Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 101163 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 337(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101163 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 337(@300wpm)
Boone snorts and Aiden’s gaze moves over to him. “Right? Like, what marshmallow goes with any type of mayo? Gross. So Boone yells from the front where he’s helping customers that the marshmallows would be fine if you substitute mayo out for barbeque sauce.”
“Nasty,” Boone mutters.
“So nasty,” Aiden rasps, shaking his head. “Then it got weird. Boone said he had to leave for a hockey game, and all of us just left with him. Like we were supposed to do it. We went to the arena, to the locker room and we all had lockers there with uniforms and skates. We all started getting dressed and I was having a panic attack because I don’t know how to ice skate, much less play hockey. And Boone… you kept telling me it was fine because I was only going to be a designated bench warmer for the game, but then I started worrying about Lilly and Dad because they don’t know how to ice skate either.” He falls silent a moment, considering, and then shrugs. “Then I woke up coughing. Wonder what it means?”
“Want some more water?” I ask, but Aiden shakes his head.
Instead he reaches his hands out—one to me and one to Dad—and we take them. “It probably means that I’m worried about how you are going to do without me.”
I feel Boone’s hand on my back because even though he can’t see my face from how I’m angled toward my brother, he knows that will have produced tears.
Big, salty ones leak from my eyes. “We’re going to be just fine, I promise.”
“I promise not to let Lilly put marshmallows in the macaroni salad,” my dad says, clasping his other hand over Aiden’s as tears stream down his face.
Aiden smiles at my dad and looks past me to Boone. “You’ll take care of them, right?”
“Always,” Boone promises. “I love them just like I love you.”
It’s a struggle for me not to sob, but instead I keep focused on the magic happening right now—Aiden taking his deep desire to make sure his family is protected in the only way he knows how… passing that torch to Boone.
Aiden grins. “I knew what I was doing when I hooked you two up.”
We all bust out laughing and I glance back to see Boone unashamedly wiping tears away as he locks eyes with my brother. It’s a vow they just sealed.
“I’m tired,” Aiden says, tugging his hands away from me and Dad. “I’m going back to sleep.”
“Do you want some morphine?” I ask.
“Yeah,” he replies. “It helps so I don’t feel like I’m suffocating.”
I know this, of course, but I nod in understanding. Turning to Boone, he stands from the chair. “I’m on it. I’ll send the nurse down and then go get that cappuccino for you.”
Aiden adjusts himself on the bed and I fuss over his blankets and kiss his forehead. He drifts off immediately and my dad settles back into the recliner but he doesn’t lay it flat. Our eyes stay pinned on Aiden for a while but then he says, “You’re an amazing woman, Lilly. I’m not sure how you turned out so strong and full of grace, but I’m so proud of you.”
“I had a good dad to show me the way,” I say as I smooth the blanket over Aiden’s chest.
“I’m definitely not a role model.” He scoffs.
My hand stills and I turn my head his way. “But you are. You always provided for me and Aiden, gave us so much love and security that we flourished after Mom died.”
“I’m an alcoholic,” he says.
“You’re a human who is working hard to be better. You’ve taught me and Aiden how to never give up, even when you have setbacks. You’re the best father in the world and I wouldn’t change a thing about you. I love you.”
My dad cries and I’m not sure if that’s a continuation from Aiden or from what I just said, but we’ve all become big believers in the cathartic effects of letting our emotions run free.
♦
We eat dinner together in the room like we have the last two nights. Boone ran out and got us Chinese because I was craving crab Rangoon. He bolted out of here so fast because I haven’t had much of an appetite but tonight… I’m hungry. It’s my body’s way of telling me it needs nourishment and tonight it’s in the form of cream cheese and fake crab.
After everything’s cleaned up, we watch a movie. Because Boone’s a gentleman and respectful, he insists my dad take the recliner, even though he’s been in it most of the day. But then he pulls me out of the comfy chair and settles into it, pulling me onto his lap. He positions me sideways and I curl into a ball, resting my head on his shoulder as we watch A Few Good Men on AMC.