Unforgettable: Always 2 (19 page)

He went to walk past me but I stopped him, stepping into his path, flattening my palm to his chest. “No.”

He dropped his head to look at it, then lifted his eyes again to glare at my face. “Excuse me. Take your hand off me this second.”

I stood taller. I didn’t remove my hand. “I know what you’re here to do, Chuck. You’re here to prove you’re better than a jock. You’re here to prove you have the power to completely make my place in my son’s life, in your daughter’s life, null and void. Redundant.”

“Redundant?” Disdain flared in his eyes. “That’s a big word for you. I’m impressed.”

“Be impressed by this. I am going to spend the rest of my life with your daughter. I am going to spend the rest of my life making her happy. And I am going to spend the rest of Tanner’s life,
my
son’s life, doing the same. And it doesn’t matter how many pieces of paper you throw at me, how much money you waste trying to prove me an unfit father, I will prove you wrong. Because I am an
incredible
father, and I will be an incredible husband.” I curled my lips into a wide smile and drew my head a little closer to his. “And whether you like it or not, I will be an incredible son-in-law.”

I could hear Jacqueline saying his name, trying to placate him maybe? Trying to end this lunacy? I could see her in my peripheral vision, standing beside him, plucking at his sleeve.

“You spent two weeks drunk after Amanda ended your relationship last time,” Charles declared. “You failed two assignments and one exam during that period.”

My pulse thumped into my ears. A vice clamped my chest. He’d dug up information about me. How, I don’t know. Maybe through his university contacts? It didn’t matter though. What mattered was he had ammunition and was obviously prepared to use it against me.

“What impression” he asked, “do you think that kind of behavior will make on a judge? How do you think they’ll react to the fact you were arrested for physical assault? Or that you broke a man’s jaw with one punch?”

I ground my teeth and refused to blink. He was talking about the bodyguard the Delvania royal family had assigned Raphael. He was talking about the fight that had not only made the news in Australia and America, but had become a viral hit on YouTube.

I stared down into his face. My head roared.

“Charles,” Jacqueline snapped. “You’re being stupid.”

“I’m being a father,” he snarled, turning to her. “I’m protecting my daughter. I’m protecting my family.”

“How?” Jacqueline gazed at him, disbelief and disapproval in her eyes. “By belittling the man your daughter loves?”

“Love?” He barked out a dry laugh. “It’s not love. It’s lust. Lust for a muscle-bound
—
”

I bunched his shirt in my fist. I couldn’t stop myself. “I’d stop if I were you, Chuck. Despite what you think, I’m not a violent guy, but you’re pushing me to a place I suit very very well.”

He turned back to me, triumphant glee burning in his eyes. “You’re a Neanderthal, Osmond. And no Neanderthal will ever marry my daughter. Or raise her son. I’m going to convince her now to let Dr. Waters use Robby’s bone marrow, and when my grandson is cured, when
I’ve
saved him, she will see you have no worth in her—”

“
Dad
!” Amanda’s voice shattered the air. “That’s
enough
.”

I turned, straightening away from Charles. Just in time for Amanda to slap her father across the face. The crack of her palm on his cheek sank into my cold rage.

Jacqueline gasped. “Mandy, no.”

“That’s enough,” Amanda repeated, glaring at her father. Her cheeks glistened, wet with tear. Fury boiled in her eyes. “You’re not helping at all. Don’t you see that? Don’t you see you’re only hurting us more?”

“Us?” Charles echoed, rubbing at the red palm print on the side of his face. “I’m trying to save you and Tanner, not hurt you. Robby’s bone marrow is
almost
a match. You know that. There’s a chance Tanner’s body will accept it. And instead of agreeing to the transplant, you place all your hope – and Tanner’s life – in the man who abandoned you, who left you to go pump iron.”

“That’s not what happened, Dad.” Amanda shook her head. “And you know it.”

Charles sneered at me. “Okay, fine. But he’s not a match. His parents aren’t a match. My God, Mandy, even his friend isn’t a match. He cannot save Tanner. There is nothing he can do for you except take … except take you …” He stopped, yanking his glasses from his face with one hand and rubbing at his eyes with another.

