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.