“How long has he been sick like this?” It wasn’t like his father to cut someone off when they were speaking—in all things, he was gentle and delicate. The shift in behavior was inexplicable, and the frantic way he spoke only made Gage feel worse about his prior choices. He’d been expecting the news to be received emotionally, but this was taking it to the next level. “Gage! How long?”
“A year and a half.” Gage curled his fingers into the material on the insides of his pockets. “I took him to a doctor that said it was asthma, so we tried treating him and it didn’t work. I just brought him in for some tests so the specialist can figure out what’s wrong. We’re going to figure it out.”
“Oh, god,” Gabriel whispered. The force in his voice was gone, leaving nothing but fear. “No, no, no…”
“I don’t understand what’s going on!” Gage reached for Bo, who’d recovered from coughing. Bo, teary-eyed, came to Gage’s side, and Gage lifted him up again. “I know that it’s a lot to accept all at once, but… but aren’t there other things you want to know about?”
“So many things.” The starlight lit the tears in his father’s eyes. Gage didn’t understand where they were coming from, or why. “But you can tell me all of them soon, okay? We have to get in touch with Marshall.”
“Aaron’s father? Marshall Alcrest?” The situation was spinning out of control. “It’s almost three in the morning… can’t we wait? Bo’s not going anywhere. I… I don’t want to upset them, and I don’t want to upset Bo. He’s usually so shy around strangers.”
“It can’t wait.” Gabriel wiped the tears from his eyes. “Let me carry your bag inside, and let’s go sit in the kitchen while I make us some coffee. I need to call Marshall.”
“Please,pleasewait until morning,” Gage begged. Exhaustion dragged on his eyelids and fogged his mind. His stamina waned. Another confrontation after what had been a difficult day would break him, and Gage needed to stay strong.
“Bo is sick, Gage,” his father stressed. The fear and hurt in his eyes was unlike anything Gage had seen before. “He’s very, very sick, and if it’s already been a year and a half, I don’t feel comfortable waiting a second longer.”
“Why?” Gage was at his breaking point. He hugged Bo close to his chest, needing to feel his touch and know that his baby was still with him. “Why is it so important that we wake Marshall up? Don’t you want to get to know your grandson?”
“I do.” The sad smile on Gabriel’s face spoke of suffering that Gage had never seen before. “I want to know him so badly… but I also want to see him grow up.”
The hairs on the back of Gage’s neck stood up. “What?”
“There’s something you don’t know about the Alcrest family.” Gabriel took Gage’s bag from the roof of the car and headed for the house. Gage followed him, lost and afraid. “Something Marshall and Oli have done their best to keep quiet about.”
“Dad?” Gage asked. The same frantic terror he’d heard in his father’s voice built itself up inside of him. “What are you talking about?”
They stepped inside the house. Gabriel closed the door, his gaze averted, like he wanted to avoid the truth as badly as Gage did—but he spoke anyway, strong for his son, just like Gage was strong for Bo. “Marshall Alcrest almost died from pulmonary fibrosis close to thirty years ago. If Bo is sick, and it’s not going away…”
It’s not asthma, Dr. Wilmot’s voice repeated in his head. Her voice was accompanied by the skeptical look on Dr. Russo’s face when he’d asked if there was a family history of respiratory illness.
“No,” Gage rasped.
He tried to hold himself together, but he had no strength left to give.
His baby was sick. He hadn’t known because he’d kept the secret…
And all of it was his fault.
28
Aaron
Aaron’s eyes burned. He sat at a red light, wrists rested on top of the steering wheel, and squinted to try to stop the pain. Halos ringed every source of light, whether he focused on them or not, obscuring his vision. Still, he kept driving. He couldn’t stop.
The last five hotels he’d visited had been a wash—Gage’s car was nowhere to be seen. With Bo in the car, there was no way he hadn’t stopped somewhere, but where that somewhere was? Aaron had no idea. Aurora’s population was over a million strong, and the surrounding suburbs only added to that number. There were thousands of hotels to investigate, and Aaron was only one person.
One stubborn, determined person.
He’d search until the sun rose, if that was what it took. He had to make things right.
The light turned green. Sluggishly, Aaron checked for incoming traffic, then progressed through the intersection. His eyelids were heavy. If he stopped for coffee, then—
The radio faded out, and Aaron’s phone rang, broadcast by the Bluetooth connection to his vehicle. Aaron’s heart shot into his throat. There were only a handful of people who’d be calling him so early in the morning on one of the worst days of his life. Alex, Mal, or…
Gage.
He jabbed the answer button by muscle memory, hoping beyond hope that Gage was on the other end.
