Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 84247 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84247 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
“What’s that? I can’t hear you,” Knox teased before animatedly biting into a chip.
“Oh, excuse me. You have heart disease in your beard,” I joked back as I reached over and took the crumb out of his facial hair. His eyes turned fiery and hungry as I did. I more than liked that look aimed at me.
After we ate, the three of us played Frisbee, which was fun because Knox was shit at throwing it. Of course, Logan and I didn’t let him live it down.
“All right. I quit. I don’t like either of you members of the badass-cool-kids club right now,” Knox said. “I’m going to the water.”
“Me too!” Logan said.
“Last one there is a rotten egg,” Knox replied.
I pulled my shirt off and chased them, but they beat me to the ocean.
We played around, splashing each other and laughing. Logan hung off Knox’s neck with one arm and tried to help his dad spray me with water.
“I give up!” I covered my face. “You guys win, though it’s not fair you’re ganging up on me.”
“Aw, poor Callum.” Knox reached over and wiped at my face as though his wet hand could help. As if realizing what he was doing, he jerked it back quickly. “Okay, I’m older than you guys, and I need a rest.” Knox began making his way toward the shore, Logan and me trailing behind him.
We got back to our spots, and Logan and I fell into chairs.
“I’ll be right back. I need to take a leak,” Knox said.
“You guys aren’t very nice to me,” I teased Logan, but then noticed his skin looked a little off. “You good?”
Logan started coughing. He looked down, his breaths quick and sharp, with a familiar wheeze.
Jumping to my feet, I dug his inhaler out of the bag and knelt in front of him. He was sucking in more whistling, rapid breaths.
“Here, take this, we’re good. We got this.” His hands were shaking, so I put the inhaler to his lips. “On three—one, two, three.” I squeezed medicine into him as he took a deep breath. I counted to ten. He was still wheezing. I waited a minute like I was supposed to before I said, “One more time.” Hard press on the inhaler, deep breath, count to ten. It wasn’t until I looked at my hand that I realized it was shaking too. I’d seen a lot in my time as an NP, but this was different; it was someone I cared about. Someone I loved, and I wasn’t used to this in that situation. “There we go. Concentrate on me. You got this,” I said again as I rubbed his back.
Suddenly Knox was there. He was kneeling beside me and talking to Logan until he began to catch his breath.
“Come here.” Knox pulled him into a hug.
“I’m fine, Dad,” Logan replied, but I noticed he held on too.
I moved out of their way. When Knox stood, he turned to me. “Hey, thank you. I—”
“It’s fine. I didn’t do anything.” Which I hadn’t, not really, but I was still shaken up.
“Yes, you did.” Then…then he hugged me too. Knox cleared his throat. “How about we relax a little and then get on the road to head home.”
Logan and I nodded. We only lasted another half hour. Knox wouldn’t let Logan help pack up or carry anything back to the truck. Not long after we were on the road, Logan fell asleep, and Knox reached over and placed his hand on my thigh.
I looked his way. We smiled at each other, and I realized I’d been right. Outside of Logan’s asthma attack, this had been one of my favorite days.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Knox
It didn’t matter how many asthma attacks I’d witnessed in Logan’s life, they always shook me up. There was nothing like the feeling of helplessness when your child couldn’t breathe and you couldn’t do anything to fix it. There was his inhaler, but that didn’t always do the trick. Luckily, he’d been better when we got home and we hadn’t had to do a nebulizer treatment.
Even though it was days later, I couldn’t stop remembering what it had been like—flying high, realizing how much fun I had with Callum, thinking of how good he was with Logan and how great our day turned out, only to walk back to them and see Logan struggling.
And Callum was there. It made the inside of my chest feel tight and funny. The whole day had, for different reasons. It had been one of the best I could remember having in years. The only thing missing was Charlotte. I’d called her that evening, and it had been so good to hear her voice. I couldn’t wait for her to meet Callum. I hoped she loved him as much as Logan did.
Summer was fast approaching, and we’d find out. Logan would be going to Colorado for two weeks, and then he and Charlotte would fly here to stay for a few weeks. I’d be lying if I didn’t admit I was nervous as shit too. I still didn’t know what in the hell Callum and I were doing, how far I could let it go and what it meant for me, for my family. All I knew was he made me happy. He made Logan happy. The thought of not having Cal in our lives left an emptiness inside me I wasn’t sure I’d ever experienced.