Always With You: Part One by M. Leighton Read Free Book Online Page A

there’s one glitch in that intricate process, I could lose him.  I could never see his smile, hear his voice or feel his hug again for the rest of my life.  And neither will my children.  They’ll never know the amazing man their grandfather is.
    I’m gripped by a fear so poignant, a panic so overwhelming that my pulse speeds. It races so fast that my head swims and my stomach sloshes.
    “Listen to me,” Cash whispers against my hair, halting the tailspin I was falling into.  “Darrin Townsend is not going down this way.  That crazy son of a bitch is gonna come out laughing.  You know how he is.  He’d kick the ass of anyone or anything that tried to get between him and his daughter. Surgery included.”
    I let out a shaky breath.  My father is strong.  And he does love me.  I know he’d do anything within his power to keep me from pain and harm.  But this…
    “I know, but this is serious.  So serious.”
    “It is. But so is he when he means business.  Think about how he stays up all night worrying about his sheep.  Think about how hard he fights to keep every single one healthy, alive and accounted for.  He’s a determined man, especially when it comes to what he loves.  And you, he loves most of all.  He’ll pull through, baby.  If for no other reason, he’ll do it for you.  God gave him a backbone of steel and probably a heart just as strong.  Have faith in that.”
    I turn my face to the side and press my ear to Cash’s chest.  I can hear the steady thud of his heart and I close my eyes to focus on it.  So comforting.  So reassuring. So strong.  Like my father’s.  I’ve heard it pressed to my ear in much this same way for my whole life when he’d hold me.  Just because his vessels are sick doesn’t mean his heart is. They caught it in time.  He couldn’t have been in a better place for this to happen. And now they’re going to fix him. Then he’ll come back to me.  To share his smile, to hold his grandkids, to grow old right before my eyes. 
    Have faith. 
    As calm begins to ripple through me, my focus spreads out to include other things, other people.
    “Our things…I left without finishing.  I need to get that stuff to the condo so Sophie can have a place to stay.”
    “I’ll take care of it.  Don’t worry about that right now.”
    “I would go back, but I don’t know what to expect from the next few hours. Or the next few days for that matter.  I don’t want to leave just yet.”
    “I’ve got it, baby.  This is where your focus needs to be. It’s more important. Leave the rest to me.”
    I pause, nibbling my lip in indecision.  “Cash?”
    “Hmmm?” he murmurs, his hand stroking my hair in that way he does that makes me feel like the most adored and cherished person in the history of the world.
    I almost hate to bring this up, but I’m so emotional right now it seems to be beyond my self-control not to ask.
    “Sophie said she hurt you.  Did she?”
    I feel as much as hear his sigh.  “At the time she did.”
    I close my eyes.  I had hoped he would say that she didn’t, that she was just being dramatic. Or arrogant. Or clueless.  I was hoping that he never really cared about her very much.  Only it seems that he did. At least for a time.
    “Wh-what happened between you two?”
    “Olivia, I know all this with your dad has turned you inside out, but don’t let it cast a shadow of doubt on things you know to be true.  Like the fact that I love you and only you.  Like the fact that nothing and no one will ever come between us.  Like the fact that you’re the most important person in my life. Period.  Sophie is a girl from my past. Nothing more. If you couldn’t reach out and touch her, I’d tell you she was a ghost.  There’s not even enough there for you to sink your teeth into. Please, please, please don’t let her get to you.”
    “That’s easier said than done,” I reply quietly, my heart aching all over again.
    “Then when