Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 60978 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 305(@200wpm)___ 244(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60978 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 305(@200wpm)___ 244(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
I retreated to the bar, needing space to process what had just happened. The familiar sanctuary of the countertop and the smell of stale beer grounded me as I signaled Mike for another coffee. My hands weren’t completely steady, which hadn’t happened to me since my first performances in a Nashville bar.
“On the house,” Mike said, sliding the mug toward me with a rare grin. “You guys were something else, Cash. Didn’t know you still had it in you.”
I grunted a response, wrapping my fingers around the hot ceramic, grateful for the burning sensation to focus on rather than the lingering memory of Eliza’s voice blending with mine, her fingers brushing against my skin.
Despite my determination to regain control of my emotions, my eyes continually drifted back to her across the room. She sat between Hannah and Ada, clutching a fresh beer bottle, her laugh coming more easily now as something Ada said made her throw her head back with genuine amusement. Even from a distance, I could see the change in her, a loosening of the perpetual tension she carried, a brightness I hadn’t seen before.
I knew I should stay away, should maintain the careful distance I’d established with every woman since prison. Eliza had Lily to think about, a custody battle with the state still unfolding, medical challenges I couldn’t begin to understand. She needed support and stability, not the complications getting involved with an ex-con biker still figuring out his own path to redemption would bring.
But as she looked up and caught my eye across the crowded bar, a small smile curved her lips sent a jolt of heat through my chest no amount of rational thinking could extinguish. Whatever had started between us tonight couldn’t be undone, couldn’t be ignored. The only question was where we would go from here, and whether either of us was brave enough to find out.
Chapter Nine
Eliza
The heavy manila envelope of medical reports sat in my lap, each page filled with terminology I barely understood, blurring together after two weeks of endless appointments. I held the last report in my hand, not having looked at it. I hadn’t put it in the envelope along with everything else. I rubbed my eyes, the lighting in the doctor’s office waiting room burning patterns into my vision whenever I blinked. Beside me, Lily leaned against my shoulder. She’d been able to lose the sling but I could tell she still moved gingerly sometimes. Either it still hurt her or she was afraid it would hurt. I thought it was the latter since when she didn’t think about it, she moved normally. She clutched Mr. Flopsy with a grip she’d barely loosened all day.
“Mommy, can we go home soon?” Lily whispered, her voice small and tired. She looked up at me with big eyes. My my heart clenched to see the dark circles beneath them, a testament to the exhaustion she tried so hard to hide.
“Soon, baby,” I promised, running my fingers through her hair. “Dr. Brennan wants to talk to us about your pictures, remember?” I forced brightness into my voice I didn’t feel.
Lily nodded and returned to her quiet contemplation of Mr. Flopsy’s worn ears.
I returned my attention to the papers, flipping through the bone density scan results for the third time. Words like “significantly decreased bone mineral density” and “consistent with Type I Osteogenesis Imperfecta” jumped out at me. The diagnosis we’d waited years for, the validation I’d desperately sought, now stared back at me in clinical black and white. Relief mingled with a new kind of fear. We finally had answers, but they opened the door to a lifetime of careful management and worry.
A soft ping echoed through the space as the elevator doors slid open. I didn’t look up immediately, assuming it was another tired parent or medical staff finishing their shift. It wasn’t until Lily shifted against my leg I raised my head.
My heart stopped.
Asher Hudson stood just outside the elevator, his body rigid as his eyes locked with mine across the corridor. The Kiss of Death MC cut hung on his frame, looking too large for his body. On one shoulder was his name. On the other, the word “Prospect.” Prison had thinned him down, his cheekbones sharper than I remembered, his already lean build now bordering on gaunt. His beard was new, neatly trimmed but still strange on a face I once knew by heart.
Two years since I’d seen him. Two years of silence while I navigated Lily’s medical mysteries alone. Two years of explaining to our daughter why Daddy couldn’t come home.
“Mommy? Who’s that?” Lily asked, straightening up to peer at Ash with undisguised curiosity. She didn’t recognize him but knew she should. She just didn’t know how to verbalize her thoughts. I knew the feeling well. The realization hit me like a physical blow. The last time she’d seen him, she was just four years old.