Chapter 2
CHAPTER TWO
Kane
“Do you need any help with your homework?” I ask Oliver from behind my desk.
He glances over at me from the couch in the corner of my office, shakes his head, and goes back to the math page in front of him.
School has never been a problem for Oliver, but I always want him to know I’m here if he does need me. After everything he has been through over the last year and a half, I want him to know I’ll always be here. Always.
I try to focus on placing the order for the bar, but I’m struggling to concentrate on the spreadsheet. My brain keeps drifting back to the phone call that changed our lives forever.
Oliver was almost ripped away from me, and when he woke up in the hospital, I had to break his heart with news that no child should ever have to hear. He would now only have one parent at his side for the rest of his life.
After nearly a year of trying to piece our lives back together, I found a coaster sitting at the bottom of my underwear drawer. Without really thinking it through, I dialed the number Benny had given me a few years prior on that night that’s stuck with me like glue.
He listened, like the half therapist, half bartender he is, while I vented about everything.
The first thing he said when I finally came up for air was, “You and your boy need a change, don’t you?”
I hadn’t really thought about it until that very moment, but it was true. We did need a change. We needed a new start to find a way to move forward with our lives.
An hour later, I had an entirely different plan for my life than I had envisioned. We were going to move to Aspen Springs, and I would take over the bar from Benny, who was ready to retire.
It only took one conversation with my two best friends, Linc and Wyatt, for them to decide they were coming on this adventure with me and Oliver. They are my brothers in every way besides blood, and I couldn’t really imagine doing this without them.
The four of us were a family even before Jess died. Losing her only drew us closer together.
Jess and I hadn’t been together in a long time, but her death still gutted me, and seeing what it did to my son broke something in me I’m not sure I’ll ever get back.
Oliver hasn’t spoken a single word since the day he woke up in the hospital.
As the words fell from my mouth that his mom didn’t make it, the light in his eyes died. He hasn’t been the same since.
He’s still the sweet kid he used to be, but his smiles come few and far between. While therapy has helped both him and me, we still have a long way to go.
Maybe I’m grasping at something out of desperation, but I swear there’s more spark in his eyes since we moved. I don’t know what it is, but this town seems to be giving him a little hope.
It’s giving me some, too.
There’s a knock on the door, and I look up to find Wyatt standing there with his usual smile on his face.
“I need to run a few errands before the bar gets too busy later.” He turns his attention to Oliver. “Do you want to come with me? We can stop and get some ice cream.”
Oliver’s eyes light up, and he quickly starts jamming all his stuff into his backpack. He looks over at me with the question clear in his eyes.
“You finished your math?” I ask.
He nods.
“That’s fine. I should be home by the time you guys are done.”
“Let’s go, my man,” Wyatt tells him, slinging his arm around his shoulders.
“Have fun,” I call after them as they walk away. Wyatt’s voice fades as they head down the hallway to the back entrance of the bar, where we all park behind the building.
My head falls back against the chair. There isn’t a day that goes by that I am not grateful for Wyatt and Linc.
They have been there for my son and me in more ways than I could even fathom. They are family, plain and simple.
My office is far enough removed from the rest of the bar that the noises drifting in don’t tend to bother me too much. A female voice drifts in, and I can’t help but wonder if it’s Abby.
But I know deep down it isn’t.
I’m not going to lie—I hoped I’d run into her when we moved, but it hasn’t happened. I’m pretty sure she doesn’t live around here anymore.
We’ve been in town for several months and haven’t crossed paths once. I even drove by her house and found a completely different family living there.
I haven’t outright asked anyone about her, not even Benny. I think he has wanted to bring her up a few times, but he also knows where my head has been lately with Oliver, so he hasn’t pushed anything.
I think I’m just a little scared to find out for sure that she really is gone and I will never see her again.
It sucks, but it’s probably for the best. There’s no way I could start a relationship with anyone right now.
My entire focus needs to be on Oliver, and a change to the normal we’ve carefully built is the last thing he needs.
It doesn’t mean my stomach doesn’t sink anytime I think about her. At thirty-nine, I’m old enough to know that connections like that are a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing.
I guess she’s just another part of my life that wasn’t meant to be.