“You can show me anything,” I answer.
“This is Delaney, but you know that,” she says as she turns the picture to face me. “And this is her son, Mickey Easton Wilts.”
CHAPTER SIXTY-EIGHT
Emma
Case can’t takehis eyes off the picture.
He keeps running his fingertip tenderly over the face of little Mickey Wilts.
“He’s the spitting image of Apollo.” He pulls in a deep breath. “Right down to the blond curls on his head.”
I watch as he reaches behind him to tug his wallet out of the back pocket of his jeans. He opens it and carefully removes a photograph. It’s taped down the center, and as he hands it to me, he hesitates for a split second. “That’s the last picture I have of the two of us.”
I take it and cradle it in my palm. I know it’s a treasure.
I gasp when I see the young man next to Case in the photo. There’s no mistaking that Mickey is this man’s son. They share the same hair color. The shape and color of their eyes are identical, and their smiles are carbon copies of one another.
“Mickey looks so much like him.”
Case nods. “He looks just like my brother.”
I settle next to him on the bed. I hold the picture in my hand next to the one in his hand.
“Look at that, Emma.” Case’s gaze volleys between the pictures. “I wish to fuck Apollo was here.”
I bite back a rush of raw emotion. “He would have been proud. Mickey is so bright, Case. He’s the sweetest little gentleman.”
“He’s a great kid, isn’t he?” He smiles. “I can tell just by looking at him.”
“You’re going to love him.”
“I already do.” He swallows. “I can’t wait to tell my grandpa that he has a great-grandson. Is Delaney all right with us meeting him? She’ll let us see him, won’t she?”
I took a second to text Delaney in the car on the way to the hotel. I told her that I was about to tell Case the good news, and she insisted that I bring both him and his grandfather to the bakery in the morning to meet Mickey.
“You’re going to see him in the morning.”
His eyes track a path over my face. “Hours from now?”
I glance at the watch on my wrist. “Just a few hours from now.”
He darts to his feet. “What the hell am I going to say to him? Does he wonder why we haven’t been around?”
“We’ll talk about all of that.” I carefully slide the picture of him and his brother back into his wallet. “You should get some sleep before you meet your nephew.”
“You’re staying with me.”
I nod. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Before I know what’s happening, he’s sliding his hands over the bed, searching through everything I dumped out of my bag.
“What are you doing?” I laugh. “Let me clean that up.”
“Tell me you threw at least one condom in here before you came to the airport.”
I swat his hands out of the way so I can take on the search myself. “I brought two because with you, one is never enough.”
