Forever Mine: Callaghan Brothers, Book 9 by Abbie Zanders Read Free Book Online Page A

intractable.
    Kane silently took in everything while his wife, Rebecca, fluffed the pillows and checked the pitcher of ice water by his bedside. Jack knew he was sizing it all up. His eldest son was a man of few words, but everything was right there in his eyes, if one knew what to look for. Jack answered him with a look of his own. Kane blinked, and Jack knew the message had been received.
    “Is there anything we can get for you, Dad?” Rebecca asked. Compassion radiated from her eyes as her gentle voice rolled over him, soothing. The woman had spent more than a decade working with humanitarian missions, foregoing her wealthy birthright to live and work in some of the poorest countries of the world. He’d never realized how much she sounded like Kathleen before, but with the echoes of his wife’s voice in his head, the similarity was uncanny.
    Rebecca was yet another example of the perfection of croies . Jack couldn’t imagine any other woman who would complement Kane as well as she did. Just as Kathleen had complemented him.
    “Some crossword puzzles,” he replied. “And my reading glasses. Apparently I’m going to be on my arse for a while.”
    Rebecca smiled and told him she’d get right on it, then they, too, took their leave. They were followed by Ian and Lexi, Sean and Nicki, Shane and Lacie, and finally, Kieran and Faith. Each of his sons was so different, but he was proud of every one of them. They had all been fortunate in finding their wives, though Jack wouldn’t have been surprised if Kathleen had been nudging things along. He had no doubt she was up in Heaven, looking down on all of them even now, watching over them.
    Michael and Maggie were the last to visit. “Aidan sends his best,” Maggie told him. “He wanted to come, but they’ll only allow immediate family in to see you.”
    Aidan was not his son by blood, but he had become an integral part of the Callaghan family. Rebecca’s brother and best friend and business partner of Ian’s wife, Lexi, Aidan Harrison was a good man. “Thank him for me, lass.”
    “I will. Are they treating you okay?” she asked, fluffing his pillow, then readjusting the covers around his feet. What was it with women and their incessant need to fluff and tuck?
    “Aye, lass, they’re treating me fine.”
    “Are you warm enough? Do you want another blanket? How about some ice chips?”
    Maggie refused to look into his eyes, he noticed. Jack turned to Michael, who gave him a knowing look. It was then that realization dawned. Maggie was barely holding it together. She had an irrational fear of hospitals, and for her to be here at all was a testament to how much she cared for him.
    “Maggie, I’m sorry, lass,” he said softly.
    Her hands paused, her eyes fixed on the edge of the hospital bed. “You lied,” she sniffed. “You said it was indigestion.”
    “Aye. But you understand, lass.” If anyone could, it was Maggie. There had been a few instances where she’d ignored the warning signs and put her own health at risk, whether out of fear or denial or laundry list of other excuses.
    “Aye,” she agreed, finally meeting his gaze. “But I have Michael now. He looks out for me.”
    That he did. Maggie was a proud, stubborn woman, but she was no match for the unwavering, quiet tenacity of her husband. Jack also knew that Maggie had just appointed herself his personal overseer. He would have chuckled if it didn’t hurt so much.
    “He can look out for both of us,” Jack said.
    “Get some rest, Dad.”
    “I will.”
    “Take care.”
    ––––––––
    J anuary 1975
    Pine Ridge
    “Take care.”
    Jack jumped down from the truck at the edge of the driveway and waved off his ride. He didn’t know the driver, but the man was a local and had kindly offered him a ride when he’d come across Jack walking along the road, duffel slung over his back. The nearest bus station was five miles from his parents’ house, but five miles was nothing to feet that