“I’m not going anywhere. I’ll be right here waiting for you to come back to me.” As she spoke the words, though, she wondered if there might be a way for her to be there for him when he had the surgery. Her dad could stay with Simone for a couple of days, and Emma had personal time she could take. She hoarded her time off so she could attend functions at Simone’s school and take her to doctors’ appointments, but she’d gladly make the sacrifice for Grayson.

He put his arm around her and leaned into her. “Let’s go back to bed for a while.”

She went with him, but Emma couldn’t sleep. She looked over to find him staring up at the ceiling, too. “What’re you thinking?”

“I’m pondering the humor of it all.”

“What do you mean?”

“My father left our family twenty years ago, forcing me to step up for my mother and siblings, and now he’s asking me to step up again. History is repeating itself.”

“And you find that funny?”

“I find it ridiculous. If I don’t laugh, I might scream.”

She reached for him and drew him into her embrace. “Don’t scream. Hold on to me.”

He put his arm around her and rested his head on her chest.

“You’ll do what you need to do to be able to live with yourself,” she said, running her fingers through his hair. She didn’t mention that she was going to try to be there until she knew for certain that she could make it happen. “And then you’ll come back to me knowing you’re a far better man than your father will ever be.”

“Keep telling me that, will you?”

“Any time you need to hear it.”

Chapter 28

The best thing to hold onto in life is each other.

—Audrey Hepburn

Grayson flew home to Vermont Tuesday night and called Emma as he drove from the airport in Burlington to his aunt and uncle’s home by the lake, where he’d spend the night. In the morning, he would meet with doctors at the University of Vermont Cancer Center to see about getting it done so he could get back to Emma as soon as possible. He missed her like he hadn’t seen her in a year rather than a couple of hours.

“How was the flight?” she asked.

“Bumpy the whole way. I hope that isn’t a metaphor.”

“I read through the info they sent you about the bone marrow harvest.”

“And?”

“It sounds awful.”

“They say it doesn’t hurt at all until afterward. I’ll be out cold. I won’t feel a thing.”

“Have you talked to your siblings?”