom’s tone is laced with disdain. “You can’t be serious, Kane.”
I smile and accept a sandwich from the platter she offers me. “She isn’t a biker chick. Not until I make her one.” How in the hell I’ll convince Maggie to stay with me in Angel Harbor is anybody’s guess. “And I am serious. Completely. Totally.”
“Well, when you sort out the wrinkles, we can’t wait to meet her,” Dad offers with a smile. “Isn’t that right, Christie?”
Mom sucks in a sharp breath, nostrils flaring as she prepares to make her case against a woman she hasn’t even met.
“Isn’t that right, Christie?” Dad tries again, his voice firmer this time, his tone telling her to cut the bullshit.
“Yes, of course,” she says in clipped tones, pouring iced tea to cover her temper. “We can’t wait to meet your future wife.” Her smile is tight, but it’s a start.
I laugh, and it feels good to laugh at my parents instead of hating and resenting them. “She’s pissed at me right now, so I have to convince her first.”
“Well, if she has any brains, she’d know she’s lucky to have you,” Mom says, but I still see the contempt in her eyes.
“I’m the lucky one, or I will be if I can make her see we belong together.” And in Angel Harbor. It’s an uphill battle, but so is PTSD, and slowly but surely, I’m getting my shit under control. By comparison, Maggie should be easy.
My mom stares at me like she wants to say something. She lets out her breath and sits there poking at her salad.
“What is it, Mom?”
She looks at me, tears brimming in her eyes, and says, “Kane, the real reason we called you here... Your father has cancer.”
The words hit me like a punch in the fucking gut. “What? Dad has cancer?” My chest tightens, and I force myself to take a deep breath, turning to look at my father.
“Son don’t worry about it,” Dad says, his voice soft but firm. “I told your mother not to tell you. Christie, see what you’ve done?”
My mom’s voice quivers as she replies, “Well, he’s your son and a doctor. He needs to know.”
