Chapter 44 Summer
SUMMER
My active, workaholic dad was handling the hospital with about as much grace as I expected.
“They won’t let me do anything,” he said petulantly.
“Ba, they are trying to fix your heart .” I gestured at the heart monitor and IV, in case he missed the fact that he was connected to them with various tubes and wires.
The infusion had been going on for hours and to our relief, Ba expressed that the pressure in his chest was easing.
Unfortunately, it also made him think he should be allowed to walk out of here today.
Alvin nudged me, speaking low so only I could hear him. “So this treatment…it’s gonna stick, right? He’ll be okay after this?” he asked nervously.
I hugged my little brother. And for the first time in forever, he did not squirm away and hugged me back. He was so much bigger now, but it still gave me the same feeling as squishing his baby face to mine when we were younger.
“They’re confident it will go smoothly. But he’ll have to make lifestyle changes to manage his condition.” I patted his unruly hair. “Say bye to salt, caffeine, and pork belly.”
“Oh man.” Alvin sounded legitimately injured. “Can I move in with you?”
“No, you may not. But you can raid my fridge whenever you want.”
Má had absorbed every single word from Dr.Cheng like it was gospel. Even now, the moment she discovered that his AFib episode was brought on by dehydration, Ba never went more than five minutes without a cup appearing beneath his nose.
“Don’t you need to get back to your bakery?” Ba asked me before he turned to Lina, who was bottle-feeding Mabel. “And shouldn’t you be at work? You don’t need to be here all day.”
We ignored him. “Need a burp cloth?” I asked my sister, fishing around in her diaper bag.
“Oh, yes please. There should be a deck of cards in there, too. We can play Thirteen when she’s done.”
We were definitely the most crowded room on the floor, sitting on whatever surface we could find.
Just so we could be together. Ba was under a giant floral mink blanket.
My friends had come and gone with a huge Get Well Soon card signed by the whole town.
Stanley even waived Red Lantern’s waste disposal fee for the month, which was so monumental we joked about framing it.
Mercer had dropped by during his workday to let Má know he had sourced an entire box of fresh artichokes so she could make a special tea for Ba.
Lucien was picking up Bryan from the airport, and Jae was the reason Winnie had been so quiet for the last hour.
She was surrounded by markers, her tongue sticking out as she colored in Jae’s tattoos.
“Do you have a favorite?” he asked her, holding his forearm very still.
“Mmm, the birdies.”
Jae craned his neck to get a proper look at his sparrows, which were now sporting pink-and-orange polka-dotted feathers. “Yeah? You made them look good.”
Winnie finished up her blue snake and inspected the rest of his arm carefully, looking for what she wanted to color in next. “Where are the flowers?”
“I don’t have any. Should I get some?”
Her stubby little finger pointed imperiously at a blank spot near his elbow. “Yes. You can put them here.”
“All right, kiddo, I will.”
“And a ballerina T. rex.”
Jae threw me a helpless look, not wanting to say no, and I stifled a laugh.
During the next few days, I memorized the path to the cardiac ward. But one of the guys was always with me, parking stubs they wouldn’t let me pay for accumulating on dashboards.
“He’s struggling with being cooped up,” I said to Lucien as we drove home for the night. “He’s so used to being in his garden or talking to people all day long at the restaurant. I hate seeing him like this.”
“He’ll be out soon, right? Dr.Cheng said either tomorrow or the day after.”
While Ba had responded to the treatment, they still weren’t fully happy with the results of his second EKG. Orthopedics had confirmed he had a sprained shoulder, so even if he was home, he couldn’t return to his normal routine.
I leaned against the window, watching the streetlamps along the highway pass by. “Yeah, you’re right. He’ll be home soon,” I said quietly.
Mercer took me to the hospital the next day, so I was surprised when Lucien turned up an hour later, clutching a huge tote bag and sweating like he had sprinted from the car.
“Let me in. Quick ,” he hissed.
“Why are you acting like you have contraband?” I teased.
“I do have contraband.” Lucien was uncharacteristically rude as he pushed past me and went straight to my dad. “Sir, I know it’s been tough being stuck in this bed, so I thought you would like having a special—”
Tofu’s fluffy white head sprang out of the tote bag and I screamed, conveniently covering up his enthusiastic bark.
“—visitor,” Lucien finished lamely.
I don’t think I had ever seen Tofu so happy.
I don’t think I had ever seen my dad so happy, which was kind of rude as he had three human children who also visited him.
He thanked Lucien, his voice thick with emotion, and I had to blink away tears.