“Except what?” Amanda asked, studying her father.

From the corner of my eye I saw men hurrying toward us. Big men. Big men wearing dark clothes that could only be security uniforms.

“Except what, Dad?”

“Except take you away,” he ground out. “Except take you back to Australia so we never see you, or Tanner …”

“Oh Jesus, Dad.” Amanda shook her head. “Are you serious? My son is dying, your grandson is dying, and you’re worried about
geography
?”

Anger crossed Charles' face. His eyes grew flinty. “I’m worried about what’s best for my grandson. And what’s best for him is to—”

“Excuse me.” The biggest of the security guards had reached us. He ran a composed inspection over all of us, lingering for a moment on me. I knew why – he was weighing up his odds of taking me down. The odds weren’t in his favor. “We’re going to have to ask you to leave now.”

“It’s okay.” Amanda placed her hands on Charles’s chest and shook her head at the guards. “We’re okay.”

“I’m sorry, miss,” the biggest guard said. He flicked a glance at me and shuffled his feet. His Adam’s apple jerked up and down his throat. “But we can’t have this kind of disruption in the foyer. I have to ask you to exit the building.”

“I’m going to see my grandson,” Charles snarled, trying to shove past Amanda.

The guards moved. I moved faster. Hooking my fingers around Charles’s upper arm, I pulled him to a stop.

“Get your hands off me,” he ordered.

“Charles,” I answered, my voice calm. “I get I’m not what you wanted for your daughter. I understand that. But I promise you I will never hurt her. I will never betray her. I will never tear her soul apart by being selfish. I will be there for her in the darkest of times, when life is destroying her, I will be there for her.
That’s
how much I love her. As much, I’m sure, as
you
do.” I held his gaze, willing him to understand what I was saying. And what I wasn’t saying.

He looked at me, searching my eyes for something. I don’t know what.

“Do you understand?” I said, loosening my grip on his arm. A little.

“Dad.” Amanda stepped between us. The soft touch of her fingers on my chest filled me with an emotion I still can’t explain or describe. “I love him. Can’t you understand that? I never stopped loving him. And I never should have let you bully me into not calling him when Tanner was diagnosed. The last twenty-four hours have been the most horrific
and
the most wonderful twenty-four hours of my life. If Brendon wasn’t here … well, they would only have been the most horrific. Can’t you see that?”

He gazed down at her, studying her face. And then he shook his head. “Can’t you see,” he said, “the very horrific nature of the last twenty-four hours is
why
you think him being here is so wonderful?”

Amanda’s shoulders slumped. My gut clenched.

“Please go, Dad,” she said. “Please leave. Now. I revoke your permission to visit Tanner or to have any access to him while he is here in New Dawn.”

The security guards tensed.

Jacqueline sobbed. “Oh, Mandy.”

Charles narrowed his eyes on Amanda, staring at her. “You don’t know what you’re doing. Don’t come crying to me when your son is dead.”

He turned on his heel and began to walk away. I grabbed his arm before he could take a step. “Remember those words, Chuck, when your grandson turns twenty-one and you’re not there to celebrate it with us.”

Eyes burning with contempt, he shook me off and hurried from the foyer, through the main doors.

Just as a tall guy with messy blond hair and a short, neatly trimmed beard entered the building. A guy who pulled his sunglasses from his face, grinned at me over the distance, held out his arms wide and announced, “Cousin. I’m here.”

I blinked. After the insanity I’d just lived through, my brain couldn’t fathom how Caden could be standing in – now walking through – the hospital foyer.

He was in Australia. Not here. He’d driven to Sydney from Melbourne to see Dad, his uncle, for Dad’s birthday. I’d spoken to him on the phone only a short while ago.

A short while ago.

Over half a day. Plenty of time for him to …

He stopped directly in front of me, fist up waiting for me to respond with our customary fist bump. “Dude, you need to check your phone. I’ve been ringing and texting you since I landed.”

I stared at him, not moving.

A typical Caden frown – half mischievous grin, half mocking scowl – crossed his face. He glanced at the people around me – Amanda, Jacqueline, the security guards … “Did I interrupt something?”

