Total pages in book: 35
Estimated words: 33692 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 168(@200wpm)___ 135(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33692 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 168(@200wpm)___ 135(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
His voice at the end is filled with uncertainty, but also with a touch of hope. I’m not an overly emotional man. Shit, I can’t remember the last time I cried. It was probably back when I was in the Army and saw a buddy get killed overseas. But hearing Zane’s words—my son’s words—chokes me up. My eyes sting and my vision wavers as my face grows uncomfortably and unexpectedly warm. I open the gate and step through the bar then walk over to my son and pull him into a rough but heartfelt embrace. He hesitates for a moment then hugs me back.
“Of course, I want to build a relationship with you, kid,” I say. “You’re my son, and no matter what, I love you.”
Zane buries his face in my shoulder, and though he does his best to control himself, his body shakes as he quietly cries. I turn to see Cassie with her hands over her mouth, her eyes gleaming with tears of her own. A trembling smile crosses my face as I hold my son, and together, the dark clouds that surrounded my heart begin to dissipate, allowing the golden sunshine through.
And suddenly, the last pieces of the puzzle of me fall into place, and I have a sense of completeness. For the first time in my life, I feel whole.
EPILOGUE
CASSIE
One Year Later
“Why are you so nervous?” Cash asks me.
“I’m not nervous,” I respond. “I just want everything to go off without a hitch.”
“And it will.”
“So you say.”
I rush around the dining room, making sure the table is properly set, and that everything is just so. Everything has to be perfect. Seeing that the forks are all askew, I frown and take the time to line them all up properly, drawing a laugh from Cash.
“Babe, it’s Zane. He’s been here a million times,” Cash says. “If he had it his way, we’d eat pizza on paper plates.”
“Well, it’s a good thing we’re not doing this his way then.”
Cash grabs me by the shoulders, halting my frenzied pace around the table, and places a gentle kiss on my lips. I look up into those golden eyes, and my heart melts into a puddle of goo as a shaky smile and a sigh of resignation cross my face.
“What has you in such a frenzy?” he asks.
“Zane is bringing his girlfriend over for the first time. Do you know what a big thing that is? It’s massive,” I say. “And I just want to make sure everything is perfect for them.”
“And everything will be perfect.”
I look around the table and frown again. “I’m not so sure. I think I need to polish the wine glasses one more time.”
“Baby, if you polish them again, you’re going to wear them right through the glass. And then I guess we’ll just have to pass the bottle around.”
I laugh despite my own fluttering nerves. Things with Zane have gotten progressively better over the past year, but there are still times when I see him looking at Cash and me with an inscrutable look on his face. I know there are still times he struggles. But those times have grown fewer and farther between once he started dating his girlfriend, Alyssa. This is the first time he’s bringing her around, and I think that takes things to another level. It’s the first time we’re stepping up onto this new tier of trust with Zane and it’s important this goes well.
“I wish you’d take this a little more seriously,” I chide Cash.
“I think you’re taking it seriously enough for the both of us.”
“I just want this to go well.”
“And it will,” he says and plants a kiss on my forehead.
About six months ago, Cash and I moved into a gorgeous house in a beautiful neighborhood on the other side of town. It’s not that far from the bar, but it’s a lot closer to my school. He still works most nights, but he insisted that I stop working altogether and focus on my studies. I was resistant at first, but after getting some scholarships and financial aid, I was a little more comfortable knowing that he wouldn’t have to pay my way. And I still work some shifts at the bar, though not as many, but enough to put some cash in my own pocket.
My schooling is going well but I’ve still got about a year and a half or so before I finish my degree. After that, I’m going to have to decide what’s next for me. Cash is encouraging me to go for my master’s and a doctorate, and then hang out my own shingle as a counselor, but I haven’t thought that far ahead just yet. But the fact that he is so encouraging and supportive means the world to me. It makes me think I can do anything. Everything.