him to fuck off forever than have an accident in the

still clutching the keys, and gave them a squeez

seemingly perched there. Instead, she press

eaching in after her to retrieve her purse. He took the keys

the road, he slipped into problem-solving mode. “Has y

healthy diet, but he loves fried chicken and beignets and…” She shook her head as tears started streaming down her face. “The doctor told him his weight has been creeping up for a while, and he’s more

He’s a grown-ass man, and y

e indulged him more than I should, telling myself that once the summer cookouts were over and pieces o

ve with her whole heart was obvious. Her body pinged with anxious devotion. Th

ne love him like th

around hers. He was surprised—and thrilled as

e what the d

big doe eyes that mel

’m here, whate

. “He’s all I’ve got. My mother

and age as a result of childbirth, and he wished like hell Brea hadn’t lost her m

e all a

e she didn’t need to borrow more worry by assuming Reverend Bell would kick the bucket

How old is y

fty. He’s sti

shit? “Yeah. That will work i

ation. And God. The power of prayer is strong. I’ve seen it work.

hat made her feel

sliding his gaze over her profile, sweeping from her crown, down the slope of her nose, p

Brea flipped every one of his switches. He coul

ttered and she opened he

squat for him, but if it cente

ake some ph

other ten minutes b

widow, had apparently agreed to ring some of the other long-time church members and start a prayer chain before coming to the hospital to start a vigil with Brea. Then she reached ou

She huffed i

One-Mile

e time. I swear I don’t know w

es at the moment, so he had to wonder if maybe Cutter was doing someone else. Cheating didn’t seem like the overgrown Boy Scout’

mmentary, however, just wa

u seen Cutter today?

le heard the other woman speak, tho

u ask him to call me? It’s urgent. Daddy’s had an episode with his hear

ine conveyed an appropriate amount of shock and worry, befor

g none of his business. Right now, she felt alone in the world, and he intended to take care of her, hoi

asked as he exi

in

another downturn after she’d talked

. “If you need to talk, pr

enching smile that nearly b

e him her troubles, just sat taut and mu

One-Mile jumped from the vehicle and ran after her, locking the doors behind him with a click of his fob. By the time he caug

oking as if she waited for the verb

ne had shit to deal with, and he didn’t expect anyone to listen to him w

ouraged as he slipped his ar

fit perfectly against him, her delicate f

if Dad

for someone to give us the updat

t him, I don’t feel strong…” She buried her

s a complete stranger. But to draw solace from him, she had to

oth arms around her and held her tight again

tor, a forty-something no-nonsense woman, came

ed up from his

cardiovascular surgeons

ng to make it?” Every muscl

e doctor’s face. “Your father is

I see

’m afraid not yet. We’

ear were bypass surgery, probably in the next few hours. Gaping, she pressed a hand to h

. “Is she prone to faint

g idea. “I’ll ta

a long day. She’ll need her strength. We should

Brea since she was too worried about

hall again, he turned Brea to face him