Parting Chances (Fighting Chance #1) (24 page)

“My pleasure, sir,” Eli said, then flashed me a grin.

“Well, I’ll leave you two to…catch up, or whatever it is you need to do,” Dad said. As he walked away, he pointed to his eyes than to Eli and back again. As if he wasn’t already embarrassing enough.

“Oh my god, I’m sorry.” I laced my fingers through his and led him through the living room and down the basement stairs. It was the only empty and quiet place in the house. We sat on the couch, and he draped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me close.

“Hi,” he said into my hair.

“Hi,” I mumbled into his shirt.

“You look amazing,” he breathed.

And I was going to melt into a puddle right here.

“Thanks,” I muttered, a blush creeping up my neck.

“So, I think your dad likes me.” His chest rumbled as he laughed.

“Oh yeah, was it the evil glare he gave you when you arrived or his finger pointing death stare when he left us alone that gave it away?”

“It was when he told me thank you for looking out for his little girl.” Eli revealed what my dad had whispered to him.

“Oh, well…” I was too shocked at his ease with all of this. He pulled me tighter and placed another kiss in my hair.

“So something more, huh?” He let out a loud belly laugh at my groan.

“Please, just forget everything you hear today,” I said while burying my face deeper in his chest.

“Not a chance.”

***

We spent the next two hours curled up on the couch watching a TV movie. No matter how many times I had seen the holiday movies on the Hallmark channel, I still watched them non-stop this time of year. And thankfully, Eli didn’t put up a fight. Though, honestly, I’m pretty sure he fell asleep within the first five minutes.

Just as the ending credits started rolling and the next movie was already previewing on the bottom of the screen, my dad yelled down the stairs.

“Guys, it’s time.”

I sat up off of Eli, and he brought his hands to his eyes giving them a rub.

“Good movie, huh?” I joked, standing and holding out my hands for him.

“I don’t have any drool on my mouth or anything?” he asked as he took my hands and let me haul him up. I leaned up on my toes and inspected his mouth, and just as I was going to tell him he was good, his lips hit mine, fast and hard. His hands gripped my arms, holding me in place as his mouth moved against mine. When I parted my lips and he took the kiss deeper, I was overwhelmed with the taste of mint.
He always tasted like mint!
My hands trailed up his chest and clutched tightly to his button down shirt. His lips trailed kisses across my jawline and to the sensitive spot below my ear. When he hit it, a deep moan rushed from my lips. I felt his smile against my neck, before he placed soft kisses along my jaw and to my mouth. He placed two tender kisses on my lips before pulling back. My body tried to follow his as he put a small distance between us, but he held my arms in place.

“We should probably get up there.” He nodded toward the stairs, and I finally remembered where I was.

“Oh jeez. They are
so
going to know what we were doing.” I willed my face to not turn the shade of my dress and walked ahead of Eli up the stairs. When we reached the living room all the attention was on my mom, who was sitting in the chair like yesterday. Blankets were once again piled on her lap, and the IVs were behind her. Mom’s face wasn’t as dull as it was yesterday. Part of it had to do with the makeup someone had applied, but I’m also sure it was an exciting day for her, so her natural glow shone through. Meg was sitting close by her in the other armchair. She was in her usual scrubs, but had thrown a nicer sweater over her top, so she didn’t look out of place with the rest of us dressed up folks.

Before I could introduce Eli to my mom, or even tell him where to sit, I was pulled away by Emma’s mom. She thrust a bouquet of flowers in my hand and positioned me at the end of the hallway. Emma came out of the bedroom and gave me a breathtaking smile.

“Thank you so much for everything, Haley.” She took her position behind me with her dad at her side.

The music started from the living room, playing an acoustic version of “Kiss Me” by Ed Sheeran. Before I could start walking down the small hallway, my dad stepped up to my side and placed my hand in the crook of his arm.

“What are you doing?” I whispered as he led me down the hallway.

