Chapter 15
Brooks
“Daddy, where are we going?” Avery asks from the back seat, swinging her feet against her carseat.
It’s less than five days until our vow renewal, and the managers at the venue asked Emryn and me to stop by. We haven’t had the time until now, so we are making a family trip out of it. After we leave here, we are going to stop by a park and spend some time with Avery.
“We have to make a quick pit stop, and then we will do something fun. It’s a surprise, though,” I say, glancing at her through the rear-view mirror.
My arm rests against the middle console, and Emryn’s hand reaches out, resting over mine. I look over at her, and she has a soft, content smile on her face. Planning this ceremony has been rough on her—everything that can go wrong has gone wrong—but we are finally on the downhill slide. And in a few short days, I get to marry my wife all over again.
“I bet it’s ice cream,” Avery says with a self-satisfied smile. Things have been slowly improving since she started talking with Dr. Phelps. She still gets morose sometimes but isn’t acting out as much.
Emryn turns around in her seat, winking at our daughter. “Even if it’s not, I think we outnumber your dad. We can take him.”
Avery giggles, and I smile. That giggle will always be one of my favorite sounds. “Yeah, Daddy. We can take you.”
“Oh, you think so, do you?” I ask, raising an eyebrow.
She nods her head, still giggling. “We’ll just see about that.”
Turning the car into a parking space, I throw it into drive and rush to take off my seat belt. Emryn does the same, jumping out of the car at the same time as me.
I grab the handle of Avery’s door and start to tickle her. Her giggles reach an all-time high when Emryn jumps on my back, trying to tackle me to the ground.
“I’ll save you, Avery,” Emryn tells our daughter as she hangs from my back.
With one hand, I hold onto Emryn, and with the other, I focus on getting Avery’s seat unbuckled. It takes a minute, but once I’m successful, I swoop her up in my arms. With Emryn still on my back and Avery in my arms, they both start to attack me, tickling me, and I play along, dropping to the ground on my knees as if they got the best of me.
Avery throws her arms up in victory and looks up at her mom, a bright smile on her face. “We did it, Mommy. We got him.”
Leaning over my shoulder, Emryn reaches out, giving Avery a high five, and then climbs off my back. Once she’s standing, she takes Avery from my arms, planting a big kiss against her cheek. “We sure did, Avery Bug, but what do you think? Should we help him up?”
The little turd pretends to think, tapping her finger against her chin before she gives me an ornery grin. “Only if there’s ice cream.”
Chuckling, I say, “I think I can make that happen.”
“Yay,” Avery celebrates, wiggling out of Emryn’s arms and coming to stand in front of me with her hand out. I take it, pretending she is helping me up without pulling her down.
When I am on my feet, I sweep her up in my arms and walk over to Emryn, letting my hand fall against her lower back. Then, I guide us toward the front doors of the venue, leaning down to whisper in her ear. “Payback is coming.”
A shiver runs down her spine as my words slip across her skin, and I don’t bother hiding my grin.
Turning her head toward me, she winks. “Bring it on.”
The lightness on her face lasts until we cross the parking lot, and then it drops like a lead weight as she reads the sign on the front door.
Closed for Renovation. Reopening November 30th.
November is almost four months from now, and our ceremony is supposed to be next week.
Emryn’s breaths start coming in shallow spurts as if she can’t quite get air to reach the bottom of her lungs. Setting Avery down, I take Emryn’s hand in mine. Her skin is clammy as the panic starts to take over.
Wide, tear-filled eyes meet mine, and it’s like an anvil to my chest.
“Hey,” I say, reaching out to pull her into a hug before she can say anything, “it’s going to be okay.”
She shakes her head against my shoulder, tears soaking into my shirt.
“What are we going to do?” she wails. “I have caterers coming Saturday with food. We were supposed to set up the decorations on Friday. That’s four days away. Why did they not at least leave a message explaining what was happening?”
“Mommy?” Avery’s voice wobbles, and I turn my head to find her bottom lip poking out, nearly in tears as she watches Emryn.
“It’s okay, Bug. Mommy’s just sad,” I say, trying to comfort her and Emryn at the same time.
Emryn lifts her head from my shoulder and looks at Avery, tears still streaming down her face. With a sniff, she steps out of my grasp and crouches down, opening her arms wide. Avery runs into them, burying her head into Emryn’s shirt, and I stand beside them, once again feeling like my hands are tied.
An ache settles in my chest that I can’t wipe away. I open my mouth to try to say something—anything that will make this better—but then my phone rings, interrupting me.
My dad’s ringtone blares from my pocket. If it were anyone else, I would ignore it, but with everything going on with him, I don’t want to miss something.
Reaching in, I pull my phone out and swipe my thumb across the screen, placing it against my cheek while still watching Avery and Emryn. “Hello.”
“Brooks, something’s wrong.” My dad’s voice is barely a rasp across the speaker.
My heart speeds up, imagining the worst. “Where are you?”
There’s no reply.
“Dad, where are you?” I ask, worry making my voice like gravel.
And once again, I’m met with silence.
There’s a beep on my end, and then the phone clicks off, leaving me in a panic.
______________________
I’ve been sitting on a hard hospital bench for the last five hours, waiting for the doctors. But the discomfort of my chair is just a small blip against the worry that seems to keep tightening my chest, making it hard to focus on anything else.
