I scrambled off his lap. “You know about my mom?”
“I do.”
“When did ‘Tabs’ tell you about her cancer?”
My mom had smoked since she was fifteen and had just been diagnosed with stage three lung cancer. It would have been caught sooner if she’d fucking seen a doctor or, I don’t know, told me about any of her goddamned symptoms, but she’d kept everything from me. But when she’d had a coughing attack and I’d noticed blood on her hand, I immediately rushed her to the emergency room and forced her into a battery of tests.
“Rooster? When did Billy tell you about my mom’s cancer?” I repeated.
He leaned forward, settling his elbows to his knees. “A few weeks ago.”
I narrowed my eyes. “And when did you decide to come back?”
“Kate—”
“Answer the goddamned question, Rooster. Jesus.” I threw my hands in the air. “Why can’t you just answer a fucking direct question?” I faced him again after he still hadn’t said anything. “When, Kam?Whenexactly did you make the decision to come back?”
“Two weeks ago.”
“So this didn’t have anything to do with helping Hatch and the club,” I hissed.
“That’s not true, honey. But the fact your mom is sick kind of escalated things.”
“I don’t know how to process this!” I snapped. “I’m so angry at you, I want to throw something, but I also love you so much because you obviously knew I’d be overwhelmed that my mom could be dying… gah!”
“Let’s go with the loving part.”
He stood and looked like he might hug me, but I held my hand out to him. “Don’t even think about it.”
“Baby—”
“Do. Not. Move,” I snapped, but he ignored me, pulling me to him and wrapping his armsaround me.
“You’re okay, honey, I’ve got you.”
“I can’t believe you came back for me.”
“Why can’t you believe it?”
“Because you’ve stayed away so long and now, when I need you the most, you just poof, show up? You’ve never beenthatnoble… it doesn’t track.”
“Oh, baby, this isn’t because I’m noble.” He chuckled.
“Then what is it?
“It’s all purely selfish.”
“Why?”
“Because your mom saved my life, Katie. Her being sick wrecks me too.”
I sniffed. “She doesn’t know she saved your life.”
“She does so.”
“No, she doesn’t.”
“She caught me.”
