Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 82077 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82077 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
“He fell onto the floor?” She was concerned.
“Yes,” I answered, barely breathing.
“Onto concrete or––”
“Carpet.”
She nodded. “How far?”
“At least two feet.”
“Two feet?” she repeated.
“Yes,” I whimpered.
“And he was unconscious?”
“No.”
“But he didn’t cry?”
“Oh no, he screamed.”
“Uh-huh,” she said, sounding less concerned. “And his pupils were dilated?”
“No.”
“And he’s three?”
I nodded.
“Tell me, first-time parent?”
“Yes. Why?”
She patted my hand before she led me to a room. Kola was telling me all the noises the animals made and what letter the animal began with when the doctor came in.
“Dog begins with d, and they go ruff-ruff-ruff,” he explained when he was being checked over by the resident on call.
“First-time parent?” I was asked the second time that day.
I lost him in Target and found him sleeping inside a rack of clothes in the men’s department. My heart had actually stopped, and I knew again, that day, that I’d married a good one. Instead of blaming me, Sam said it could have happened to anyone and hugged me when I got home and told me everything was okay.
And now Kola was leaving me. He’d be too far away for me to get to him if there was an emergency. I wouldn’t be able to see his face every day to know how he was feeling. Most of all, I wouldn’t be able to talk to him whenever I wanted. It was the end of having everyone safely under one roof when I set the alarm at night.
I started to shake.
“Oh, Pa,” he soothed me, gathering me close and hugging me tight. “It’s gonna be okay. We’re gonna be okay. I’ll call you when we get there, and I’ll FaceTime you the house.”
“Okay,” I croaked out, holding him as tight as I could.
I hugged Harper next, made him promise to call and come home for Thanksgiving.
He smiled at me like I was nuts. “My folks live two blocks away, Mr. Harcourt. Of course I’ll be here for all the holidays and the summer and—don’t worry.”
I could only nod.
Jake was last, and he thanked me for everything. “You and Mr. Kage have helped me so much, and I hope you know I appreciate you both being there for me.”
“Of course,” I muttered and then hugged him as hard as I could.
He hugged me back harder.
Sam was standing with Kola, telling him things, giving him the emergency credit card that we’d opened just for him and, I was certain, trying to cram their last moments with anything he might have forgotten over the years.
As if there were anything.
The love between the two of them was palpable.
They hugged tight, holding for long moments, and my vision blurred with hot tears.
I had to hug Kola again, and then they were in the limousine that Aaron had sent. He was flying them to California on his private jet since he had to be in Los Angeles for an acquisition or something. Both Harper’s parents and Jake’s had sent lavish thanks. Plane tickets were expensive, after all.
Hannah had skipped the scene on the curb because she didn’t want to dissolve into a puddle in front of her brother. Yes, this was the first time Kola was leaving me and Sam, but he was leaving his sister too, and she was feeling that deep in her bones. She’d kissed and hugged him earlier that morning, right after dawn, and then left to go teach her chair yoga class to seniors. He had made her all the same promises he’d made me, and she’d done the same silent nodding. Unlike me, there were no tears, just a brave smile as her chin wobbled. It was somehow worse.
Watching the limousine drive away, I had to lean over so I didn’t hyperventilate. Sam was there quickly, rubbing circles on my back.
“I get why Dylan let her son live in her basement while he figured out his life,” I rasped, trying to move air through my lungs. “I mean, it feels like my heart was just amputated.”
“I know,” Sam whispered, sounding suspiciously broken himself.
I stood up and turned into him, hugging him tight.
“He’s starting his life, baby,” he murmured. “You have to let him fly.”
And I knew I did.
Inside, over coffee, I was watching Sam as he loaded the dishwasher. He’d stayed home because he knew I was going to be a mess. I stayed home because crying in front of clients didn’t seem like the best idea ever.
“So,” he began, sighing deeply. “Who thinks Aaron bought a house close to campus and is having some guy from his LA office pretend to be the landlord?”
I snorted out a laugh. “Yeah. That’s exactly what I was thinking. Something is going on with that. If it seems too good to be true––”
“There’s a billionaire mucking around in your life,” Sam finished with a grunt. But I noted his face. He wasn’t upset. He was smiling, looking almost bemused.