Page 116 of Secret Love

“Don’t say that. It’s not stupid at all. The game is your life.”

I pull into the hospital parking lot and go around to the entrance that they told us would be more private. A few guards are lined up as promised, and there’s a wheelchair waiting to take him inside.

I want to keep talking. When he’s opening up like this, I don’t want him thinking any of his feelings are foolish.

But his door is opened for him and everything moves quickly from there. He’s whisked away, with a nurse telling me she’ll come get me before he goes into surgery so I can see him. The exhaustion of the morning hits me when I reach the waiting room.

I feel little arms around me and startle, looking down into Gracie’s big eyes.

“Hey!” I say in surprise, hugging her back.

Bree, Cassidy, and Audrey aren’t far behind.

“Thought you might need this,” Bree says, holding out coffee and a pastry. “Wyndham and Greer send their love.”

“That’s so sweet. Thank you.” I hug them all and then take a sip of coffee. “Mmm, I’m usually at Luminary, so I forget how good Serendipity’s coffee is too. I did need this…”

“How’s he doing?” Bree asks.

“I’m worried about him.” I meet her eyes and both of us fight back tears.

“I am too,” she says. “Besides the girls, I don’t think I’ve ever understood what it’s like to be passionate about something until I started my business…and as much as I’m loving it, it’s not evencloseto how much Henley has loved football. And he’s really,reallygood at it.” Her voice cracks and I reach out and squeeze her hand. “I’ve resented football over the years, but I would’ve never wished this for him.”

“I keep hoping that it’s not over. That he’ll be fine after the surgery and?—”

She shakes her head, her face crumbling a little more. “It’s unlikely, you know…” She sniffs and wipes her face and the girls crowd around her, crying too. “I’m not making this any better, am I? We came to bring cheer and I’m bringing down the mood.” She tries to laugh.

The nurse comes out and her eyes widen when she sees the five of us.

“We have a few minutes. Would you like to come back now?” She directs the question to me.

“Yes.” I put my hand on Cassidy’s shoulder. “These are Henley’s daughters and his ex-wife. Can they come back to see him too?”

She pauses for a few beats and then nods. “We normally wouldn’t let so many people back, but we’re doing a lot of things we don’t normally do this morning.” She smiles warmly at the girls and motions for us to follow her. “There’s really only time to say hi though.”

I nod and we follow her to Henley’s room. His eyebrows lift when he sees all of us.

“Well, this is a nice surprise,” he says, smiling at them.

The girls are somber as they walk up to his bed.

“Mom says it’s so early we’re not even going to be late for school, but I don’t really think we should go to school when you’re having surgery,” Gracie says, her braids bouncing around with her impassioned words.

Henley chuckles. “You’re not getting out of school on my account, peanut.”

“But if there were ever a time to miss school, this would be it,” Cassidy says, her eyes welling up.

“I agree.” Audrey sniffles.

“Hey, no tears, okay? You’re gonna break my heart and that’d be worse than any knee problem. Come here.” He holds his arms out and they fall into him, Gracie crying now too. “Hey, hey. Listen, it’s just a silly ole surgery, okay? No big deal.”

“But Mom says you might not play football again and that’s really sad,” Audrey says into his neck.

His mouth parts and his eyes meet mine and then Bree’s. She shifts next to me.

“I’m sorry, Hen. I shouldn’t have told them that until we know for sure,” Bree says.

“Don’t be sorry. It’s the truth.” He lifts Audrey’s chin and she stares up at him. “Life might look a little different, but we’ll still have each other, right?”

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