Chapter 19
Nineteen
“Nobody has ever measured, not even poets,
how much the heart can hold.” —Zelda Fitzgerald
Caden was released from the hospital two days later with orders to stay home from school and stay quiet for two weeks to give his ribs time to heal.
They were holding Chase for one more day to work on his nutritional needs while his jaw was immobilized.
The boys had seen each other on the second night in the hospital, which had raised their spirits tremendously.
Since Lucas and Landon had arranged to get Max’s truck from the airport and back home the day before, Max and Caden drove to Butler with Linc and Molly. Elmer had stayed in Butler to take care of all the pets while the others were away and was looking forward to welcoming them home.
Max had left the hospital only long enough to go to his parents’ lake home in Burlington to shower and change into clothes his mom had brought from home since he’d packed for much warmer weather in Houston.
The getaway with Lexi in Galveston felt like months ago rather than only days. They’d had a few quick conversations and had been texting a lot. Max appreciated her kind thoughts for Caden and Chase and how she asked frequently how he was doing while taking care of his son.
He missed her terribly, and as soon as he got Caden settled at home, he planned to ask her to come up.
His dad’s words from the other day had stayed with Max.
Linc was right that Max deserved a life of his own in addition to being Caden’s dad, and now that the crisis had passed, he was able to see that more clearly than he had during it.
Max glanced over at his son, who was asleep.
He looked tired and pale, but otherwise, he was doing well despite a lot of pain from his broken ribs.
It would take a long time before Max’s nerves fully settled from the events of the last few days, but he was taking his lead from Caden, who’d rolled with serious injuries with his usual wit and resilience.
“Mom. What day is it?”
“Wednesday.”
“Shit. Chloe is coming today.” Max sent her a text. Hey, sorry for the short notice, but we can’t do it today. Can we move to next week? Sorry.
She wrote back a few minutes later. Disappointed, but sure. Same time next week?
Yes, and thank you.
“I moved it to next week.”
“You didn’t tell her he got hurt?” Molly asked.
“Why would I? I’ve never told her the many times he had fevers or when he had pneumonia.”
“I guess that’s true.”
He glanced at Caden to make sure he was truly asleep before he continued the conversation. “I don’t see anything changing just because she’s reappeared and wants to know him. She’ll never be his mother the way you’ve been mine.”
“No, she won’t be, but she did give birth to him, and that means she’ll always be his mother.”
“I respect that, and I appreciate it every day. But that’s as far as my obligation to her goes.”
“Hmmm,” Molly said.
“What does that mean, Mom?”
“I read her letter, son. She’s grown up a lot in the last seven years, and you may need to make space for her in your son’s life, starting by telling her he got hurt.”
“What if she decides she wants joint custody and uses that information against me?”
“You have full custody, Max,” Linc said. “She’s not going to be able to change that. Check with Grayson to see what he thinks to be sure, but I think that ship has sailed for her.”
“Your points are well taken, and I’ll talk to Gray.”
Molly turned in her seat so she could see him better. “I never considered the custody question, and you’re right to be cautious about that.”
“Did you just tell me I was right about something?” Max asked, grinning.
“There’s a first time for everything.”
Max laughed at the way she said that. “I’ll try not to get too cocky.”
“The thing is, I’ve never had to consider how my actions might affect the custody of my children, so I didn’t properly appreciate that concern.”
“Not everyone gets lucky being married to the father or mother of their children for fortysomething years.”
“No, they don’t, and in case I forget to tell you this every day, that child is very lucky to have you as his daddy.”
“And he’s lucky to have you guys as his grandparents.”
Molly smiled and then turned back to face the front.
Max composed a text to his cousin Grayson.
Hi there, on the way back to Butler with Caden and my parents.
Thanks to you and Emma for all the texts and well-wishes over the last few days.
We’re very thankful that he and Chase are doing so much better.
I wanted to let you know that I recently received a gift for Caden along with a letter from his mother, Chloe.
She told me how she has worked hard to get to a point where she feels like she’d like to see him, and I’ve agreed to let her because Caden wants to meet her.
That was supposed to happen today, but I put it off until next week.
My mother thought I might want to inform Chloe that Caden is injured, but I’m concerned about her end game and maybe using that against me if she’s gunning for some form of custody.
Anyway, can we catch up tomorrow to discuss? Thanks, Gray!
