by D. L. Roan
Dani turned to the closed door, her fists clenched with the desire to pound some sense into someone, then it was jerked open and one of the doctors called Jonah inside. Jonah shot up from the chair, nearly bowling Matt and the doctor over on his way into the room.
The family held a collective breath as the seconds ticked by into too many minutes. Dani pressed her ear to the door but couldn’t make out more than a chorus of mumbled voices, sniffles, and then crying. Her heart lurched into her throat, but before she could swallow it back, the door was yanked open again.
Jonah stood in the doorway, his face red and puffy, his eyes filled with tears. His expression twisted in pain even as his lips quivered with a watery smile. “She’s okay,” he choked out.
“Oh, thank God!” Gabby breathed.
“The baby?” Aunt Bev demanded, trying to peek around him to see Chloe.
Jonah nodded erratically, a sob escaping as he let the door close behind him. “They’re both fine, but Chloe needs to rest.”
Gabby hadn’t shed a tear since arriving at the hospital, but they flowed freely from her eyes as she wrapped her arms around Jonah.
“Mom.” Jonah gave her a one-arm hug, but never let go of the door handle. “Mom, I have to get back in there,” he said between sniffles.
“Of course, honey.” Gabby let him go. “Go take care of your family.”
“I’ll be back to explain what I can,” he said as he backed through the doorway into the room.
“Don’t worry about us, son,” Mason insisted as the door closed behind him.
The doctors came out but didn’t offer more than a nod. Half an hour later, Pryce emerged from the room, looking hollow and wiped. He explained that a small area of the placenta had torn away from Chloe’s uterus, but the baby was fine, and with a few days rest and observation, she should be able to go home.
“Oh, darlin’. Come here.” Gran gathered him into her arms. Dani joined her, Gabby, and Aunt Bev. The entire family encircled him in the hallway as Gran whispered a prayer of thankfulness and encouragement.
Over the next twenty-four hours, most of the family trickled back to Falcon Ridge. Dani rode home with her mom and dads but only stayed long enough to grab a sandwich and her book bag before returning to the hospital, stopping by Jonah’s on the way to get them a change of clothes.
The last thing she remembered before waking up in the stiff chair beside Chloe’s bed, the room bright with afternoon sunshine, was insisting Pryce and Jonah go get some breakfast, assuring them she’d call them if anything happened while they were out.
“Hey.”
Chloe’s sleepy voice coaxed Dani from her stupor. “How are you feeling?” She blinked until the room came into focus to find Chloe sitting up in bed with Jonah asleep in a chair on her other side, his head resting on her lap.
Chloe smiled down at him. “The baby was kicking up a fuss earlier. I think he was afraid if he took his hand off my belly she’d disappear.”
Jonah jerked his head up, his eyes heavy with sleep. “What’s wrong?” he asked, swiping the drool from his mouth.
“Nothing.” Chloe chuckled. “I’m fine. The baby’s fine,” she assured him, running her fingers through his hair. “You need a shower.”
Jonah covered his yawn, then grimaced in disgust. “And a toothbrush.”
“There’s some mouthwash in the bathroom,” Dani suggested, her bladder screaming from all the coffee she’d drank that morning. “Where’s Pryce?” she asked on her way to the ensuite bathroom, tossing Jonah the mouthwash before she closed the door to do her business. “Oh, c’mon! Haven’t you guys learned how to pee with the seat up yet?”
Chloe’s laugh carried through the door. “Pryce went to the cafeteria to see if he could find me a fresh doughnut, or ten.”
Dani washed her hands, then combed her fingers through her hair. When she opened the door, she found Connor standing inside the room. “Hey.” She offered him a smile on her way back to her chair but paused when she saw the tortured look on his face. “What’s wrong?”
Connor glanced between her and Jonah, then tipped his head toward the door. “Can I talk to you and Jonah outside for a second?”
“You don’t have to leave.” Chloe swallowed, glancing uneasily between Connor and Jonah. “I mean, unless it’s something you don’t want me to hear.”
“It’s nothing like that. I just don’t want to upset you.”
“Upset her about what?” Dani asked.
