Page 105 of Lose You to Find Me

Against my hair, he muffles, “I fucking missed you.”

I manage to wrap an arm around his waist and hug him back for the first time. “I missed you too. Every day.”

If it’s possible, his grip tightens. “Dad wants to see you. If you’re up for it. You can bring Sigmund. You know nobody would mind.”

His dad? “Are you sure?”

Caleb nods, his chin brushing the crown of my head. “He doesn’t have much time, Raine. It’s now or never. My parents never stopped loving you. None of us did.”

I clench my eyes closed to fight off the tears. I haven’t seen his dad since graduation, but I’ve heard that isn’t the man who exists anymore. I’m not ready for it, but I have no choice but to be. For him.

For Caleb.

For Denise.

Forme.

“Okay.”

Chapter Thirty-Seven

CALEB

Idon’t knowwhat Dad says to Raine, but after nearly forty minutes in a room alone together, talking in mumbled tones, she bends down to give him a peck on the cheek and a hug that he feebly returns.

More words are whispered.

More nodding.

Then, Raine stands up and smiles down at the man who enters another coughing fit until the nurses surround him.

Mom’s hand finds my back, brushing it once before walking into the living room to be with Dad.

When Raine approaches me, studying my parents at the doorway of the room, she tucks herself against my front for a hug. “What did he say to you?” I ask curiously.

I hear a soft laugh that gently shakes her body, causing me to look down at her. She pulls back enough to meet my eyes, hers light with humor as she smiles up at me. “He told me if I ever break your heart again, he’d come back and haunt me for the rest of my life.”

I blink.

Then blink again.

Then I start laughing until she joins in.

It’s only after I shake my head and pull her back into me for another hug that I look over her head to see my parents staring at me with the same peaceful smiles on their faces.

They look happy.

Despite everything, they can still smile.

“Hey, Caleb?” Raine peeks up at me, resting her chin on my chest. “I was wondering…”

I look down and wait.

“Do you want to go get some chicken?”

Snorting, I playfully poke her side. “I’m never going to live that down, am I?”

She shakes her head. “Nope.”

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