Page 152 of Just One Kiss

Josh looked away. He’d come here to ask for Gus’s blessing. What he’d gotten was so much more. And it felt good to have it all out in the open—no more living in the shadows.

“Thanks, Gus,” Josh said.

“You’re a good man, Josh,” Gus said. “I see that now. You always were a good man, just a little misguided. And—” he made sure he had Josh’s full attention now—“you’re nothing like your father.”

The words melted into the broken spaces of Josh’s heart, winding their way deeper and deeper, warming and mending and healing as only love and forgiveness can.

“I know that now, sir,” Josh said.

“Good. Now comes the hard part.”

Josh frowned.

“Getting Carly to take you back.” Gus laughed. “She’s awfully stubborn, that one.”

Josh stood. “Yeah, I wonder where she gets that.”

Gus met him near the door and pulled Josh into the only fatherly hug he’d ever had, clasping his arms tightly around him and clapping him three times on the back.

When Josh pulled out of the embrace, he saw tears in the corners of Gus’s eyes. So different from his own father, who had never shown a single sign of remorse, even after Dylan’s death.

“Good luck, son,” Gus said. “I hope she’ll give you a second chance.”

Josh walked out to his truck and glanced down at the set of keys in the drink holder.

You don’t have to let the past write your future.

The words pricked at the edges of his heart, and Josh began to imagine a different future. Not the one where he came home from work to an empty apartment in the city. Not the one where he walked around with vows written in faded ink in his pocket. The one where he made good on his promises, where he put action to the words he’d written all those years ago.

He started the engine and exhaled a long, slow breath.

Could Josh ever be the person Carly made him want to be?

Could he figure out a new way to write his future?

He’d taken the first steps—but Gus was right—this is where it got hard. He pulled away from the curb and prayed that Carly would give him that second chance.

39

It had been four weeks since Jaden’s surgery, and his follow-up visit with Dr. Carroll could not have gone better.

Carly may have lost her promotion, but Jaden gained a first-rate doctor who was up on all the latest treatments for his particular condition.

The trade was more than fair.

Now she sat at the indoor training center, which was terribly cold, she realized—was Grady trying to create the atmosphere of winter for everyone who walked through the door? If yes, he’d succeeded.

She shivered as she watched Jaden move onto the simulator. His first practice back since surgery, and there was no way she was going to miss it.

Coach Ted Myers caught her eye and waved. “You’re Jaden’s mom?”

“I am,” she said.

“We’ve got high hopes for your son.”

She glanced at Jaden as he moved to the top of the indoor slope. “So do I.”

“Was awfully glad to hear his new doctor cleared him,” the coach said. “Our team will be stronger for it. Jaden’s passion is infectious.”

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