My breath left me on a gushing grunt. I raked my hands through my hair. I shook. I actually shook.

“What are you doing here, Cade?” I asked.

Movement at my side made me turn to look. The guards were retreating. Their eyes still trained on me, they were walking away. Slowly. Cautiously. But away. I heard Jacqueline say something to them. Whatever it was, the biggest one smiled and nodded.

“My cousin needs me.”

At Caden’s exclamation – part chuckle, part reproach – I turned back to him.

He wriggled his hand, still in a fist, still waiting for me to bump it. “Where else am I going to be?”

That was Caden. That’s why I loved him like a brother.

Feeling like I was wrapped in wool, my head fuzzy, my heart still racing, I curled my fist, so recently itching to slam into Charles Sinclair’s jaw, and tapped my knuckles against Caden’s. His smile stretched wider. It didn’t however, make it to his eyes. His eyes were worried. Caden may come across as a dumbass joker on first impression, but he was far from it.

“Now that’s out of the way,” he said, hitching the overnight bag he carried farther up his shoulder, “where do I get tested?”

“Where do you what?” My brain wasn’t catching up.

“Tested.” Caden frowned. “Blood. To see if I’m a match for your son.”

I shook my head. “You flew all this way to get tested? You could have got tested back in Australia like Mum and Dad.”

Caden snorted. “You expect me to just stay there when I hear my tough-as-shit, eternal-optimist cousin, the guy who never lets life get him down, ever, is being beaten up by it? The second I got off the phone with you I bought a ticket on the next flight here. By the way, I’m going to need you to explain to my Companion Animal Medicine lecturer why I’m going to be late handing in my assignment, okay?”

He grinned at me.

I stared back at him. “Mum and Dad aren’t a match,” I said. My brain had seriously detached at some point.

He raised an eyebrow. “I know that, man. Unlike a certain someone, I know how to check my text messages. Theirs was waiting for me when I got off the plane.” He rubbed his hands together. “So? When do we get started?”

At the feel of Amanda’s arm sliding through mine, I jerked my head around. Amanda stood by my side, looking up at me. All the hurt in her heart swam in her eyes. And yet, in among all that pain, I saw hope. Sliding my arm around her waist, I pulled her close, lowered my head to hers and pressed our foreheads together. I know Caden was standing right there, had obviously flown halfway around the world to help me, but at that very moment, I needed Amanda more.

The hope in her eyes? I loved seeing it there, but it scared the shit out of me as well. After what she’d just done … what her father had just put her through … I didn’t want her to be destroyed again. And yet, perhaps the hope would heal the poison of her father’s behavior? I could only … well, I could only hope. Even as I hoped with every fiber in my soul Caden could do what I couldn’t.

“I love you, Mandy,” I whispered, holding her close. It was a lame thing to say, given what had just happened. Nowhere near … substantial enough.

She was so strong. So much stronger than her father believed. And yet, so fragile. Made strong by her love for me, and weak by her love for our son.

“I love you,” I repeated, not knowing what else to say.

She cupped my jaw and brushed my lips with her thumb. “The feeling,” she murmured back, “is entirely mutual.”

We stayed that way for a heartbeat. Maybe two. Maybe more. I held her, drawing strength from her, giving her strength back.

And then, finally, I raised my head and turned to my cousin. “Cade,” I said, wrapping Amanda in my arms and pulling her completely against my body, “do you remember Amanda? You two met once at Bondi.”

Caden smiled at her. “You’re the American girl who thrashed Brendon at air hockey, yes?”

Amanda laughed, a soft, shaky sound still cut with pain. “That’s me.”

Caden’s smile grew wider. “I think I love you. Will you marry me?”

It was Jacqueline who laughed this time. Like her daughter’s, it was melancholy and fragile. “Hi Caden, I’m Amanda’s mom.”

He turned his smile on her, his hand extended. “Mrs. Amanda.”

Jacqueline’s lips curled in a small smile as she accepted his shake. “Call me Jacqui.”

“Jacqui.”

Dropping Caden’s hand, she turned to us. “I have to go.” Grief etched her forehead. “I need to find your father. Talk to him.”