Connor released a heavy sigh. “Mom called us at the studio and said we needed to come get you and Jonah if he can leave, and come home.” He finally met Dani’s gaze, the grief and sadness in his eyes revealing his next words before he spoke them. “It’s Uncle Cade.”
Dani gripped the railing on Chloe’s bed to steady herself as the floor disappeared from beneath her. “What?”
“What’s going on?” Pryce asked from the doorway, a box of doughnuts in his hands.
“Something’s wrong with Uncle Cade,” Chloe explained.
Pryce’s eyes widened in shock as he slowly moved to Chloe’s side, his gaze fixed on Connor. “Is he...?”
Dani nearly collapsed when her brother gave him a solemn nod. “Leon thinks it’s time.”
On auto pilot, she darted to the table in the corner and gathered her purse and book bag, stopping short when she saw Jonah just standing there. “We have to go.”
“I’m not going.” His wide-eyed gaze was fixed on Chloe.
“Jonah, you have to,” Chloe argued, her eyes filling with tears.
“Go,” Pryce ordered him. “I’ll be here with her.”
“No.” Chloe reached for Pryce’s hand. “Jonah needs you. Aunt Bev’s on her way here. She’ll stay with me. I’ll be fine.” Pryce tried to argue, but Chloe insisted. “Go, both of you,” she ordered again, urging Pryce toward Jonah. “Please tell Uncle Cade I love him, and I’m so sorry I can’t be there.”
Clearly torn, Pryce and Jonah stared at each other, a million conflicting emotions in their eyes.
Connor cleared his throat, capturing Dani’s attention. He jerked his head toward the door and Dani nodded. “We’ll give you guys a minute,” he said as he followed her out.
The door had barely closed behind them before Jonah and Pryce ran out, joining them in a sprint to the parking lot where Breezy and Carson sat waiting at the entrance in Connor’s truck. As she passed the passenger door, Breezy’s remorseful glance served as further proof that this was really happening.
“I don’t understand,” Jonah said as they piled into the back seat. “He was doing great yesterday.”
Connor sped out of the parking lot, and Breezy turned in her seat to greet them, her consoling expression anything but. “When I heard about his burst of energy yesterday, I had a feeling this could happen,” she said with a sniffle. “Though, I’ll admit, I didn’t expect it this soon.”
“But how could he go from feeling great, to dying, in twenty-four hours?” Jonah demanded.
Breezy covered his and Pryce’s joined hands with her own. “It’s called a rally,” she explained. “It’s a phenomenon that happens sometimes when someone is close to passing. It’s kind of like the body’s last ditch effort to survive.”
Dani stared out the window, the sound of Breezy’s voice fading into the numbness that had flooded her veins. She fished her phone from her purse, desperate to hear Clay’s voice, but she couldn’t make herself dial his number. If she called him, she’d have to tell him Cade was... She clutched the phone to her chest, unable to say the words. If she did, it would make it real, and this couldn’t be real. Not yet. She wasn’t ready. Cade wasn’t ready. He couldn’t be.
The truck lurched to a stop on the two-lane road outside of town and Connor swore under his breath. “Damn school bus.”
Dani stared at the yellow bus in front of them. A little girl in a bright pink dress jumped out, and Dani watched her run excitedly to a white-haired man waiting at the corner. Was he her grandfather? H
er Uncle? The bus moved forward, and she pressed her forehead to the glass as they approached the little girl, now in the older man’s arms showing him whatever crafty thing she’d made in school that day.
The image blurred with the tears that stung her eyes. As they passed them walking alongside the road, the man’s face became Uncle Cade’s, and she remembered all the times he’d picked her up from school when she was a little girl. She could still see his excited smile, feel her feet leave the ground as he gathered her in his arms.
A gentle nudge jerked her back to the present and she looked up to see Breezy’s outstretched hand. “Thanks,” she said, taking the tissues she offered.
Feeling adrift in an impossible storm, Dani fidgeted with the tissues, creasing the delicate material, then unfolding them, over and over until a piece ripped off, leaving an ugly jagged edge. She balled them up in her fist, wishing she could crush them into dust.
