Page 130 of The Way Home

Jamie forced himself to stay rooted to his chair, even though his whole body wanted to follow Caleb out the door. He had the sudden sense that this might be the only real conversation he would ever have with Derrick Reed.

He also had the strange feeling that, as uncomfortable as it was,thiswas the man’s way of trying to connect with Jamie.

“Why did you hate your father, sir?”

A ghost of a smirk appeared on the man’s chapped lips. “He didn’t approve of the woman I loved. Neither did her father. I asked for his blessin’ and he said no.” A low grunt. “We said fuck it and married anyway.”

Jamie blinked slowly. Surely the man understood the irony of that sentence. Wiping his damp hands on his jeans, Jamie squared his shoulders.

“I’m going to propose to Caleb.”

Derrick’s expression didn’t change, nor did he move from where he lay, staring at the ceiling.

“Are you askin’ for my blessing?”

A laugh burst out of Jamie before he could stop it, drawing Derrick’s sharp gaze. He pushed himself to his feet.

“I suppose if these were different circumstances, I might be.But no.” Jamie slipped his jacket on. “Caleb and I don’t need your blessing to get married. But, out of respect, I did want you to know.”

Derrick narrowed his eyes and pressed his tongue into his cheek. As Jamie turned toward the door, his hand froze on the door handle when he heard Derrick clear his throat.

“You want kids, James?” The soft rasp of his voice drifted across the room. Jamie squeezed the handle once.

“Excuse me, sir?”

“Do you and Caleb want to have children?” Jamie turned slowly. His eyes met Derrick’s stern hazel gaze.

“Yes, sir,” he said quietly. Derrick gave a firm nod before his eyes drifted closed again.

“Good,” he murmured. “Parents should be good at talking.”

Jamie slipped out into the hallway, feeling the nerves in his stomach morph into something a little lighter. It wasn’t a blessing by any means, but he didn’t get the idea that Derrickhatedhim, really. Was this progress? Closure?

It didn’t even really matter. Jamie was going to propose to Caleb and, if everything went according to plan, he’d have a ring on his finger by the end of the week.

Chapter 35

It was early,and Caleb was still asleep.

Jamie slipped quietly from the small suburban house and walked down the street in the direction of the church Caleb had pointed out the day before, on their way home from the hospital.

Jamie insisted that Caleb sleep in before heading back to the hospital to watch the Chelsea game together. The girls played Arsenal today, and, if Sally and Ang’s texts were anything to go off of, today was going to be very emotional. For everyone.

Caleb was adamant about watching the game with his father. It seemed that was the one thing he and his father could talk about without sniping at each other:sports. A safe topic for them both, even if Derrick didn’t know much about women’s football.

But it was something, and Jamie wanted to hold on to as much good as possible this week, especially since Derrick’s health was declining so quickly.

According to Bri, it could happen any day now.

Jamie blinked back tears as he walked down the cracked pavement, past rows of white and brown houses. It already smelled like summer, even though it was only May, and he appreciated how warm the morning felt for barely seven o’clock.

A few neighbors called out cheerful“mornings”as he passed, rocking gently in their chairs with mugs of coffee.

Jamie found that he quite liked it here. If Caleb wanted to come back for medical school, Jamie would gladly move.

Then again, he’d follow Caleb anywhere.

A gust of wind lifted his curls from his face, and he found himself stopping in the middle of the pavement, staring up at the wide blue sky. A few pale petals drifted down from a tree.