His cousin responded a few minutes later. So happy to hear Caden is on his way home. Hope Chase is right behind him. Thank God they’re both ok. Will call you tomorrow.
Thanks again, Gray.
“I’m going to talk to Grayson about Chloe tomorrow,” Max told his parents.
“Good,” Molly said. “He’ll know how to handle it.”
When they got home, all the lights were on in Max’s house, and the driveway was full of SUVs and pickup trucks. “Looks like there’s a welcome-home party for Caden,” Max said.
As he carried Caden inside, Max wasn’t at all surprised to find most of his siblings and their partners jammed into the small home he shared with Caden. Every available space was covered with food.
Caden perked up at the sight of his aunts and uncles, who swarmed around him, making a fuss and surrounding him with love, as they had all his life.
Max got him settled on the sofa, covered with a blanket and propped up with pillows supporting his injured left side.
“Where are all the kids?” Caden asked.
“Either at school or with my mom,” Dani said. “We thought the adults would be enough for today.”
Elmer poked his head in the door. “Is the patient ready to see his best pal?”
“He is,” Max said.
Elmer led Daisy into the crowded house, and she looked around until she found Caden, her eyes widening and her tail wagging madly when she saw him. “Remember what we talked about, Miss Daisy. Nice and gentle with your boy.”
Caden held out a hand to her, and she came over to sniff and lick him, making him giggle.
Somehow, the puppy seemed to understand that he was hurt and nuzzled him gently. She ended up on the sofa, parked between Caden’s legs, the two of them happy to be reunited.
“I missed you, girl,” he said as he scratched behind her ears.
“We made everything,” Max’s sister Hannah said. “Dig in.”
“Thanks, guys.” Max fixed a small plate for Caden and then went back for some of Ella’s chicken and Charley’s mac ’n’ cheese for himself.
“We knew there wouldn’t be room for everyone, so we made this an OG mission while the kids were in school,” Landon said, meaning “original gangsters.”
“Good call,” Max said.
“So, how’d you leave things with Lexi when you had to come running home?” Charley asked.
Max paused mid-bite. “Um, well, she knew I needed to get home as fast as possible. We’ve been talking.”
“Did you have fun in Houston?” Ella asked.
“Uh-huh.”
“Girls, leave your brother alone,” Molly said.
“We’re just making sure he doesn’t mess this up, Mom,” Charley said.
Max scowled at her. “I’m not going to mess it up. Now go away.”
“We’re keeping an eye on things,” Lucas said for himself and his twin, who nodded.
“We won’t let him mess it up,” Landon said.
“Oh my God,” Max said with a groan. “The last kind of help I need is from you two.”
“Which of us are happily married and which of us is not?” Landon asked. “Hmm?”
“Boys, please, stand down,” Colton said. “I’ve got this taken care of.”
Max rolled his eyes.
“How quickly you forget, young grasshopper,” Colton said to Max. “Who was the one who pushed you in her direction when she was here?” Colton held his hand to his ear. “What’s that? I can’t hear you saying, ‘Colton did that.’”
“I blame you two for this,” Molly said to her husband and father.
“What’d we do?” Linc asked, full of innocence.
“What didn’t you do? Now they all think they have some sort of right to butt into other people’s relationships.”
“We do have that right,” Charley said. “It’s in the Abbott family rulebook.”
“Which none of you has ever read,” Molly said with a pointed look for her daughter.
“We wrote that book,” Lucas said, with a high five for his twin.
“You all can go now,” Max said. “Caden needs his rest.”
“Why would we leave when things are just getting interesting?” Hunter asked.
“I expect better from you,” Max said to his eldest sibling.
“Really? Why?”
The others cracked up laughing. Thankfully, they moved on to other topics and left Max alone about Lexi.
Now that the crisis with Caden had passed, he was feeling badly about the way he’d left her so abruptly and declined her offer to come with him.
They’d been wrapped up in each other in bed a few minutes before that, so he could only imagine how much it had hurt her to have him take off without her.
He winced thinking about that, even though he still felt it had been the right thing for Caden.
But it hadn’t been the right thing for him—or her.
Now that they’d found each other again, all he wanted was to be with her as much as he possibly could.
He would tell her that as soon as his family left and he got Caden tucked into bed for the night.
Max couldn’t wait to talk to her.