“I know it doesn’t feel like it right now,” Breezy said, giving her knee a sympathetic squeeze, “but it’s going to be okay,”
The loss she felt was mirrored in her sister-in-law’s eyes and Dani nodded in understanding. She’d never lost anyone she loved as much as Uncle Cade, but if anyone knew how she felt, it was Breezy. Dani massaged her forearm where it was broken in the car accident that had killed Breezy’s brother, Ford, the pain from over a decade ago ghosting through her bone like it was only yesterday.
For a brief second, the heavy sadness abated, turning her frown into a weak grin as she remembered Uncle Cade doodling on her cast. He’d drawn a superhero cartoon with long brown hair like hers and magic green boots with matching armbands. When she’d asked him who it was, he’d said it was her, and now that she had a magic cast, all she needed was a secret superhero name. It was the first time he’d ever called her Ace, and now she’d never hear him call her that again.
An unbearable pressure bloomed in her chest. She tried her best to swallow it back, but it hurt too much. Jonah gathered her against him. With every hitched breath he took, she could feel his mirroring struggle as the bus finally turned, and Connor sped toward Falcon Ridge.
When they arrived at Uncle Cade’s, the air inside the house was still and heavy. Dani glanced wearily around the living room, her gaze landing on Gran sitting on the sofa between Papa Joe and Papa Nate, her eyes and nose red and puffy.
“Are we too late?” Carson asked.
“You’re fine,” Papa Jake assured them as he came from the kitchen with a fresh pot of coffee. “Cory’s with him now. Your mom and dads are in with him, too.”
“Jonah, wait.” Breezy tugged at his shirt when he headed for the room. “Maybe we should give Cory some time, and Uncle Cade some space.” Her uneasy gaze drifted over to Connor and Carson, then to Dani and Pryce. “There’s a lot of us, you know?”
“Oh, thank God you’re here,” Gabby said in a hushed whisper as she came out of Cade’s bedroom. She drew Breezy, Connor, and Carson into a hug, then Jonah and Pryce. Dani felt like a wooden doll when her mom finally hugged her, barely able to breathe.
“It’s okay.” Gabby urged them toward Cade’s bedroom. “He’s been asking for you.”
Her siblings paced ahead of her. Dani followed them on stilted legs, trying to steel herself for what was to come, but when she reached the hallway outside his room, she froze, unable to take the next step. Only a day ago, Cade had stood in that very spot as she tried on her wedding dress, his immediate approval making her love it that much more. It was only then she realized he would never get to see her walk down the aisle in it.
“Dani?”
At the sound of Grey’s voice, she looked up to see him coming down the hall. “Oh Daddy.” Tears fell unchecked down her cheeks, blurring everything around her as he gathered her into his arms.
“I know, baby girl.” He held her tight as she cried, murmuring consoling words, giving her the strength only he could to face what was coming.
“Honey?”
Her mom’s voice drifted through the ringing in her ears and Dani lifted her head from Grey’s chest, giving her a jerky nod when Gabby urged her toward Cade’s room. Before she lost her nerve, she drew in a ragged breath and put one foot in front of the other.
Every unsteady step was forced as she approached the foot of his bed where her siblings stood, her trickle of tears turning into a torrent of sorrow when she saw Uncle Cade lying beneath the covers, a thin shell of the man in her memories, his wan face almost unrecognizable. How had she not seen how sick he truly was?
Cade heard her sharp inhale and turned his head to meet her gaze. “There’s my Ace,” he said, the corners of his lips perking up into a frail smile. “Come here, darlin’.”
Cory swiped away his tears as he slid off the edge of the mattress to give her his place at Cade’s side.
Sitting on Cade’s other side, Papa Daniel managed a tender grin that nearly broke her.
“Looks like I’m not going to make that wedding of yours,” Cade said, reaching for her hand. “It wasn’t for lack of trying.”
I know you did. The words screamed for release, but all Dani could do was nod.
“You’re going to make a beautiful bride,” he continued, his glassy eyes crinkling at the corners with a wistful smile. “Don’t hold on to this moment,” he ordered. “You take all the good memories with you down that aisle, then go make your mark on the world with that cowboy of yours. But don’t stay away from Falcon Ridge too long, okay?” Still unable to force any words out, Dani gave him a tearful smile. “Now, where’s that twin of yours?” His unfocused gaze wandered aimlessly over the others in the room.
