chapter SIX

It seemed like the Honky Tonk Angels Bar and Grille was extra crowded that evening. People had been stopping by their table since they arrived, still congratulating Andy. He looked so happy and excited, but Hope noticed how he kept an eye on Brady as if afraid he would vanish.

Andy wasn't prepared for someone like Brady Blackstone to enter his life, nor was Hope. While Andy saw him as some superhero SEAL and cowboy who knew all the secrets to being a cowboy and saving the planet, she looked at him with a woman's eyes.

Tall, with the sexiest eyes she'd ever seen, that went perfectly with an overall look that turned every female head he passed. He was the entire package, and she felt like a gawking teenager around him.

But along with being sexy as sin, he was friendly and seemed genuinely nice. Andy had already developed a case of hero worship. Hope could see that.

And understood. Brady listened to Andy, asked questions of his own, and did his best to answer Andy's questions, but never once did that expression appear on his face. The one people get when they're tired of being nice to a kid and are ready to escape.

It touched her so profoundly that she excused herself and hurried to the lady's room. Once in a stall, she allowed herself to think about what was happening in her and Andy's lives. Mostly, she thought about Brady's kindness to her son, which touched a place in her heart that few ever had.

Without warning, a memory surfaced, one she had never shared with anyone.

She and her mother sat in the waiting room, neither speaking. Hope cradled Andy in her arms, watching his sweet face. The tests had to be wrong. They had to. He couldn't have…she couldn't even bring herself to think the word. That might make it real, and if it was real, then she was surely going to go insane or die. Maybe both.

A tap on her shoulder had her jerking her head to look at her mother. Audrey gestured toward the door with her head, and Hope felt an overwhelming urge to stand up and run.

But that wouldn't help anyone, so she stood and headed for the open door held by the pretty nurse. They were led down a short hallway and stopped midway down. The nurse tapped on a door on their right, opened it, and looked in.

"The Evans family is here."

A moment later, she pushed the door open and held it for Hope and Audrey. "Please, have a seat," the doctor said from his seat behind the desk.

They'd barely sat before he opened the conversation. "Let me begin by saying we were all hopeful, but I fear the news isn't good."

Hope sobbed through the rest of what the doctor had to say. Her entire existence had ,one heart-wrenching fact. Her baby was going to die. There was no treatment or hope for recovery.

Hope didn't remember much of what the doctor said after that. She was in a state of terror, shock, and a desperate need to escape and make this not be real.

They went home, and Hope didn't know what to do. Audrey said they'd get another opinion, so she got on the phone in the shop and started calling to see if any of the people she knew had a suggestion.

That left Hope alone with Andy in the apartment. She had no strength or desire to do anything. She just sat, holding Andy, doing her best to wish the day away.

Make it not real. That's what she wanted. She cried and prayed and made offers of sacrifice if only her child could be spared. And every moment was housed in an iron cage of panic. She needed this fixed and needed it now. She had to save Andy.

A sound filtered in, and she looked around. When the tap came again from the entrance door, she got up and went to it, thinking that whoever it was, she was sending them away.

Hope opened the door, and there stood a tall, heavy-set man, probably in his mid-seventies, dressed like a farmer or ranch hand and wearing a ratty old straw hat, which he quickly snatched off.

"Pardon me, ma'am, but I believe you might need my assistance."

Hope's mind was already in freefall, so she couldn't begin to understand why he'd say that. "No one can help me," she finally admitted and, in doing so, loosened the floodgates.

She might have fallen with her baby in her arms if he hadn't caught her and helped her inside. He practically carried her to the sofa, and she curled up with Andy and sobbed.

He pulled up the footstool close to the sofa and sat quiet and still. She had forgotten the man was there, so when she finally looked up, she jerked in surprise.

"Who are you, and why are you here?" It made no sense. She didn't know the man. Why would he be here? And why wasn't she scared?

"I'm Joe, and I'm here to help, Ms. Hope."

"Help? What could you possibly do that could help, Mr. Joe? My baby…" She couldn't get the rest of the words out for a minute, and when she did, the words came out broken. "My …baby—my baby is…"

"No, he's not," Joe argued softly. "Andy's gonna be just fine."

Hope didn't know what to say. Why would this man, Joe, say that? "Oh? You're going make this all go away."

"Why no, Ms. Hope. You can't undo what's already been done, but you can fix the right now."

"How? Tell me how, and I'll do it. I'll jump off a bridge, set myself on fire, anything, anything to save him. Just tell me what to do, Joe. I can't lose my baby."

She collapsed into another fit of tears and felt like she would die from the fear and dread, the unbearable grief. When she finally was able to do it, she looked at him. "Tell me what to do."

"Just stand, Ms. Hope."

"Stand?"

"Yes, ma'am," he stood and offered his hand.

Hope let him pull her to her feet, keeping Andy clutched to her with her free arm. When they were standing, she looked up at Joe and her mind lost touch with reality.

"Don't worry, Ms. Hope. You and Andy are safe."

And then he wrapped her in his arms, which, in her dazed state, looked very much like wings. A sensation claimed her— something so complete and pervasive it became part of her, down to the cellular level. It was a warmth unlike any she'd experienced; it carried a spark, an energy. That energy covered her skin like warm summer rain; the scent it emitted filled her lungs with a breath so fresh and clean she breathed deeply, savoring the sparkle of energy that permeated her body.

