“You’re much stronger than you think,” I told him.
He pulled me closer to him then bent his head and kissed the top of mine. It wasn’t what I daydreamed about, but it was what I had. And I cherished it.
“Thank you,” he said as his arms wrapped around me and held me against him. I wanted to sigh and sink into him, but that was not what this was. He was simply looking for comfort. And I would give him that.
“You’re welcome,” I replied against his chest.
We stood there for a few more moments before he stepped back and let his hands fall away from me. I felt cold without them. I wondered if he felt the same. Did I give him warmth the way he did me?
“I want you to meet my mom. She’d like you,” he said as a small tired smile touched his lips. He was emotionally drained. This was exhausting him. I wondered if he slept at night.
“I’d like that. She sounds like an amazing woman.”
He nodded. “She is.”
The noise from the pep rally started up, and we heard the muted sounds of the school cheering.
“You’d better get in there,” I said, hoping he wasn’t in trouble for being late.
“I’m not going. I told Coach I had to go home and check on my dad. Boone told Coach about Dad this week. I didn’t want him to know, but Boone was right that he needed to know. Now I can leave without having to explain myself and miss things like pep rallies without getting in trouble.”
My uncle would be there when the time came, when West needed a father figure. I was thankful he had that. Uncle Boone was a good man. My mother had adored him. She’d talked about her big brother often. And they had the same eyes and the same smile. When Jorie had said she wanted me to go live with him, I’d hoped I would feel closer to my mother just by being near him. And I did.
“You want to go with me? Can you leave?” he asked me.
“Leave?” I wasn’t sure I heard him right.
He nodded. “Yeah. Go home and meet my mom. Maybe if my dad’s awake, you can meet him too. I mean if you’re okay with seeing him. He looks . . . bad.”
I would go see anyone this boy wanted me to.
“I’d like that.”
His smile was the kind of smile that was so rare, you wanted to keep it. It made you sit around and think of things to do just to get that smile flashed at you. When his eyes were genuinely in it and he truly meant it, there was nothing that compared to West Ashby’s smile.
That’s My Boy
CHAPTER 20
WEST
I pulled into my driveway and looked over at Maggie. She had agreed to come so easily. I wasn’t sure I would have been brave enough to do that. We had walked out to my truck, and she’d texted her aunt to let her know she was leaving school with me and going to meet my parents.
I couldn’t imagine bringing anyone else here right now. Not even Brady. Especially not Raleigh. This wasn’t easy to see. But Maggie was sitting over there looking calm and strong. Always so strong.
“When I say my dad looks bad . . . he really does. He’s so thin, his bones break easily now. And he’s pale white. His skin almost seems translucent. It’s tough to see. If you don’t think you can handle it, I will understand.” Maggie turned to look at me, and her big green eyes were full of understanding. “I want to meet the man you adore. He’s got to be special.”
A jolt shot through my chest as I sat there and stared at her. Was she even real? How did she say the exact things I always needed to hear? I was beginning to think she was my guardian angel. If there were such a thing. God sure had let us down, but maybe he’d sent Maggie to me to give me the strength and comfort I was missing.
“Let’s go on in, then. I texted Momma and told her we were coming.” I hadn’t told Momma about Maggie. We didn’t talk much about anything except Dad. So when I texted her, I let her know Maggie was Brady’s cousin and we’d become good friends.
Momma had said to bring her, that they would love to meet her. Dad was awake and talking some today. I hoped he’d be awake to see Maggie.
When we got to the front door, Maggie’s fingers brushed my hand in that silent way of hers, reassuring me she was there and she wasn’t leaving me. I loved it when she did that. She always seemed to know when I needed it most.
I opened the door and stepped back and motioned for Maggie to go inside. The entryway was empty, but I could smell cookies in the oven. Momma had gone and fixed us a snack. “Smells like Momma is in the kitchen,” I told Maggie, then placed my hand on her lower back to lead her to meet my mother.
When we stepped inside the kitchen, Momma’s back was turned, and she was getting down glasses for us. Her hair had been brushed and pulled into a ponytail, and she was wearing a nice shirt and jeans. She didn’t spend much time getting fixed up anymore because she was afraid to leave Dad for too long. This was the most I’d seen her do to herself in a few weeks.
“Hey, Momma,” I said quietly, not wanting to startle her.
She spun around, and her gaze went straight to Maggie. She was curious. I never brought girls here. Momma had only seen Raleigh a few times at my football games, and we’d been together a whole year.
“Hello, you must be Maggie,” Momma said, walking over to greet us.
Maggie nodded. I had forgotten to tell my momma she didn’t talk. My momma wasn’t in on the town gossip, so she didn’t know anything about Maggie’s past. I opened my mouth to explain, when Maggie took a step toward her and held out her hand. “Yes, ma’am. It’s nice to meet you.”