“Your brother asked me to be his best man. I’m walking the maid of honor down the aisle,” he whispered back. “I’m also walking my daughter down the aisle. Your mom won’t be able to see this on your wedding day, so we’ll give it to her today.” He placed his hand on mine and continued into the living room.

As I blinked, tears rolled down my face. Of course I had thought about my mom not being around when I got married, but I never thought about all the things she would truly miss in my life. And the fact that my dad remembered and wanted to do this for her was my undoing. I had no idea how I was going to make it through the ten-minute ceremony when I was already a blubbering mess.

We paused in front of the Christmas tree, and Dad hugged me. “You look lovely,” he whispered. “Your mom is beaming.” When we parted and took our spots on opposite sides of the tree, I looked over at Mom, who smiled at me, life shining in her eyes, mixed with tears. I tried brushing my tears away, but it was useless, more just kept on falling. As I stared toward the hallway, waiting for Emma to appear, I felt something nudge my hand. I looked down, and Eli was holding out a clump of tissues for me. I gave him a watery grin, my heart falling a little more for him at his compassionate smile. As I dabbed the tears away, Emma appeared in the entryway. I turned my gaze to my brother who was also wiping away a stray tear but was giving Emma the most loving smile I had ever seen.

Emma made her way to Caleb. After giving her father a hug, the two turned, hand in hand, to the officiant.

Instead of watching Caleb and Emma, I watched my mom. These were the moments I would never get to have. She would never be there when I got engaged or when I planned my wedding. She wouldn’t be there the morning of the wedding to calm my nerves or give me words of wisdom. She’d never stare at me with eyes full of tears as she watched me marry the love of my life. I’m glad she got to experience it all before she passed, but I still couldn’t stop my heart from breaking a little more.

When I turned back, Caleb and Emma were just ending their kiss. I hadn’t realized I had zoned out for so long, but I was thankful I didn’t have to stand there anymore.

“I’d like to be the first to introduce you all to Mr. and Mrs. Cavanaugh,” the officiant said. We all clapped lightly as the newlywed couple made their way back up the makeshift aisle. I met my dad in front of the tree again, and we followed. When we got out of the living room, Dad pulled me into a hug. And I lost it.

“Shhh, Haley. It’ll be okay. Everything will be okay.” Dad whispered the comforting words in my ear, but they just made me sob harder. I felt him lead me down the hallway and heard a door shut as we entered my old bedroom. We sat on the bed, and he held me closer.

“Daddy, I can’t do it. I can’t do this anymore. It’s too hard. My heart hurts so badly.”

“I know, honey. Oh, I know.” He rubbed small circles on my back. “It’s almost over.”

I wasn’t sure if he was talking about the day, or Mom being sick. But either way, the tears flowed faster.

He held me as I cried it out. Eventually we just sat there, him still rubbing my back and me gaining control of my breathing.

“We should get out there. Caleb wants to have a mother/son dance and I know your mom is getting tired.” Dad stood.

“Okay, you go. I’ll be out in a few minutes. I need to clean this up,” I said pointing to my face. I hadn’t looked in the mirror yet, but I was sure it was a mess.

“You look beautiful, Haley.” My dad kissed my forehead and left the room.

I found my face wipes in my bag and ran them under my eyes, clearing away any trace of makeup. I didn’t have the energy to reapply anything, so two minutes later I made my way back to the living room. Eli was still sitting next to my mom, and he looked up as I entered, concern etched on his face. I gave him a small smile, hoping it would reassure him that I was okay. Way too emotional, but okay.

“Hi, Mom,” I said when I approached them.

“Honey! So
this
is
the boy you’ve told me so much about!” She winked and gave me a thumbs up, and just like that, my mom knew exactly what to say to get me out of my funk. Now, instead of wanting to cry, I just wanted to hide.

“This is Eli, yes. Eli, you’ve already met my mom.”

Eli nodded and shifted to the side, so I could sit between him and my mom.

“Yes I have. She’s a wonderful woman,” Eli said, giving my mom his signature lopsided grin. And holy hell, my mom started blushing.