Amanda nodded. She seemed to tremble in my arms. “I know, Mom.”

Jacqueline studied her, sorrow in her face, before looking up at me. “I know you’re going to do everything you promised you would, Brendon. I know you are going to make her happy, I know you’re going to be there for her through … through whatever happens next.”

“I am,” I answered simply.

Her smile grew warmer, stronger. “But if you hurt her, it won’t be Charles coming after you, do you understand?”

Returning Jacqueline’s smile, I smoothed my hand up Amanda’s arm, drawing her even closer. “I do.”

“Good.” She returned her attention to Caden. “Caden, may I be so crass as to tell you to get your ass to Dr. Waters ASAP?”

“Hell yeah.” Then he frowned. “Who’s Dr. Waters?”

“You’ll love him,” I answered, my heart thumping with hope I fought like hell to suppress. “He’s a geek just like you. Quotes
Star Wars
and
Star Trek
in normal conversation.”

Caden grinned. “I like the sound of him already.”

Jacqueline chuckled. “I’ll ask Reception to contact him.” She came over to Amanda, took her in her arms and held her in the way only a mother can hug her daughter, with her whole heart. I could see that clearly in both their faces – a sense of connection beyond affection. “I love you, Mandy,” she whispered. “And
I’ll
always have your back, okay?”

She left us with a quick kiss on Amanda’s cheek and a pointed look at me, a look that said,
Don’t fuck up, Osmond
.

I wasn’t planning to.

“C’mon, Caden,” Amanda said, turning her smile on my cousin. She was fighting with herself. The hope was still in her eyes every time she looked at him, but it was guarded, hesitant. “Let’s see what we can do.”

We walked over to Reception. Jacqueline had left. I wondered what she planned to say to Charles, and found I didn’t care. After what he’d done, I don’t know if I had it in me to care about him ever again.

The woman behind the counter informed us Parker was “currently un-contactable”. I saw the hope in Amanda’s eyes dim.

“But,” she went on, reaching for the phone beside her, “I have strict instructions to call Carla if Dr. Waters cannot be contacted, so let’s do that.”

I watched Amanda as the receptionist dialed the number. She kept flicking her gaze to Caden. Studying him with surreptitious glances. I understood exactly what she was doing. I was doing the same. Caden, my cousin by blood, may be the match that would save our son. Or he may be another false hope, crushed by a simple blood test.

“Y’know,” he suddenly said, “it’s just dawned on me this is the first time I’ve ever been to America.”

Amanda smiled. “I will take you to Disneyland, my treat, if you’re a …” She petered off.

If you’re a match
. That’s what she was going to say. My chest ached. Man, you have no idea how much I hoped he was.

“Carla is waiting for you in Examination Room 4.”

All three of us turned back to the receptionist. She smiled up at us. “Good luck.”

Luck. Like hope, I’d never put any weight in the concept of luck. But as you can probably see, my outlook on life had changed somewhat over the last twenty-four hours.

The three of us made our way to the Oncology ward. I held Amanda’s hand. Seriously, there was no way I was letting it go. Caden chatted as only Caden could. Which was to say, he made fun of himself with such self-deprecating charm I suspect Amanda fell in love with him a little. Everyone did who spent more than ten minutes in Caden’s company.

“How was your flight?” Amanda asked as we rode the elevator.

“Long,” he answered. “I was smooshed between a guy who would make two of the cousin here” – he slapped my left bicep – “and a woman in her sixties who, I swear, kept dropping her iPad in my lap and then taking for freaking ever to pick it up.” He grinned. “I’m not entirely sure, but I think she was trying to feel me up.”

“Caden,” I warned, even as I tried to bite back a chuckle.

Amanda laughed. If you’d asked me if either of us could be laughing at this point in the morning, I’d have said no. But here we were. Hope does that to you, I guess. On reflection, I think it serves more of a purpose in life than I gave it credit.

“And the guy,” he went on, grin still firmly in place, “had no concept of acceptable flight wear. His shorts were so short and tight I could see what religion he was.”

Amanda’s eyebrows shot up.

