Page 23 of Mic Drop

“It was a stupid misunderstanding,” I reply. “We’ve got it all sorted now.” I pause. “I love your daughter.”

She tips her head. “Glad to hear that.”

“Me too,” Jenna says, leaning against the doorframe.

I’m not embarrassed of my feelings. In fact, I would announce my love for this woman from the top of the Empire State Building if that were allowed. Perhaps Luke can get the words lit up on it?

Nah. Jenna doesn’t need such over-the-top displays. This, right here, is more than enough for her. And me.

I direct my gaze toward the woman who owns me, body and soul. “I never stopped.”

She runs her palm over her arm. “Me neither.”

This conversation needs to happen when we don’t have an audience. Preferably naked. For now, I settle with, “Glad that’s settled.” The whistle for the kettle goes off and Jenna scurries into the kitchen.

Faith leans forward. “Do you promise to take good care of my Sweet Pea?”

“I do.”

“Will you not rush to any judgments where she’s concerned?Make her spell out what’s going on inside her thick skull?” She taps her head.

My lips twitch at her mother’s description. “I’ll pull the truth out of her if need be.” I pause a beat. “Anyway, it’s a gorgeous skull.”

Her hand flips. “Looks fade. What’s inside Jenna is pure devotion for those she loves. Do you think you’re worthy of such a fierce commitment?”

“Yes, and only because that’s what she’s getting from me. I’ve shared things with her I never tell another person. She knows all my warts—hell, she’s dealing with the whole Lissa situation better than I am. I want to make sure she’s protected and knows she’s loved. I want to hold her when she cries.”

Her mother interjects, “Which she’s going to do sooner rather than later, I fear.”

Shocked to feel a wetness behind my eyeballs, I blink. “About that. Are you sure there’s nothing that can be done?”

“If there’s anything I’ve learned from my time on this earth, it’s that quality triumphs quantity any day of the week and twice on Sundays. Would I prefer to stay and watch Jenna’s clinics become huge successes? Share in Kara’s very full life? Of course. But that’s not the hand I’ve been dealt. I’m all right with that.”

“I could take you to Europe—see what the doctors there have to say.”

Her head shakes. “I’ve seen the best here and they all say the same thing.” She pats her thigh. “Do you blame me for not wanting to seek out more medical opinions?”

I try to put myself in her shoes. My body sinks into the chair as holding up my weight becomes harder. “I don’t. Like you, I would want to spend as many healthy days with Jenna as I could. Not become a burden wasting time traveling to other doctors for no different results.”

My response tapers as reality hits. Jenna’s fighting against theinevitable.

Faith’s blonde head nods, displaying the thinning of her hair. “You get it.”

“I do,” I repeat my earlier vow but in a very different context.

The need to do something to make her final weeks brighter overwhelms me, but what could it be? I want Faith to be comfortable, but it seems as if she has everything she needs here. What could I give her that she doesn’t already have? My mind searches for a different outlet, one that will provide her peace. Her daughter putters in the kitchen, obviously buying us time to talk.

It hits me.

The one thing a devoted mother—which leaves my own out—wants for her children. For them to be settled and happy. I can do that for them both.

My hands lower to my knees. “Faith, I know we’ve only met a few times, but it feels as if I’ve known you forever the way Jenna talks about you.”

“Jenna has shared some things about you to me as well.”

I swallow. Am I really about to ask this? I’ve never believed for even a nanosecond I would be in this position. “I would like to ask you a question.”

“Go ahead.”

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