“Oh, Eli.” She swatted her hand out at him then pressed her palms to her cheeks.

“Sorry to interrupt, but could I have this dance?” Caleb broke into our little group and offered his hand to Mom. Caleb helped Mom stand while Meg maneuvered the IV cart around the chair. Caleb led Mom to the front of the tree, Meg a safe distance behind with the cart. When the music started and “Beautiful In My Eyes” came through the speakers, I almost lost it again. That was my mom’s favorite song for as long as I could remember. She made Dad dance with her to it on their anniversary every year.

Caleb held Mom tight, and they were barely swaying. Mom’s eyes were closed as her head rested against his chest. I saw two tears sneak out the corner of her eye and had to look away. I buried my head in Eli’s warmth, knowing if I watched them dance any longer I was going to start sobbing all over again. It was bad enough I could still hear the song. That wasn’t making anything any easier.

As the song hit its closing chords, I finally looked back up. I probably shouldn’t have, because at some point during the song, Caleb had scooped Mom up in his arms and was now cradling her gently. Her head still rested against his chest, her arms wrapped lightly around his shoulders. She had a soft smile on her face, but I was unsure if she was still awake. When there was nothing but silence in the room, Caleb placed a light kiss on Mom’s forehead. Then he tilted his head toward my parents’ bedroom, letting Meg know that’s where he was going to take her, and the three of them took off down the hallway.

After a few minutes, Caleb came back out with more tears in his eyes. I know weddings were emotional, but I had a feeling this one topped the cake.

“All right, let’s eat,” Dad announced, brushing his own tears away and leading the way into the kitchen.

Dinner was much the opposite of the previous hour. There was nothing but laughter and happiness around the table. Caleb even broke out his big brother act and interrogated Eli for the better part of twenty minutes. To Eli’s credit, he took everything in stride and always kept his arm on the back of my chair, brushing my shoulder with his thumb every now and then.

After dinner, we said goodbye to Emma’s parents and Emma and Caleb. The newlyweds were going to drop her parents off at the airport before heading to their hotel for the night.

I had finished packing up my suitcase and brought it out into the entryway when my dad found me.

“I know today has been rough, but there is one more thing I’d like you to do.”

“What’s that?” I turned my attention to him, my heart falling at his somber expression.

“I think you should go say your goodbyes to Mom,” he spoke softly.

Goodbyes, he said goodbyes.
And before I could stop them, the tears started rolling again.

“You think…” I choked out, not able to finish the thought.

He nodded. “She’s so weak. The pain medicine is what is really keeping her going. I honestly have no idea, but when she was at the doctor’s last week, they didn’t give us a very long timeline. And I would hate for you to
not
be able to say goodbye to her.” He patted my shoulder and went into the kitchen, just as Eli was coming out.

“That your suitcase? I can load it…” Eli trailed off as he took in my face. “Are you okay?”

“No, not really,” I muttered. Then stood straight and nodded. “Yes, that’s my suitcase. I have something I need to do, so if you could just wait with my dad until I’m done…” Eli was already nodding. He lifted my suitcase with one hand and wrapped his other around my waist, hugging me tight.

“You can do this,” he murmured into my hair, then he pushed me lightly down the hallway.

I didn’t bother knocking when I got to my parents’ room. Meg was in her usual spot, and Mom opened her eyes when I shut the door behind me.

“Haley. Honey, are you leaving?” she asked as I crawled into bed next to her.

“Yeah, soon.” I put my head down on her chest, letting the tears go.

“Honey, are you okay?” She placed a trembling hand on my shoulder, giving a weak squeeze.

“Why does everyone keep asking me that? Of course I’m not okay. You’re dying, Mom. Dad says you don’t have much time left. I’m sad because you won’t be around to experience things every Mom should. That you won’t be here to give me the advice only a mother could give her daughter. Of course I’m not
okay
! Who would be okay with this? And I’m not leaving. If this is the end, there is no way I’m going home.” I sobbed into her chest, very aware that I was yelling.