Chapter 3
Gage
I wasn’t sure where they went four weeks ago. I just knew that they hadn’t gotten home until four in the morning. I had stood there at my bedroom window and watched as Conleigh carried a sleeping Collins into her house.
It had taken everything in me to not wade in and offer to do that for her.
And ever since that night, the laughter that I had grown accustomed to hearing through the open windows had ceased. The little swing that Conleigh had set up in the backyard had also not been used.
Two weeks later, while I was working on my bike, I was surprised when Collins stepped out of Conleigh’s car with her head shaved. The fuck had happened to her?
I stood up from my stool so fast my head spun, but I didn’t allow that to deter me as I stormed over there.
They both stopped as they looked at me. I couldn’t help the tone that came out as a bark. “What the fuck is going on?”
And then I winced for making the two of them jump as eyes the color of cornflowers widened and then gasped at the same time.
Conleigh smiled a small smile, bent her head, and placed a kiss atop of Collins’s head. “Head inside, sunshine. Go lay down, okay? I’ll grab our groceries.”
Collins looked so beaten down. So different from her, the world is bright and ripe for the taking self, as she said, “Okay, Mommy.”
I watched as Collins walked into the house with a plush Charmander in her hands. The only reason I knew it was called that was because Powers’ little boy, Storm, loved Pokémon. Matter of fact, the boy loved what I was told was the evolved form of Charmander, Charizard.
“I need a beer to tell you what’s going on.” I hated to see the look of defeat on her beautiful face.
“Do you have any?” I asked her.
Shaking her head, she said, “Sadly, no.”
“Okay with you, I’ll grab us some. Meet you on your back porch?” When she nodded, I turned, walked into my house, headed into the kitchen, then grabbed us two beers. Then I headed out my back door and met her on her back porch.
As I handed her the beer our fingertips touched, I felt an electric current run through me. When I saw Conleigh’s eyes widen, I knew she felt it too.
Smiling, she sat down while I leaned against one of the white columns.
“So, what’s going on?” I asked her.
After she took a pull from her beer, she looked out into the field. I didn’t say a word, just waited for her to start talking.
After a few breaths, she told me, “We went to the hospital four weeks ago. She had a fever and Tylenol didn’t even touch it. When I rechecked it after the Tylenol had time to work, her fever had gone up. Seven hours later, after they ran some tests, the doctor told us she has leukemia. They said that it was good that they caught it early.”
“Damn.” That was the moment that I knew love at first sight existed. I was invested in this. How did I know that? Because it felt as if my heart had been ripped in two. I hadn’t felt like this when Heathen’s boys had been hurt. No, this was so much more.
“What are they doing about it?” I never knew anyone personally that battled cancer.
“Chemo, a round of medicine. She just had her second round of chemo yesterday.”
“Can she beat this thing?” Hoping like hell she would tell me they could. It was a shame for children to be sick, not when you had rapists and pedophiles that got to live life and take away the air people needed.
“The doctor told me they caught it early enough, so hopefully, yes.” It took every molecule of strength in my body to not walk over to her and wipe the tears away that were trailing down her cheeks.
Ah hell, fuck it. I’ve never been one to play by the rules.
Stepping over to her, I knelt down and did just that.
And let me tell you something. The moment my skin made contact with hers, it felt as if I had been shocked by a live wire.
Swallowing, I told her honestly and meant every word that came from my mouth, “Y’all need anything. I’m always here.”