Page 106 of Broken Strings

Jesse side-eyes me, and we snort simultaneously, drawing their attention.

A shit-eating grin lights up my old man’s face. “I’ve made butter!”

The sheer joy in his voice matches the delight on his features, and I chuckle as my heart tightens in my chest at his boyish earnestness.

Fuck, I love this man.

“I’ll take over shaping it. You go and have some tea with your boys.” Maggie forcibly removes two large wooden paddles from my father’s unwilling hands before nudging him in the direction of the patio with her hip.

“Go on now. I’ll be out in a minute.”

Having no other option, Dad exits the kitchen with slumped shoulders, but they don’t stay that way for long as Jesse runs after him and launches into relaying his news.

“The doctor’s found a match.”

Dad’s smile reappears as I catch up when they settle onto the benches by the firepit. “I already know! I’ve been calling the lab every hour since the samples were sent.” He scrunches up his face as if this should come as a surprise to us.

“I have…what’s it the kids say these days? I’ve gotno chillwhen it comes to family, Cade.Familyis the most important thing—”

Jesse lunges forward from his seat opposite Dad and me, throwing his arms around both of our necks to embrace us in a three-way hug. My eyes meet Dad’s glistening ones behind my boy’s head.

He sends me a watery smile before shutting his eyes and just absorbing the emotion involved in this unexpected and thoroughly longed-for hug.

“I wish Mom were here.” His words are a whisper against my neck, and I force my body to remain loose instead of stiffening up as I automatically start to do.

“I know things aren’t good between you guys right now, but Iknowshe loves you.” Jesse leans back slightly, finding my eyes. “She spoke about you every day. Brought me to all your concerts, even though it must have really hurt her. I feel I know you because of the picture she painted of her life before me. She let meseeyou through her eyes so that I couldloveyou too, even before I’d met you. I know that counts forsomething.”

My eyes sting at the heart in his words. At how easily he tells me he loves me.

“I’ve missed out on fourteen years of your life, kid. I could have missed out on knowing you entirely had you not needed this transplant.” I keep my tone even and lean closer to rest my forehead against his. “I can’t just snap my fingers and move past that, Jess.”

“You can love her back, though, right?”

The hopeful hesitation in his sweet voice almost breaks my heart.

I close my eyes, and when I open them again, I hold his gaze, giving him nothing but sincerity. “There’s no denying I love your mother, kid. She’s the love of my damn life, but right now, I think it’s best if we focus onyou. On getting this transplant and your recovery done and dusted, yeah?”

He swallows roughly with a puckered brow, then bites his bottom lip just like his mother. The familiar, much-loved tick is a swift kick to the nuts.

“I’ve never seen her as happy, you know.”

My stomach dips, but I need to ask the question. “When?”

“In the footage with you. When you were at the concert. The viral stuff.”

He’s silent for a beat. My heart stills in my chest, awaiting the next blow.

“You haven’t watched it, though. I know you haven’t.” He pulls back enough to meet my eyes. “If you had watched it, you’d have seen how much she loves you.Isaw it every day growing up.”

He pulls out of my and Dad’s embrace, stepping backwards to sit on his own bench opposite me. His eyes are as intense as I’ve ever witnessed, and it’s a look I know well by way of my own reflection.

It’s the look of a man on a mission.

“Did you evenreadher letter?” The accusation in his tone is another blow to my already battered chest.

“What letter?” I’m genuinely confused until he speaks again.

“The envelope she left with me before she went back to New York.”

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