Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 57866 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 289(@200wpm)___ 231(@250wpm)___ 193(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57866 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 289(@200wpm)___ 231(@250wpm)___ 193(@300wpm)
Her expression turned grim. “They think it was intentional. Two bombs placed in the area, but it’ll take a full investigation before they announce much more. I work with a woman whose son is a fire inspector, and he apparently told her the arena will have to be torn down.”
Charlie was asleep, his little belly full of milk, his tiny mouth hanging open. I used a cloth to dab the milk from the corner of his mouth and then passed him to his grandma.
“Did they get everyone out?” I asked.
“Sadly, probably not,” she said, settling Charlie into her arms. “They aren’t releasing any numbers until tomorrow.”
“My god.” I sat back against my inclined bed, the gravity of it all bringing tears to my eyes. “Beau’s whole team was probably in there.”
Claire rocked Charlie in her arms, smiling sadly.
“It’s not fair that this tragedy overshadowed such a happy day for you and Beau,” she said. “He’s so excited about the baby; it’s all he’s been talking about for weeks. Well, and you, of course. I’ve never seen him so happy. These next weeks and months are probably going to be hard for him, so I just ask that you try to give him grace. Beau has always been my drifter. Other than hockey, he just wanders from thing to thing and person to person, never really finding anything that captures his heart. Until you.”
I wiped tears from my cheeks. “I’ll do everything I can to support him. Beau is an extrovert and I’m an introvert, and I know I can come off as aloof and detached, but when I love someone, I love them hard.”
She smiled and nodded. “Thank you, Shelby. And remember, Henry and I want to help with Charlie. If you and Beau want to stay with us for a while, we have plenty of room and we’d love to have you. But if not, that’s okay, too. I know how hard it is to have a new baby.”
My eyelids started drifting closed. “I can’t believe how tired I am, and the hard work hasn’t even started yet.”
Claire chuckled. “I’d say delivering a baby is hard work. Try to get some sleep. I’ll just sit in the rocker with Charlie.”
I watched her as she rocked him and softly told him about all the adventures he’d have at Grandma and Grandpa’s house when he was older, and peace settled over me.
My son would have what I never did as a child—a big, loving family to be his joy and his safe place. Knowing that healed part of the hurt I still carried around, though I knew some of the wounds from my childhood would always be there.
It was because of those wounds that I knew how precious my son was. Living years without a loving family made me appreciate the Foxesespecially Beauthat much more.
“Shelby.”
I woke to Beau’s voice, and when I opened my eyes, he was practically running toward me, tears welled in his eyes. Several cords dragged on the ground, like he’d ripped them out of the machines he was hooked up to and bolted.
“Hey,” I said, sitting up and looking him over from head to toe as well as I could in the second it took him to get to my bedside. “You’re here.”
He leaned down and put his arms around me, cringing in pain and kissing me on the forehead at the same time.
I tilted my head up so I could see his face. He had a few small cuts on his cheeks, but his face was relatively unscathed. His hair had light-colored dust sprinkled in it and his right bicep had a bandage peeking out from beneath the sleeve of his hospital gown.
He was okay, though, and that meant I could fully breathe again.
“I love you,” he said, cupping my face in his hands. “I wasn’t sure I’d get the chance to tell you that. I’m sorry I wasn’t here for you when you needed me, but I love you and the only thing that will ever keep me from you is being trapped in a collapsed building.” His voice broke with emotion. “And even then, I’ll find my way back to you.”
He brushed a kiss over my lips and rested his forehead against mine. This was, without question, the most emotional, beautiful day of my life.
“I love you, too,” I said. “And you don’t need to be sorry. It was out of your control. I’m just so grateful you’re okay. Are you sure it’s okay that you’re here?”
He shrugged. “No one’s been in my room for forty-five minutes. Everyone’s busy treating the people who were hurt worse than I was.”
His expression had darkened, and I cradled his jaw in my hand, rubbing my thumb over his cheekbone. “I’m so sorry. Do you know if your teammates are okay?”