Page 90 of Just One Kiss

He exited the car and strode toward the front door.

Only one way to find out.

23

Carly was mad. And no matter what Josh said, she was going to stay that way.

She didn’t care what he’d gone out to do—whatever it was could’ve waited until after Jaden had woken up.

There had been fleeting moments in which she wondered if they could be some cobbled-together version of a family again.

But this? Maybe it was the wake-up call she needed. The reminder that Josh had some serious flaws.

These were the thoughts racing through her mind when the door opened and Josh walked into the room. He looked windblown and terrified.

She said nothing.

He glanced at Jaden, who’d just fallen back to sleep, the anesthesia not yet out of his system. “How’s he doing?”

A pile of snarky comebacks pelted her mind.

You’d know if you’d bothered to stick aroundbeing the gist of all of them.

She must’ve waited too long to reply because he turned toward her then. “Carly?” He sat on the sofa bed next to her chair. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t here.”

She stared at him, waiting for an explanation that didn’t come. Her skin tingled, the way it always did when she was angry or anxious or frustrated. She bet her neck was all splotchy too, a tattletale to her emotions.

She never could hide her feelings from him.

He sighed, then raked a hand through his hair. “It was stupid. I shouldn’t have left. I just wanted to do something—to fix something.”

“Where did you go?”

But before he could respond, Jaden stirred, drawing their attention.

Carly rushed to his side. “Hey, kiddo.”

Jaden took a second to swallow, then opened his eyes. Josh now stood a few inches behind her, and Jaden’s eyes focused on his father. Carly braced herself for the anger their son was likely feeling, and prepared to tell Josh to go. He was upsetting Jaden and right now, they needed to do everything they could to make sure their son didn’t have extra stress.

But Jaden didn’t lash out. He didn’t even frown. A smile crawled across his tired face. “Dad.”

Carly stiffened as Josh moved closer and took Jaden’s outstretched hand. “I’m here, kid,” he said.

So am I,she wanted to say.And I have been for sixteen years.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t here when you woke up,” Josh said.

Surely Jaden wasn’t going to buy this apologetic father act.

But Jaden did buy it. He flicked the air as if to wave the whole idea of an apology away. “Glad you’re here now.”

And that was it. No punishment. No making his father pay for disappointing him.

Carly pressed her lips together to keep from saying something she would regret. This was about Jaden, and so far, her son seemed perfectly fine with Josh’s broken promise.

She shifted away from Josh, who let go of Jaden’s hand. “Do you need anything to eat or drink? Can I do anything for you?”

He looked so earnest, as if he really wanted to help, but Carly reminded herself that he could not be trusted.

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