Page 10 of Thornhill Road

More importantly, he was a family member to one of my dying patients.

I needed to focus.

“Are you Sullivan Thomas?” I managed to ask.

His smile disappeared. “Except that.”

“Okay—but you’re Mustang?” I stammered. “As inSteelMustang?”

“Yup.”

He folded his arms across his chest, and I couldn’t help but notice the tattoos he had scrawled in massive, intricate cursivelettering across the back of both forearms. One read:ride wild. The other:roam free.

Oh, god.

Why did he have to be so hot?

“Um, okay. Could I have a word? In private?”

“About?”

“Your father.”

I watched as those hazel-blue eyes went cold—instantly.

“I don’t have one of those.”

Alright. So, things between father and son were bad. Worse than bad.

I pressed on anyway.

“Ed is dying.”

Sully—Mustang—didn’t even flinch.

Our evolving exchange made it easier for me to ignore how attractive I found him. I hoped there was a small chance I could get through to him, somehow.

I took a step closer to the bar and explained, “My name is Tess. I’m Ed’s hospice nurse. I just came from his house and…” I lost my words for a second, intimidated by the icebergs his eyes had become. “Look, it’s very obvious your relationship is broken, but I thought you should know. You should at least know that he’s dying.”

“Now I know.”

It was all he said.

Stubbornly, I asked, “Do you think, maybe—?”

“No,” he interrupted, clearly not interested in anything I had to say in relation to his father.

I thought about the sad look in Ed’s eyes as I stared into his son’s cold ones—cold at the thought of his father, but vibrant when he first looked at me. I wondered what caused the giant chasm between them, but it wasn’t my place to pry. I wanted to try to help them, but I knew some things couldn’t be fixed.

Still, I gave it one last shot.

“My next visit is scheduled for Friday night around ten. I understand it’s been a long time. If you change your mind and you want to stop by, I’ll be there. You won’t have to do it alone.”

“Like I said—I don’t have a father.”

“Right,” I murmured with a nod. “Okay. Okay…”

I turned on my heel and started for the door.

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