Page 8 of Just One Kiss

If you knew what I’ve done, Carly, you would understand. Heck, you’d thank me for leaving.

He dragged his suitcase and bags to the front door.

Before he left, he walked into Jaden’s room and looked around. Gray walls. Mural of a skier painted behind the metal headboard. Framed posters of Jaden’s skiing heroes hung in a neat row along with two personal photos—one of Josh and Jaden at a skiing expo this past winter and another of the two of them with Carly in the hospital the day Jaden was born.

He walked over to the photo, the same one he had in his office. Maybe it had been stupid to frame it, but it was important to him, and it was important that his son knew his parents had loved each other once. He’d been born out of love, misguided though it was.

He pulled the frame off the wall, tucked it under his arm and said a silent prayer that God would keep his son safe.

“I’ll do anything, God,” he said as he closed Jaden’s door behind him. “Just please let him be okay.”

3

Josh definitely had not obeyed the speed limit on his drive to Harbor Pointe. It should’ve taken him over two hours to arrive in his hometown, but he made it in under an hour and thirty-five minutes.

That had to be some kind of record.

Now, though, sitting in the parking lot of the hospital, he found himself unable to move. What if something really was wrong with his kid? What if the doctors were about to deliver the worst news of his life?

It would only heighten his frustration that things were the way they were—that they had to be the way they were—and especially, that Carly would never understand.

He got out of his truck and strode toward the emergency room doors. Inside, the waiting room was full, but he didn’t recognize anyone, and they didn’t seem to recognize him. Once upon a time, Josh Dixon had been Harbor Pointe legend—and not in a good way.

A black mark on his family’s good name. If anyone were talking about Josh, it likely was followed by pity for his poor parents for having to put up with such a rebellious and misguided son.

Despite Carly’s good influence, his life had gone off the rails right around the time he turned seventeen. The fact that she didn’t kick him to the curb back then was a miracle—and look, he’d dragged her right down to the gutter with him.

Being back here was going to be harder than he thought.

He glanced down at his cell phone. Nothing. No phone calls. No texts. Nothing to update him since the initial conversation he’d had with Carly.

Could he blame her, really? The virtual silent treatment was probably all he could expect from her.

He approached the window where a plump receptionist in pink scrubs sat. Her name tag readBarband her hair was a tight blond frizz. She looked up.

“Can I help you?”

“My son was here a couple of hours ago. I just got back into town. I need to see if he’s been admitted.”

“Name?”

He gave her all the pertinent information, though he had to try Jaden’s birthdate twice—that had warranted a major stink eye from Barb.

“They took him upstairs for testing. Second floor. Cardiovascular unit.”

Josh frowned. “Like, the heart?”

Her expression turned salty. “Yes, like the heart.”

His own heart raced. Why? Jaden was sixteen. An athlete. Why were they testing him in the cardio unit?

She gave him directions, which he half listened to, then sent him to an elevator down the hall.

He must’ve pushed the necessary buttons and he must’ve rode up a floor because the doors opened to reveal a giant number 2 painted on the wall. He got out, feeling every bit as dazed as he had the day Jaden was born.

That day would be etched in his memory forever.

He found the signs that led him to the cardio unit and buzzed the intercom on the door. A warbly voice came across the other side.

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