She felt it move from her to Andy through her hands as she held him. Her hands heated, not uncomfortably but noticeably. And the heat transferred from her to him.

Hope felt his small body warm. It felt so good, so very good. If only this could be real, she thought. This feeling that he was well, that nothing was wrong with him.

Joe stepped back and was once more a kind older man with worn clothing and a kind smile. No, wait, he was more than that. It was there in his eyes.

She lowered her eyes, blinking back tears and fighting overwhelming emotion. Her body quivered with tension as she fought to stay in control, stay strong.

"Andy's just fine," Joe said. "And he's a special boy. Just like his mama, his grandma, and all those who came before. Don't you fret now, Ms. Hope. His life's just starting. Yours too."

She looked up, and their gazes connected. And suddenly, there it was. The truth. She knew now, and that knowledge freed her from the fear and dread. It brought back a flame that had dwindled to weak embers. But truth breathed life into those coals, and the fire blazed again, strong and bright, and all at once, Hope knew to the bottom of her soul that he was right.

She came out of the memory with a wet face and a smile. Joe was right. That day, her life and Andy's changed. She stopped trying to be something she wasn't and focused on becoming something she wanted to be. A good mother, a good person, and someone who used her abilities and talents to help others. She'd been granted the most enormous gift a person could receive. Her son had been given a second chance.

The least she could do was show her gratitude in how she lived her life.

For the most part, that had worked out just fine. She couldn't say she'd been unhappy a day since. Sure, things happen in life that make you sad, angry, or worried, but nothing had caused her to be dissatisfied with her life.

No, hold on, was that true? She paused to consider it. There was something. She couldn't really call it dissatisfaction, but there were times when she saw her friends with their spouses and kids or people who were just starting relationships, and she felt a little stab of envy.

She'd mentioned it to her mother, and Audrey's response was, "You can be a wonderful mother and have a man in your life or friends. People you socialize with, without Andy. He has friends and does things with them that you're not part of. You both have lives to live, Hope. Don't cheat him of his in your tendency to be overprotective."

"Mama, that's not fair, not after what…" Hope knew that was a petty argument as the words spilled from her lips.

"Don't even go there. We know it's not something that will come back. Andy will never have cancer again. It's been removed forever."

"But what if—"

"What if I'm wrong?" Audrey interrupted. "Well, if I am, then so be it, but what if I'm right and you hovering so close ends up costing him something he really wants? What if that drives a wedge between you? What if he resents being unable to make his own choices and do things his way? What if…?

Hope laughed. "Okay, Mom, I get it. He deserves to live his life, and I need to learn to live mine. But I don't know that I can ever stop feeling he's the center of my universe."

"Who says you have to? I just said if you want to socialize or date, you can. Andy won't care. Heck, he likes the fellas who come calling on me. They play checkers with him and teach him how to play chess and poker, and he enjoys it when he's present."

It didn't take a lot of consideration to realize the truth of her mother's words. Hope knew she hid behind the role of motherhood to avoid dating. Her prior experiences hadn't worked out well for her before she had Andy. The last thing she wanted was to get involved with someone and complicate her life.

Funny that it had never occurred to her that meeting someone might not have to be a complication. She could be like her mother. Have friends, dates, and enjoy time spent with people she liked

It didn't mean she had to be looking for Mr. Put a Ring on my Finger. That wasn't something she was looking for.

Yesterday, someone could have made up a scenario for her, just like the one she was in, sitting on the rooftop with a man like Brady Blackstone and feeling lust run amok through every one of her senses.

She'd have listened, laughed, and declared it would never happen. Ever. She didn't do amok. She'd have said it, and she'd have believed it.

But now? Ha! Now she'd met Brady Blackstone, and that changed everything. Wouldn't you know? After all these years, she'd met a man who interested her, and he lived a thousand miles away and had no time or interest in a woman with a small child.

And Hope had a past she wasn't keen on talking about. Andy knew nothing about his biological father except that he left town and never came back or even called.

Hope knew that was a harsh reality for a child, but hoped he would not suffer from the knowledge. She just tried to give him so much love and attention that he never missed having a father.

In hindsight, she had to admit that her way didn't erase his longing for a dad, to be like the other kids and have a father to throw the ball with, kick a football, or go fishing.

Hope tried to do all those things, and she thought they had a good time, but now she wondered and feared. What if his desire for a father figure got him attached to Brady Blackstone? If that happened, he'd be crushed when the camp ended, along with his relationship with Brady.

Suddenly, all her excitement about the camp, Brady, and generally about everything took a kick in the gut, leaving her right where she started—a single mom with a sweet boy who wouldn't know what it was like to have a father.

She shouldn't complain, not even silently, to herself. After all, she'd been granted a miracle. Her sweet child was alive, healthy, and excited about life.

Maybe it was wrong to want more. She'd been given one miracle. Maybe God only allowed one per customer. That thought made her decide that no matter what, she'd not complain. As long as Andy had a good, healthy life, she'd give thanks.

Even if it meant ending up alone.