Can't Let Go by Jessica Lemmon Read Free Book Online Page B

him a soft smile. “Aiden Andrew Downey.”
    He clenched his teeth.
    “I need your strength more than ever.” Her bottom lip quivered. Aiden bit his tongue to keep from bawling like a baby. “You’re the one I’m counting on to get me through this.” She smiled through her tears. “I get to make the best of my life. Even though it’s ending.”
    That did it. Aiden dropped his forehead into his hands, his hair covering his wet face, and cried silently, but hard. His shoulders shook, his nose ran, and his mother…his amazing, strong, beautiful mother, whom he was supposed to be strong for , shushed him and stroked his back, and promised it would all be okay.
    But it wouldn’t.
    It couldn’t.

Chapter 6
    A fter a long dinner filled with laughter and stories, Lissa Francine left the Downey residence to catch a flight to Milan. Aiden thought Landon looked relieved to see her go. Mike and Kathy bowed off to bed, and Angel begged off, tucking her very tired and cranky nephew into his bed as well.
    Landon and Evan had ventured to the den to break into their father’s scotch. Aiden was about to join them when Harmony tugged on his hand. “Can I talk to you?” Again, he couldn’t escape just how rough and foreign her touch was. Maybe because Sadie’s felt so right.
    Sadie. How the hell was he supposed to tell her any of this? When Aiden had resigned to himself, and Shane, that Harmony would be around more if his mother’s cancer came back, Aiden had been preparing himself for the unfortunate, and, he thought, unlikely possibility.
    Now that his mom had received the worst news of all of their lives, Aiden wanted to eat his words with a fork. He didn’t want Harmony here. He wanted Sadie here, as selfish as it was. Selfish, because he knew his mother would take the news of the divorce hard. And his family wouldn’t react well to a stranger being among them while dealing with a family tragedy. The last thing everyone needed was to try and warm up to Aiden’s new girlfriend while making funeral arrangements.
    But Aiden wanted her there all the same.
    Heavy dread settled on his shoulders. Harmony’s rattling bracelets brought him back to the present. She’d dragged him to the kitchen, put her henna-tattooed fingers on his chin, and turned his head to face her. Aiden pulled away from her touch and rammed his hands into his pockets.
    She frowned, lowering her voice. “Hey, don’t be mean. I’m trying to do you a favor, man.”
    You mean the way you did me a favor by shagging my best friend? he wanted to blurt, but only because he was upset about his mom. He wasn’t mad at Harmony. Not anymore. If she ran off and had sex with a thousand people, he couldn’t care less. She wasn’t his problem any longer.
    Ah, the hidden beauty of divorce.
    “Listen”—Harmony twisted a long, red dreadlock around her finger—“I’m gonna go.”
    Aiden regarded her, his face flat. How could he ever have loved this woman? What sort of weird path was he on during their two-year marriage that drew him to her ambivalence and self-serving attitude?
    “Well, you tried,” he said, voice dripping with sarcasm. She didn’t pick up on an ounce of it. She didn’t understand him any more than he got her.
    “I’ll be back in the morning.” She adjusted the hoop in her nose. “I just”—she shrugged—“need a break. This is a drag.”
    Aiden’s blood pressure simmered. He felt his face go red, maybe purple, he wasn’t sure. “No shit, Harmony,” he said, his voice lifting. “Cancer kinda sucks.”
    That sarcasm she picked up on.
    “Don’t hate, man. I’ll be back in the morning.” Was that supposed to make him feel better? “I told you I’d show up and do the dance.”
    Aiden ground his teeth. “Don’t bother.”
    “Hey—”
    He resisted the very real urge to grab her arm and physically drag her out of the house. Instead, he turned and stalked to the front door and held it open for her. She loped, purposefully slow,