A Brother's Honour. Brenda Jackson

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ this situation with your grandfather,” Sedrick added.

      “I am, too.” Caden then glanced over at Jace. “Did you reach Dalton?”

      “Yes.” Jace pretended to stretch his body and knew Caden intercepted the code they’d developed years ago that meant...we’ll discuss it later.

      “He’s back to resting calmly now,” Sedrick said. “If it happens again, let us know.”

      He was about to leave the room with the nurse following in his wake when Caden asked, “How’s Shiloh?”

      “She’s fine and back in Virginia. She returned six months ago when my father became ill and stayed to help out with Mom after he died.”

      “I was sorry to hear about your dad’s passing,” Caden said.

      “Thanks.”

      Sedrick closed the door behind him, and it was then that Caden glanced back across the room at Jace, who said, “You handled that well.”

      “What?”

      “News that Shiloh is back in Virginia.”

      Caden shrugged and his jaw tightened. “Doesn’t matter to me one way or the other.”

      “Yet you asked about her,” Jace couldn’t help pointing out.

      “Out of curiosity and nothing more.”

      Jace decided not to also point out that curiosity didn’t mean a damn thing unless it mattered.

      “So what’s going on with Dalton? Is he coming or not?” Caden asked brusquely.

      Jace stretched once again, followed by an incline of his head toward the bed after pointing at his ear.

      Caden understood and nodded. “Fine.”

      Caden then moved toward the bed and settled down in the same chair that Jace had vacated earlier. Jace studied his brother. Although there was a two-year difference in their ages, Caden was an inch taller but somewhat thinner, especially in his facial features. He looked tired, through-to-the-bone worn, and in need of a lot of rest. Jace figured doing all those concerts and not eating properly in between, in addition to not getting enough rest, was taking its toll.

      Caden reached out and took their grandfather’s hand in his. “If this was your idea of getting us all back in one spot, then it worked,” he said. “But just so you know, I don’t like seeing you this way, so knock it off.”

      Jace couldn’t help but smile. Years ago, Caden had found a way to bypass the old man’s toughness to deal with him on a more playful level. Very few people could do that. A part of Jace wished Dalton had tried, but there had been too much anger, probably on both sides.

      “His hand feels weak,” Caden said, shifting his gaze from their grandfather to Jace.

      “I know.” Jace then glanced at his watch. “I know you just got here, but how about us going downstairs and grabbing a cup of coffee while Granddad’s resting? Besides, I need to call Hannah and let her know we’re here.”

      Caden nodded. “It’s late.”

      Jace chuckled. “Yes, but how much you want to bet she’s still up?”

      Caden grinned as he stood to his feet. “You’re probably right.”

      “You know I am,” was Jace’s reply as they headed for the door.

      At two in the morning, the hospital’s break room was empty, and as Caden settled down in a chair at one of the tables, the only thing on his mind was that Shiloh was back in Virginia.

      “Still take yours black?”

      He glanced over at Jace, who was standing at the coffee vending machine. “Yes, that’s the only way to fly.”

      “Only if you pull all-nighters as you’ve evidently been doing,” Jace tossed back.

      Caden wasn’t in the mood to go any rounds with his brother about his late nights. Hell, he knew he needed to do better in the rest department, but doing Vegas was any entertainer’s dream come true. Luckily, it had been his last night, so he didn’t have to cancel any performances. But he did have that gig coming up in New York in a few weeks. It was only two weeks, but the pay and the exposure were awesome, not to mention he was already committed.

      “Here,” Jace said, setting the coffee in front of Caden and interrupting his thoughts. Just as well. Caden didn’t want to think about the future until he knew his grandfather was out of the woods.

      “Thanks. So what are the doctors saying about Granddad?” Caden asked.

      He watched his brother slide into his chair and recognized that someone who knew Jace as well as he did would be sure that whatever he was about to say wasn’t going to be good. The words bad news were written all over Jace’s face.

      “Not good. In fact, Sedrick is surprised he’s still here. The heart attack did a lot of damage to his heart muscles.”

      Although Caden had inwardly steeled himself as much as possible against what was about to come, Jace’s words were still a devastating punch in the gut. “We’ll get a second opinion,” Caden said after taking a sip of his coffee.

      “We got one, Caden. Results are the same.”

      Caden held his brother’s gaze. “So what are you saying?”

      Jace rubbed his hand down his face before saying, “We’re losing him.”

      Caden closed his eyes and switched his gaze off Jace to some abstract picture on the wall. The thought of losing the old man was hard on him, almost as hard as it had been to lose his dad. The only difference was that his father hadn’t died, and Caden could go see him whenever he wanted...in accordance with the penitentiary’s visiting hours, of course. And he made it a point to visit his dad as often as he could. It had been fifteen years. Fifteen hard and lonely years without his father being free.

      He looked back at Jace. “Have you told Dad?”

      Jace nodded his head. “Yes, I contacted him before flying out here and spoke to Warden Smallwood. He promised to get the message to Dad. But Dad has no idea of how bad things are.”

      Caden didn’t want to be the one to tell him and knew Jace didn’t want to be the one, either. He took a sip of his coffee and studied his brother. This had to be hard on Jace, since he and their grandfather were extremely close. Caden had always chalked it up to Jace’s being the firstborn grandson and all that. But later, as they got older, Caden realized just how much like Richard Granger Jace truly was. He had the ability to put everything in the proper order. He could be tough when there was a need. Uncaring, firm, rigid, inflexible...and all those adjectives that meant the same thing. But then there was a side of him that demonstrated he had to be the most caring person in the world. You just had to know how to work it to get that side exposed.

      “Jace, are you okay?” Caden asked softly.

      Jace, who’d been staring down into his cup of coffee, lifted a tormented gaze to him. “Not really. Remember СКАЧАТЬ