“I should have said yes years ago. I like making him happy. God knows we both need more of the happy stuff right now.”
“Nope.” She shakes her head and wags her finger in my face. “We’re not going there tonight. You left your problems at the front door, remember?”
Thoughts of Bodhi and Easton instantly flood my mind, and it’s hard to hold onto my previous happy thoughts when concern forces its way into my brain, but I try. I swore I wasn’t going to be a Debbie Downer coming over here. “Right,” I say with more determination than I feel.
“I love who my brother is when he’s with you. Growing up, watching him battling his demons was so hard. All I ever wanted was for him to be happy and you make him so damn happy. I love the way you two love one another. It makes me want to break out into song whenever I see you making googly eyes at one another.”
“You’re ridiculous.” I roll my eyes even though a massive grin spreads across my face. “But not wrong. I love the way your brother loves me.” My expression turns more serious. “He loves me good, Ash, and I don’t have the words to describe all the ways I love him back. I always wanted the kind of marriage my parents have, and I got it.”
“Aww. I love that.”
“You have your own epic kind of love too.”
“I know.” She beams from ear to ear. “We’re lucky bitches.”
“We are.” I pull myself upright and knock back a mouthful of wine. “Have you given more consideration to adoption?” I ask because we haven’t spoken about it for a while. Ever since this stuff blew up with the boys, I’ve been a bit of an absent friend.
“We’re doing it.”
“Oh my God!” I squeal, setting my glass down and hopping up. I run over and grab her into a hug. “That should have been the first thing out of your mouth tonight, instead of letting me ramble on about ghosts.”
“You’ve had a lot on your mind.”
“All the more reason to tell me. I’m so happy for your guys.”
“Me too. Oisin is seven now, and we want to give him a brother or sister. We have tried everything to conceive again and it’s time to accept it’s not going to happen.”
“You couldn’t have tried harder.” They have been through several rounds of IVF, attempted the surrogacy route, which turned into a disaster, and tried a couple of experimental procedures, none of which produced results. “You two have a lot of love to give so I’m thrilled you are adopting.”
“Me too. It feels right, and the timing is perfect now.”
“I need updates every step of the way.” I grab my wine and sit cross-legged on the floor beside her. “I don’t care what shit is going on in my life, I want to know it all. You hear me?”
“You will know everything first. I promise.”
“A toast,” I say, raising my wineglass. “To families and kids and love, lots of love.”
“Amen to all that.”
We are in the kitchen making tea and toast a few hours later when Dillon walks into the house, instantly raising all my hackles.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, spotting the panic he’s trying to hide on his face.
“I got a call. Bodhi is in the hospital.”
“Oh my God.” My lower lip wobbles, and I sway on my feet. “Is he okay? Is he…alive?”
Dillon bands his arms around me and hugs me tight. “The nurse I spoke with said he was in surgery and he was stable.”
“Surgery?” Ash asks, and I suspect her mind went to the same place mine did, but you don’t need surgery if you’ve overdosed. At least, I don’t think you do, but my brain is malfunctioning right now as panic races through my vein and blood thrums in my ears.
Pain is etched across Dillon’s face as he tilts my chin up and looks me straight in the eye. “He was stabbed, sweetheart. That’s as much as I know, but we’ve got to go.”
“Take me to my son,” I say, clinging to my husband as we race out of Ash’s kitchen and down the hallway.