CHAPTER THIRTY

“Are you sure this is all right?” I looked over my woman’s shoulder to where Molly was coloring on Zoe’s living room floor — her new living room floor, since she’d only moved in a few days ago. The day she’d told me she was staying in Willow Creek, I almost couldn’t believe my ears and I promptly had to stop myself from asking her to just move in with me and Molly.

We weren’t there yet, my head knew this, but my heart was having trouble going slow.

“Stop worrying, we’ll be fine.” Zoe flattened her palms against my chest and shoved lightly. “Go.” Her sweet smile sliced through some of the tension vibrating through my body. Thinking about it, my concern wasn’t with leaving my daughter with the woman I cared for, but rather why my parents didn’t want Molly to come to dinner tonight.

I’d yet to shake the eerie feeling that had taken up residence in my veins when Pops had phoned this afternoon telling me he and Mama had something to tell us, could we please come for dinner. When I’d said we’ll be there, he’d politely asked if there was someone that could watch Mols.

“Eli, are you okay?” I blinked and found a stunning pair of hazel eyes trained on me, the concern in them doing funny things to my heart. Zoe reached up to press her hand against my cheek.

I was about to confess that I really wasn’t when Molly barreled into me. Dropping to my haunches, I opened my arms to receive a hug. After she planted a kiss against my jaw, she drew away, stepping back until she could take Zoe’s hand.

Slowly, I pushed to my feet and took in the sight in front of me. The more I stared, the harder I had to swallow. Seeing the two of them tucked together as if it were the most natural thing in the world was almost too much for my heart to handle.

I didn’t trust myself to speak for fear that what I was feeling would scare Zoe away the moment it spilled from my lips. Instead, I kissed both my girls one more time before bounding down the porch steps and hauling ass to my truck.

By the time I drove down my parents’ dirt road, my mind was all over the place. I never thought I’d trust a woman after Melissa, let alone fall in love. And yet, that’s exactly what had happened. I was unmistakably, balls deep in love with Zoe Carlisle.

The realization wasn’t sudden, I’d known for a while, but I also knew that she wasn’t even close to being ready to hear those words.

My parents’ house came into view, effectively pulling my thoughts in an entirely different direction. As I eased my truck to a halt, I noticed that Logan and Chase weren’t there yet. Normally, I wouldn’t mind, it gave me a few extra minutes with my parents.

Today, though, I was good with waiting until my brothers arrived before I went into the house. Luckily, it wasn’t long until both of them came racing down the road, leaving a cloud of dust in their wake.

I was fixin’ to make a wise-ass remark as I stepped out of the truck, but it died on my tongue as soon as I noticed the somber expression on their faces. “You know what this is about?” I asked when they reached me.

“Nah, but it can’t be good if Pops insisted I come without Harper and Flynn.” Logan shook his head, the three of us taking slow strides toward the front door. We’d barely made it up the steps when the door opened revealing a very tired looking Pops.

A chill danced its way down my spine. Everything pointed to the fact that we were going to get some bad news. News that none of us were ready to hear. Pops tried his best to smile and look happy as he greeted us with a hug and a clap to the shoulder blade.

More silence stretched as we made our way to the long wooden table under the gazebo in the backyard. Mama was already seated, her gaze on the endless stretch of trees. She looked just as tired as Pops, maybe even more so. When our presence became known, she turned her head to look at us. The look of utter devastation in her eyes almost had me stumbling over my feet.

Mama’s lips lifted into a weak smile. “My boys.” Her arms were stretched out before she was on her feet. I waited until Logan and Chase greeted her, then I went in for my hug. There was something different about it, though. Usually, Mama’s embrace felt comforting; this one felt more like she was reassuring herself of something.

She pulled back and patted my cheeks twice, and then sat down again, a soft sigh blowing over her lips. I gave Pops a quizzical look when he joined us and took his usual spot at the head of the table.

“What’s going on here?” I blurted out while I seated myself next to Logan, whose head immediately snapped to the side.

“What the hell, man?” he hissed.

“Oh, like you weren’t wondering the same thing?”

“Yeah, but at least I have the good sense to keep my damn mouth shut.”

“Boys.” Pops’ firm voice drew our attention to him. The moment we locked eyes, he shook his head as if to say, ‘Not now’. “We didn’t ask you here for the two of you to have a go at each other.”

Like we’d done so many times when we were teenagers, we lowered our eyes and mumbled an apology. Funny how it didn’t matter how old you were, you’d always feel like a kid in the presence of your parents.

“As you may have noticed, I haven’t been myself lately,” Mama started. “Between your father and Eli’s concerns, I finally went to see the doctor a week ago.” She dropped her gaze to her hands resting on the table, wringing them together before she spoke again, “At first they had no idea what was wrong, so they sent me for a few tests and scans.”

Looking up, she made sure to make eye contact with every single one of us, and then she turned my world upside down, “We received the results of those tests today…There is no easy way for me to say this.” Mama sucked in a shaky breath; Pops immediately reached for her and covered her hands with his. “I have brain cancer.”

Lead filled my stomach as my mind tried to process those four words. Cancer…in her brain…That couldn’t be good. A loud whooshing sound filled my ears, my heart rammed against my ribs at the speed of light. Next to me, a string of curses flew from my brother’s lips.

How bad the situation was really sunk in when Pops didn’t utter a word about Logan’s language. At the other side of the table, Chase was being uncharacteristically quiet, staring at a spot on the wood.

“How…how bad is it?” I finally managed to ask.

“It doesn’t look good, son.” Hearing Pops’ voice crack like that nearly did me in.

There were a few tense seconds of silence then Chase’s voice boomed through the air. “This is bullshit.” Jumping to his feet, his chair toppled over. His eyes zeroed in on Mama before he shook his head and stormed off.

I was in the process of standing up when I heard Mama say, “Let me go talk to him.” Meeting her gaze was a mistake because the moment I saw her brown eyes glisten with tears, the back of mine started to sting while my throat closed up.

Slumping back into my chair, I buried my hands in my hair, desperately trying to blink away the emotion that threatened to run down my cheeks. “Is she going for treatment?” I didn’t dare look at Pops while I voiced my question; I knew one look at his face would send me off the deep end.

He was quiet for so long, I began to think he wasn’t going to answer. He spoke the moment I started to look up, “I…well…I’m not sure, to be honest. We’re still trying to make sense of everything.” Pops sounded so defeated. Without thinking, I pushed to my feet and rushed to him, wrapping my arms around the man who’d I’d always thought of as my rock.

“We’ll get through this, Pops.” This time when the tears threatened, I couldn’t swallow them down. “We’ll get through this,” I said again, not entirely sure whether I was trying to convince him or myself.