“I’m right here,” Jonah said, he and Pryce moving to the edge of the bed.
Before she left his side, Dani brought Cade’s cold hand to her lips. “I love you,” she cried, her tears washing over her reverent kiss before she released him and Jonah took her place.
“Chloe’s real sorry she couldn’t be here,” Jonah breathed out with a sniffle.
“Me, too,” Cade said, tipping his head back with his effort to swallow. “You tell her I said not to worry one little bit,” he continued when he’d caught his breath. “That baby girl’s gonna be just fine. She’s just startin’ her McLendon orneriness a little early, is all.”
A round of watery chuckles echoed Jonah and Pryce’s. Dani glanced over her shoulder and saw that her mom and dads, and Gran and her papas had trickled into the room behind her.
“You and Chloe take good care of him,” Uncle Cade said to Pryce. “And tell that baby her great-great uncle Cade loved her.”
“We will,” Pryce choked out.
Uncle Cade closed his eyes and drew in several rattling breaths. When he opened them again, his face was pinched with a frustrated scowl. His unfocused gaze anxiously searched the faces surrounding him, his frown drifting up into a slow grin when he saw Breezy.
“I can see Ford,” he said.
Breezy, Connor, and Carson made their way to Cade’s side. “You see my brother?” Breezy asked, the words barely squeaking out as she sank onto the mattress beside him and took his hand in hers.
Cade shook his head. “Not your brother. He can’t wait to meet you.”
Dani glanced restlessly around the room to see her confusion mirrored by the rest of the family. Something was wrong. Uncle Cade knew Ford was her brother. Of course, they’d already met. Who was he talking about?
“Aww.” Still gazing up at Breezy, Cade’s grin widened into a dreamy smile. “Hey there, little darlin’. What’s your name?”
Gabby and Gran looked pointedly at Leon, who’d been standing quietly in the corner.
“Confusion is normal at this stage,” he assured them with a whisper as he calmly approached the bed.
With tears leaking from the corners of his eyes, Cade smiled up at Breezy. “Ford’s little sister is shy,” he said, his voice full of wonderment. “She won’t tell me her name, but she has your eyes.” His gaze drifted slowly to Connor and Carson. “And they b
oth have tiny little freckles on their noses, just like you two had at their age.”
Dani’s hands flew to her mouth, but she couldn’t contain her cry. Breezy had told her once that if she ever had a boy, she wanted to name him after her brother. And she could never decide on a girl’s name. It couldn’t be, could it?
“Hey, there. Don’t cry,” Cade stroked Breezy’s hair as she wept against his chest. “You’re going to be a great mom.”
Breezy’s tears flowed in streams down her cheeks as she clung to Connor and Carson, all three of them weeping openly as Cade’s eye’s drifted closed once again.
Gabby held a dam of tissues to the corner of her eye as she tucked a handful into Breezy’s hand. Carson gave her an appreciative grin as he took some for himself. But for the frequent sniffles and shuddering breaths, a somber silence filled the room. Her own lungs seemed frozen as Dani stared down at Cade, watching his chest rise and fall with each shallow breath he took, astonished at how fast everything was happening.
“Daniel?” Cade turned his head in an urgent blind search for him.
Still perched on the other side of the mattress, Papa Daniel scooted closer and took his hand. “I’m right here.”
Uncle Cade swallowed, the effort an alarming struggle. He opened his eyes and looked up at his husband. “It’s time for me to go,” he whispered so softly Dani could barely hear him.
Daniel’s shoulders bounced with his silent sob as he leaned in and pressed his forehead to Cade’s. “I know,” he whispered against his lips.
“Promise…you’ll come back to me.”
Papa Daniel smiled, his tears falling onto Uncle Cade’s cheeks.” I promise,” he said as Cade’s eyes fell closed for the final time. “I’ll always come back to you.”
Chapter Twenty
Dear Honored Guests,
With heavy hearts, we regret to inform you
that we have chosen to postpone our wedding
to mourn the loss of our beloved uncle,
Cade Candelle.
We appreciate your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time.
