Page 5 of Someone Like You
Dawson’s father—David Alan Gage—had been a college football quarterback with a gun for an arm. But his arm was only half as strong as his business sense so he walked away from the game and became a developer. Now he was one of the most successful players in the Northwest land game.
His dad met the love of his life at the closing of his first real estate purchase. Lila had been born in Colombia and moved to the United States when she was a child. Six years at Harvard and she became a skilled real estate attorney with a love for the outdoors and a beauty that took his father’s breath. She had a laugh Dawson remembered to this day.
A week after they met, Dawson’s parents hiked Mount Hood and by the time they reached the summit they were officially an item. Six months later they married and became one of Portland’s power couples. Active in business and church and a number of charities.
For a while it seemed everything Dawson’s parents touched turned to gold. Whatever they wanted they got, including him—the baby they had prayed for. Their future was wide open, practically guaranteed.
Right up until the cancer diagnosis.
Two months later Dawson’s mother was gone and overnight his dad changed. Development wins were nothing to the time his dad spent with Dawson. Someone else could close the company’s multimillion-dollar deals. David Gage would be at Dawson’s Little League games. Period.
After Dawson graduated from college six years ago, his dad brought him into the business. Since work was something the two of them did together, his dad was having fun again. He could hardly wait for Dawson to marry and have children.
Which was why his relationship with London Quinn was so complicated.
If only she would change her mind about him. Then the pieces of their lives would fall into place the way they had with his parents. Instead London hadn’t thought differently about him since that night at Disneyland—they were friends. Nothing more.
A friendship that kept Dawson from being interested in any other girl.
He turned in to his driveway and parked just past her car. Minutes later he stepped through his back doorway with an oversize faux mink blanket, a thermos of hotchocolate and two mugs. London sat in one of two low-slung chairs at the end of the dock.
She looked over her shoulder as he walked up. “Good. You brought a blanket.” She was in jeans and a white sweatshirt, not warm enough for the chilly night.
He took the seat beside her, wrapped the blanket around their backs, and filled their mugs. Their shoulders touched as he leaned back in his chair and gazed at the reflection of lights on the water. A long sigh came from deep inside him. “I’ve looked forward to this all day.”
“Me, too.” She turned to him. “I’m glad we take time … to remember.”
Dawson wanted tonight to be about more than that, but he only nodded. “Yeah.”
For a while they sipped their cocoa and stared at the river. Finally, London turned to him. “I’m a match. I wanted to wait till tonight to tell you.”
“For your mom?” Dawson slid to the edge of his chair and a splash of hot chocolate spilled on his jeans. “That’s incredible!”
London leaned back. “We’ll do the transplant in a month.”
Dawson was as close to London’s mother as he had been to his own, but since January, Louise Quinn had been battling kidney disease. Her doctors blamed excessive use of over-the-counter pain medication she’d taken all her life for migraine headaches. A few weeks ago she had gone on dialysis and her doctor explained to the family how desperately Louise Quinn needed a new kidney.
Without a transplant she wouldn’t live another year.
Dawson let the news sink in. “I’ve been praying every day about this. That you’d be a match.”
“I mean …” Her smile faded a bit. “I was a match from the time I was born. Right?” She thought for a bit. “And if I would’ve had the sister I always wanted, odds are we’d both be matches. As long as we shared the same blood type.” She shrugged. “Prayer didn’t have much to do with it, Dawson.”
There it was.
He turned toward the water again. The real reason he and London never found their way past friendship. Dawson’s faith held her at bay, made her uncomfortable even in moments like this. When something wonderful had just happened.
“Prayer has everything to do with it.” He took a slow breath and turned to her. “Is she happy?”
“I guess.” A faraway look clouded London’s beautiful eyes. “She’s worried about me. That something will happen in the transplant.”
“It won’t.” Dawson had researched the procedure extensively. “You’ll be fine. And so will she.” Peace washed over him and he set his mug on the dock. “You aren’t nervous, right?”
“Not at all.” London held her hot drink close. “I just want it to work.” She shook her head. “I couldn’t bear …” Her eyes found his again. “I’ll never know how you survived this long without your mom.”
“I have my dad.” He reached for her fingers, the way he had years ago at Disneyland. “And you … and your mom.”
London didn’t pull away. They held hands this way often, complicating things and simplifying them all at the same time. He kept the conversation anchored in reality. “How’s Chuck?”
