I turned to face Maggie, resting my shoulder against the wall. Placing my hand on her hip and pulling her near, I trailed my fingers up and down her back. She was so tense. “Why don’t I head down to the coffee shop on the corner and get us some caffeine, maybe a breakfast sandwich or something. Give you and your dad some time. Sound okay?”
Maggie’s eyes closed, and she nodded, letting her head fall against my chest, wrapping her arms around my waist.
I moved my hand up her neck and into her hair as I gently tipped her face back to look at me. “If you want me with you though, I’m here. What do you need?”
Maggie took a breath, her eyes sliding to look into the open door, then back to lock on mine. “No, coffee is good. It’s just”—she took a deep breath—“he looks so small. I’m not sure what it is, but seeing him in there hit me. I mean, he’s going to be fine. And I know I don’t see him that often, but you know…” She bit the corner of her lip, looking unsure.
I leaned forward and ran my lips lightly across her forehead. Resting them there, I spoke. “Babe, he’s your dad. I get it. It doesn’t matter how much you see him. He’s still your dad, and you love him. It’s going to be okay.”
Maggie’s arms tightened around my waist before she stood up and took a step back. “You’re right. And yes, coffee please.” Her stomach then rumbled loud enough that I was surprised people in the hall didn’t stop to appreciate. Her cheeks flushed, and she dropped a hand to her stomach. “And the bean is requesting food. The protein bar was apparently not enough.”
Laughing, I kissed the tip of her nose. “My cell phone is on. If you need anything, text. Otherwise, I’ll be back in less than thirty minutes. And”—I glanced at Tom, then back to Maggie—“if you need more time, just let me know.”
Maggie pulled me flush with her and came up on her tiptoes to brush her lips to mine. “Thanks, Cole. Love you.”
Damn if that didn’t flood my body with heat. Even after the past few weeks, I still got a thrill every time I heard her use those words. “You bet, babe. Love you too.”
* * *
Maggie
Sitting by my dad’s hospital bed was not how I planned on spending my day. The chairs in his room had to have won some design contest somewhere for the most uncomfortable device disguised as a chair. I sat there, staring out the window, one hand holding on to my dad’s, as I wondered when the last time I’d spent any amount of quality time with him was.
Looking over at his sleeping form, moments from the past twelve years passed by in a flash. Getting his CDL my senior year of high school had meant a more secure stream of income for our little family. My senior year had been a bit rough as I adjusted to him being gone more than he was home. I missed him like crazy. Since my mom had passed, it had been just the two of us against the world, getting kicked down more than we wanted. I knew he’d talked to Sully and Emma’s parents about his new schedule, making sure they were looking out for me. I’d alternated between staying with them and staying on my own. Luckily, I wasn’t the type of person to throw a kegger at my house. Honestly, I’d loved the time with the Sullivans that year. It was nice to not worry so much about groceries, bills, or even my dad.
When I graduated, my dad had talked to me about selling the house. He didn’t need a home base. He had made friends across the country and would often stay with them if he had time off. Once he did that, I felt like we lost our touchstone. The more shifts he could get, the more money he could make.
All through college he’d send me money each month to put toward my expenses. At first, he tried to send more, but I nixed it. I knew that while he was certainly making more than he had before, it wasn’t that big of a jump. I didn’t want him putting himself in a bad place just to help me out. We ended up settling on him covering my books, and I asked him to put some aside for retirement. I knew he’d just started, but trucking was a hard business, and I wanted him to have options later.
He loved his job. Dad would say that they were the cowboys of the highway, that he was paid to travel. While I knew he didn’t really do any sightseeing on his trips—you had to add the miles to get paid—I knew he loved being on the open road and where he could be outside, relatively speaking.
I looked him over as he rested. In the past twelve years we’d likely spent less than two months together in total, but just being in his presence brought a calmness to me. I ran my fingers over his hand. When had his hands begun to look old? His veins stood out in stark relief, surrounded by skin that had age spots. I wondered if I should lecture him about wearing sun screen when he drove again. Likely he wouldn’t listen anyway.
Picking up his hand, I thought about all the jobs those hands had completed in his lifetime. He’d worked many jobs in fast food when I was a kid, managing the local burger place, being a substitute janitor at our schools, stocking the shelves at the grocery store. Honestly, I lost track of everything he’d done.
I thought back to Emma’s words months ago, that maybe I’d been ashamed of my economic status growing up, maybe that was what was holding me back. All these years I’d felt like the town was shaming me, but maybe I was shaming myself.
Tears sprang into my eyes as I watched my dad sleep. Heck, I was twenty-nine. When he was my age, he had already married his high school sweetheart, had a baby girl, and lost his soul mate. My heart ached for him. I spent all that time as a kid being ashamed of being the kid on free lunch, being embarrassed that my teachers often bought my gift for the gift exchanges, when I never stopped to be proud of everything he did provide for us. What the hell was wrong with me?
Dropping my head to the bed, I let the tears stream down into the rough blanket. This time I didn’t even think I could blame the bean for my tears. Nope, I needed to shed these babies for the idiot I’d been. As I sat there, I felt my dad stir, and his hand dropped into my hair, smoothing it out.
His voice came out more gravely than usual. “There, there, Maggie May. What’s with the waterworks, my girl?”
Raising my head up, I sucked in a breath as my eyes locked with his. “Dad,” I paused, trying to pull myself together. In my best teacher voice, I got out, “Accidents are against our rules.”
He smiled at me. “Sorry, peanut. There’s some crazy-ass distracted drivers out there.”
“Dad…”
“Baby, I’m going to be fine, promise.” He smoothed the hair back from my face. “Now, are you okay?”
I bit my lip, hoping his ticker was in good working order here. “Umm, I’ve been waiting to see you in person to tell you about a bit of news.”
His gaze sharpened on me as I listened to the sound of his heartbeat on the monitor. The noise level in the hallway was a gentle hum as we were cocooned in his room. “Good news?”
With a gentle nod, I moved to stand up, then turned to the side so he could see me in profile.
My eyes stayed locked on his face as I watched the shock hit him, then his expression softened. Whispering, he said, “May I?”
