Page 63 of Love on the Brain
“Then pray. Pray for peace and for God to take away the pain of the loss. Pray for Him to light up a path to the future. Pray for Ryan to have peace with his decision and the other surgeons to have steady hands tomorrow. That man put together an A-team for your boy. That couldn’t have been easy. Pray for your sweet little boy to come out of surgery with no side effects. Pray like you’ve never prayed before.”
Jane nodded. “I can do that,” she whispered. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” Molly smiled. “This is a rarity. Me givingyouspiritual advice.”
Jane furrowed her brow. “I doubt that. You’re always there for me. Always have been.”
“Yeah, yeah, but I mostly just listen and tell you how awesome you are. And then bully you into action.”
A small laugh escaped Jane’s lips. “That’s true.” She squeezed Molly’s hands. “And I love you for it.”
“I love you, too. So much I stole-er,borrowed, a mug from the Cliff Walk’s kitchen for you.” Molly rummaged through the open suitcase on the bed. A fun quirk about the resort was its collection of snarky mugs. One never knew what message the staff heir server would set down in front of them. “Ah, there it is. I wrapped it in my sweater.” She held it up and grinned.
Jane read the swirly font. “‘Good morning. I’ll be handling today. Love, God.’” She took the cup from Molly’s outstretched hand. “It’s perfect. Thank you.”
“I gotchu boo.” Molly returned Jane’s smile and cocked her head toward the door. “C’mon. Let’s go say good night to the little guy.” She gave Jane’s hands one last squeeze and led her to the door.
Jane followed Molly through the doorway to the guest room across the hall. She paused against the frame, listening to Ryan tell Noah a story. Her ears tuned in to his words, and her mouth hung open in surprise.
“So there I am at first base, and we’re just one batter away from winning the championship or losing very badly. Bases loaded, two outs. The batter is at full count. Do you know what full count is?”
“Three balls and two strikes!”
“That’s right. Your dad watches the catcher for the signal. It’s going to be a fastball, low and inside. If he swings and misses, game over. We win. If he swings and hits, we’ve got to hustle to get that ball to the nearest base to tag out before the guy on third can get home. And if your dad’s pitch wobbles by an inch, it’s outside the strike zone. And if the batter doesn’t swing, the runner on third walks home and ties the game.”
“Well? What happened? Don’t leave me hanging, Uncle Ryan!” Noah leaned forward, captivated. Jane’s eyes began to water as she realized this could be their every day, if she could let Casey go.
Ryan gripped an invisible bat and swung his arms. “Swing and a miss! Naturally.”
Noah cheered. “Yay! So you won?”
“We did. Your dad was an ace. We won the next year and the year after that, too.”
“Whoa,” Noah said. “That’s cool.”
Jane sniffed, and Ryan turned his head toward her and Molly, a sympathetic smile on his lips. She smiled back, hoping that she conveyed she was all right.
“The ladies are here,” Ryan said, turning back to Noah. “My time is up.”
“Awww! Can’t you stay longer? One more story?”
Jane opened her mouth to protest, but Molly elbowed her. Instead, she said, “We’ll just say good night quickly and then you boys can have five more minutes.”
“Yay!” Noah opened his arms as Jane reached his side. “Hug. And a kiss.” His soft lips pressed to her cheek, and she held him close. “Good night, Mommy! I love you.”
“I love you too, kiddo. More than anything.” She kissed the top of his head.
“And good night, Ms. Molly!”
“Good night, little dude.” She held up her fist for Noah’s special routine.
“Pwooosh!” they shouted together.
“Mommy? Miss Molly is your best friend, right?”
“That’s right, sweetie.”
“And Uncle Ryan is Daddy’s best friend, right?”
