The Brightest Sunset (The Darkest Sunrise #2)

He stared at her, his drunken gaze flashing with a moment of clarity. “Really?”

She wrapped her hand over his and lifted her hands to her mouth to kiss his knuckles. “Of course. I don’t want you to be anyone else. I love you.”

There was no mistaking the honesty in her voice.

My throat burned with unshed emotion.

It was amazing the way children could heal you with such simple words.

If only our words could have healed him.

Ten minutes later, anesthesia finally arrived. With kisses, hugs, and whispered good-lucks, we left our son in the hands of the transplant team. Charlotte stayed with Travis, while Brady and I were escorted to a waiting room where most of our family had already congregated.

Tanner and Rita were there. My mom had stayed home to keep Hannah, but she had sent Dad with strict instructions to text her every ten minutes. Charlotte’s mom and Tom were there, along with some faces I didn’t recognize that I assumed were from Brady’s family.

And we were all there for one little boy.

Strapped in and ready to wait out the longest four hours of our lives together.

I’d just finished making my way around the room, receiving hugs and words of encouragement—including a brisk handshake from Tom—when Charlotte finally joined us.

She smiled at her mom and nodded to Tom, but she came straight to me.

“Hi,” she whispered, folding her arms around my waist and burying her face in my chest.

“It’s going to be okay,” I promised, smoothing her long, black hair down.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been this nervous in my life,” she confessed.

“I know. Me too.”

She peered up at me with glistening eyes. “Thank you for that in there.”

I played dumb. “For what?”

“I don’t know what kind of advance you had to promise him, but to hear him say, ‘I love you,’ I’d gladly pay it a thousandfold.”

I tucked a stray hair behind her ear. “I didn’t pay him anything. That was the truth.”

“Even the part where he chastised Brady for not being nice to me?”

“Actually, yes. I had nothing to do with that.”

She sighed. “God, I love that kid.”

“That makes…” I popped my head up and looked around the room. “A lot of us.”

She giggled soft and sad. “I’m really glad the judge allowed you to be here.”

“Christ, me too. Hey, that reminds me.” I dipped low and kissed her slow and sweet.

Arching her back, she curved her body into mine and wrapped her arms around my neck.

“You were incredible in court today. Seriously, Charlotte, if this whole medical thing doesn’t work out for you, you could have a career in law.”

“I just paid off my medical school loans. I’m not eager to get back into debt for another advanced degree.”

I chuckled. “Well, the option is always there.”

She blew out a heavy breath and glanced back at the door to the waiting room. “Has it been four hours yet?”

“I wish. I hate the not knowing.”

She traced her fingers down my jaw and over my lips. “And Laughlin scrubbed in to observe. He said he’d be sure to keep us in the loop. There will be a nurse who comes in and updates us regularly.”

“Not regularly enough,” I mumbled. And, when her face fell, I felt guilty about not being stronger and more positive for her. “Hey, you want to play a game?”

“Not particularly.”

“Too bad.” Taking her hand, I led her over to two chairs situated away from the rest. “Let’s pretend.”

Her worried eyes flashed dark. “I thought we said no more pretending.”

I kissed her forehead and then murmured, “But this is the good kind of pretending.” I turned her sideways in her chair and draped her legs over one of my thighs. “The kids and I did this a lot after… Well, anyway. I’ll start. Six minutes.”

She quirked an eyebrow. “Six minutes to do what?”

“No. Where are we going to be in six minutes?”

“Uh…right here?”

Rolling my eyes, I huffed in mock frustration. “Okay. I’ll start. In six minutes from now, we’ll still be sitting here, but the nurse will have come in and told us that everything is going well. Brady will drop to his knees, thank the lord, and then stop being an asshole for the rest of our lives.”

She grinned. “Psh… Good luck with that.”

“Now, you go. Six hours from now….”

She blinked. “Um…six hours from now, we’ll be…” She stopped talking, and tears filled her eyes.

“It’s okay,” I breathed, rubbing her back. “Nothing is too big to wish for during Six Minutes.”

She nodded and swallowed. “Okay…so, six hours from now, we’ll be sitting in Travis’s recovery room, waiting for him to wake up, while listening to his new heart play a perfect rhythm on the monitors.”

“Damn right we will.” I winked. “Now, my turn. Six days from now…” I tapped on my chin. “It’ll be me and you, dressed all in black. I’m talking ski masks, cargo pants, black Henleys, combat boots—the whole nine.”

“So, we’re robbing a bank? What is it with you always breaking the law? Do you have a crew you need to get back to in jail?”

I laughed when it should have been impossible. “Nope. We’re sneaking Hannah in to see her brother.”

“Ah…we should probably get a giant duffel bag.”

“See? You know what I’m talking about!”

“Though, on second thought, it would probably be easier if I walked her in through the door. Six days from now, he’ll be out of ICU and in the transplant unit. I know some people who can get us in as long as she’s not sick and he’s healing up properly.”

“Oh. Well.” I scoffed. “Now, you’re just showing off.”

Her shoulder shook with laughter and she beamed up at me. “I love you so much.”

“I know.” I winked. “Now, six weeks. You’re up.”

“Humm…six weeks. Well, we’ll be home from the hospital.”

“Whose home?” I clarified.

“Uh…my new one.”

I made the sound of an annoying buzzer. “Wrong answer.”

She twisted her lips. “Okay… Your house?”

I did the buzzer thing again. “Still wrong!”

“Whose house, then?”

I leaned in close and brushed her lips with mine. “Our house.”

“What? No.” She jerked away, but I caught the back of her neck to prevent her from going far.

“You need a bigger place,” I whispered. “I happen to have a bigger place.”

She gripped my wrist, her fingers biting into it as she held it tight. “We can’t just move in together.”

“Why not?” I asked. “It solves all of our problems.”

“Only by creating more problems. What if we don’t work out? The kids would be devastated.”

“So we’ll work out.”

Her panicked gaze searched mine. “It’s not that easy.”

“It is that easy. It’s a commitment. To each other. To the kids. To being a family. Look, I know it’s going to be hard sometimes and we’ll go through our ups and downs like any other couple, but come on, Charlotte. I’m thinking, after all of this, there isn’t much we couldn’t conquer together.”