There was still joy to be found in hard circumstances.
“Make sure you play dumb if the nurses come in, and I’ll take the fall,” Lucien instructed me seriously. “I’m going to hover outside as a lookout. Do you want a signal so you can quickly stash Tofu away?”
“A signal?”
“Like a bird call. Ca-caw.”
It took all my willpower not to laugh at his commitment to espionage.
“If you want to make a bird call when a nurse is about to come in, then by all means,” I said solemnly.
“Okay, great.” He gave me a brisk nod. “I’ll do that then.”
I hugged him around his waist impulsively, my cheek resting on his hard chest. “Thanks, Lucien,” I murmured, smiling when I felt his lips on my hair.
LUCY
YAY HOME TIME TODAY
OLIVE
Best day!! Hope your dad is excited!
IVY
We left a surprise for you all!
The welcome home banner was huge, stretching across almost the entire width of the house.
They must have utilized their tallest alphas to get it up there.
Even if they didn’t tell me they were responsible, I would’ve recognized the fabric from Lucy, the impeccable lettering from Ivy, and the tiny painted Felix pawprints that stopped abruptly when Olive finally noticed and carried him away.
But I don’t think they had anything to do with Jae in a floppy, wide-brimmed hat, tending to the veggie patch under the warm summer sun.
“Hello!” He waved as I got out of the car with my parents. “Welcome home,” he added, pointing at the sign.
Ba, of course, went straight into the garden. “You pulled the weeds!” He poked around some more. “I was worried about pests under the lettuce leaves.”
“Got ’em yesterday.” Jae fanned them open to show him. “Watered early this morning, too. Now that you’re home, feel free to order me around.”
Ba shook his head, a tsk of exhalation escaping him. “Summer, this is too much,” he said to me in Vietnamese.
“Don’t you want me to be with a nice, helpful alpha?” I asked him innocently.
His expression softened, the crinkle around his eyes deepening. “Your pack have been good to our family this week. I’m grateful. I’m happy for you.” He patted my arm with his uninjured hand. “You will give me less gray hairs now.”
“Ba, you ruined it.”
He thanked Jae, mentioned that the tomatoes looked ready to harvest, and went inside.
“Am I in trouble?” Jae asked.
“No.” I grinned. “He likes you. Also, when were you going to tell me about your new hobby?”
He shrugged. “I needed something to do when I wasn’t at the hospital. I’m getting pretty good at it. Maybe your dad can help us set up our own garden at the house. Now shoo. I have tomatoes to pick.”
“Shoo?”
Jae shaded me under the brim of his hat and dropped a kiss on my nose. “You heard me. I know you’ve been wanting to get back to your bakery.”
I did want to check on my bakery. I’d received word that Suns Out Bánhs Out was finally done. A voicemail from Claudia the property manager had been sitting in my inbox since Boston. I could move back in anytime, she said. I hadn’t had a chance to look at the space until now.
It felt like the most natural thing in the world to scent-mark Jae before I left. My cheek on his, fingers wrapped around the nape of his neck to reach him. He was calm and unguarded. Sand warm beneath my feet and the slow rush of a receding wave. “I’ll see you at home later then,” I said softly.
I left him behind in the garden, a little dazed.
Standing in front of my bakery again brought up a riot of emotions.
I’d missed it. Missed doing what I loved in the space I built.
My key slid in the lock easily and turned with a satisfying clunk.
Instead of pushing open the door, I traced one of the S s of the sign with my fingertip, anxious about what I would find inside. Would it still feel the same?
“Goddamnit, not again!”
A majestic sphere of fluff sprinted toward me. There was a palmier in Felix’s mouth, and Mercer was in full pursuit.
“You know you can’t have that,” I chided Felix, grabbing him mid-leap and wresting the pastry from his jaws.
Sugar granules exploded everywhere. “Go find Ivy or James and they will have a vet-approved treat for you. It might even have dental benefits. Doesn’t that sound good?
Protect those sharp little chompers you’re trying to bite me with,” I cooed, dodging his nipping teeth and depositing the buttery flakes in a nearby trash can.
“Sorry about your palmier,” I apologized to Mercer as Felix wriggled out of my grasp, staring resentfully at the final resting place of his stolen snack before darting away.
“I don’t care about that. You’re here. I mean, hi.” Mercer mussed the back of his hair nervously. “Everything go smoothly with your dad?”
“Yep, he’s home now. Má is going to coddle the hell out of him while he tries to convince her he can handle the Red Lantern dinner rush with one arm.”