“Trust me,” Caden muttered. “He wasn’t a
big
fan of Jesus, if you know what I mean.”

Pressing her hand to her mouth, Amanda muffled a giggle. I didn’t know whether to hug my cousin, or put him in a headlock. Both could work.

“But hey, I was worn out from all the old-lady groping, so I handed him my blanket, asked him if he minded if I drooled on his shoulder and promptly went to sleep on it. When I woke up, I felt curiously satisfied and spiritual.”

I rolled my eyes. Amanda burst out laughing.

By the time we made it to Examination Room 4, however, nerves had started to eat at me. Amanda had grown quiet as well. Even Caden was more reserved than normal.

When Carla appeared in the doorway at Amanda’s knock, my pulse turned into rapid-fire gunshot in my ears.

“Carla,” Amanda made the introductions, “this is Caden O’Dea, Brendon’s cousin. He’s just arrived from Australia.”

Carla ran a twinkling-eyed inspection over him, her lips pursing. “I get to jab two hot Aussie men in so many days?”

Caden grinned. “I’m hotter than the other one though, right?”

Carla slid her smile to Amanda. “Oh, I
like
him.” She stepped aside, holding out her hand to the room behind her. “Come inside, young man. Let’s get to jabbing.”

Caden tossed me his overnight bag, pushed up the sleeves of his shirt, and strutted into the room with a wink at Carla.

With a wordless look at each other, Amanda and I left him there and headed back to Tanner. The closer we got, however, the tighter Amanda squeezed my hand, until finally, at the door of his room, she was almost crushing my fingers.

“What’s up, babe?” I murmured.

“I know it’s wrong to … to put all my hope in your cousin,” she said, “but if he’s not a match … after what Dad …” She stopped, staring at the middle of my chest.

There was nothing I could say to that. Nothing I could do but take her in my arms and hold her.

A few seconds later, she pulled away. “I’m okay,” she rasped.

“We’re going to be gravy,” I assured her.

Fate wouldn’t bring Caden here only to mock us. It wouldn’t. So why was my gut churning? Why was my mouth dry and my pulse so damn fast?

Walking into Tanner’s room, we found him and Chase hard at work coloring in pictures of the Avengers with fat crayons. They both looked up when we entered.

“Mommy!” Tanner exclaimed with his usual exuberance at the sight of his mother. He looked just as tired, just as pale as he had when we’d first arrived a few hours ago, maybe even more so. The IV machine beeped beside his bed. “Da!”

I would never, ever get tired of hearing that. Ever.

“Did you know,” Chase scowled at us, “that Thor is now a woman in the comic books?”

“I didn’t,” Amanda said, crossing to Tanner’s bed and perching on the edge.

Chase grunted. “I don’t know how I feel about that.”

Dropping Caden’s bag just inside the door, I joined Amanda at the bed, smoothing my hand over Tanner’s head as I checked out his artistic skills. Iron Man was a vivid green, almost the same color as Chase’s hair. For some reason, I liked that.

A beat of silence stretched between us. Tanner, now positioned on Amanda’s lap, intently worked at turning Captain America into a vision in bright pink. I tried not to look at my watch. Caden had been with Carla for only a few minutes, but it felt like hours. If I was like this now, how was I going to last the two hours waiting for the results?

“Did you see Dad?”

At Chase’s calm question, I looked at Amanda.

“Yeah,” she answered, lifting her head to face her sister directly. “I did.”

“And?”

“And Thanksgiving dinner isn’t going to be fun.”

Chase grunted again. “He’s an idiot.”

“He’s our dad,” Amanda responded. “And everything he does, he does out of love.”

“Still doesn’t mean I don’t want to slap him,” Chase countered, lowering her focus back to Thor. Her coloring-in skills were exemplary. Her color scheme for the Norse god was … different. Who knew Thor had purple hair?

“I hear you on that,” Amanda muttered. The fact she knew Chase wouldn’t be able to hear the comment tore at me. Whatever relationship Amanda had with her father after all this, it would never be the same. How that impacted on her relationship with Chase obviously worried her. I wanted to tell her it was going to be okay. Instead, I lowered my head and kissed the top of hers.