Avery is sleeping beside me. Grayson’s suit jacket is spread over her, and her head is on his knee. Emryn and I tried to drop her off at Emryn’s parent’s house, but when we got there, she squeezed my neck so tight that I thought she would cut off my air. So we let her come because I didn’t want her to sit and worry without us.
The sound of footsteps has me jerking my head up and looking down the hallway. A doctor is walking toward us, his head hanging down. My heart thuds to the time of his steps, both excruciatingly slow and too fast at the same time.
Beside Grayson, Georgia’s breathing kicks up, and her face pales. I didn’t think about what it might feel like for her to be here, watching a doctor walk toward us with news that could alter our lives, but I watched her pull herself together, holding onto her control for the man beside her.
I’m glad my brother has someone like her.
Emryn’s hand falls to my lower back and rubs in circles. She hasn’t left my side since I got that phone call.
After our phone disconnected, I tried calling Dad back several times, but it went to voicemail each time. And as panic started to take over my body, Emryn became my calm. Apparently, Kip had shared his location with her when we first started to let him watch Avery. He wanted to prove that we could trust him, and even though he’s more than proven himself with our daughter, he never stopped sharing it. Emryn never checked it, but it was there. Once she found out where he was, she called an ambulance and then Grayson. We met them at the hospital.
Emryn has been my rock, and I appreciate that more than she will ever know.
Turning my head over my shoulder, I offer her a sad smile, letting her know how much I love her without words.
And when I turn back around, the doctor is standing there in front of us. His face is a stone mask, impossible to read, and I wonder how many times he had to practice that over the years so that he could talk to families just as he is now.
I stand, leaving my hand hanging down for Emryn to take. Her fingers lace through mine and squeeze as she stands, reminding me she’s right there with me. Grayson stays sitting, Avery’s head still on his lap, and Georgia reaches out to him, holding his hand the same way Emryn holds mine.
“Are you the family of Kip Montgomery?”
I start to open my mouth, but Grayson beats me to it, surprising me. “Yes. We are his sons.”
The doctor nods, still giving nothing away, and I wish, not for the first time, that he would just get on with it and deliver whatever blow he has to give.
There’s a beat of silence, and then, “I’m Dr. Yates. Your father is stable.”
Air wooshes into my lungs, letting me breathe for the first time all day.
“What happened?” Emryn asks, voicing the question that I couldn’t get out.
“Mr. Montgomery’s blood pressure was very high when he got here. However, he was mentally still cognizant. He was able to tell us his medical history—apparently, his doctor found a mass on his adrenal gland some time ago. Were you aware of that?”
“Yes, sir,” I say, and he continues.
“A mass of that size affects the hormones a body produces, often leading to high blood pressure. Due to the change in the size of the mass—based on previous scans from his family doctor—and the high blood pressure, we decided emergency surgery was needed. We did have to remove the entire gland, which means he will have to take medicine—likely for the rest of his life. The mass will be sent off for a biopsy, and only then will we know if it’s cancerous.”
A knot forms in the center of my throat, making it hard to swallow, and when I look at the people around me, I think they feel the same way.
Grayson clears his throat, speaking up. “How long will he need to be here? And how long before we have the results back for the biopsy?”
Dr. Yates looks to Grayson. “I would like him to stay overnight so we can monitor his blood pressure. The surgery was laparoscopic, so it was minimally invasive. As far as the biopsy goes—it should be fairly soon, but it can take up to a week. Are there any other questions?”
I shake my head, looking at Grayson, and he does the same. Sticking my hand out, I thank the doctor.
Dr. Yates takes my hand, shaking it firmly, and his face finally cracks, a small smile slipping onto his lips. “It was my pleasure. He should wake up soon, so you can see him then.”
Letting go of my hand, and with one last nod, he turns, walking down the hallway he came from.
With a heavy sigh, I plop back down on the hard bench, regretting it immediately. Pain shoots up my back from sitting on the uncomfortable, hard plastic for so long.
Or maybe I’m just getting old.
Either way, I groan, waking Avery up as I do.
“Daddy?” she says, lifting her head and wiping sleep from her eyes.
“Hi, Bug.” My hands reach out to her, picking her up underneath her arms and pulling her into my lap. Emryn stands beside my knee, running her hands over Avery’s blonde hair.
“Is Papaw Kip okay?”
“Yeah, baby. He is. He should be waking up soon. Would you like to see him?
Her head bobbles, and she chews on her lip. “Daddy?”
“Yes, Bug?”
“Can we—can we say a prayer?”
And that knot is back. I don’t know what’s changed her mind, but I won’t question it. Clearing my throat, I croak. “Yeah, we can. Would you like to say it, or would you like me to?”
Sniffling, she pokes my chest. “You.”
With a quick press of my lips to her forehead, I close my eyes and bow my head. “Dear heavenly father, we come to you today with gratitude. We want to thank you for taking care of a man who’s come to mean a lot to all of us, and we ask that you keep looking out for him. We need him here, Lord. In your name, we pray. Amen.”
When I look up, Avery’s eyes are still closed, her lashes framing her cheeks, and even though my head is no longer bowed, I say another silent prayer.
She needs him, Lord. Watch over him for her.