“Come on in and meet your nephew, Brayden Connor Jensen.”

I looked at my dad and he had tears in his eyes. I walked over to Julia and she handed me the baby. I was a nervous wreck to hold him because he was small. For as big as Julia was, I expected him to be bigger. But I didn’t dare say anything.

“Brayden, I want you to meet your Uncle Collin. He’s going to be the best uncle in the world and spoil you rotten.”

“That’s right, little dude. You are so loved already,” I said as I rubbed his tiny hand.

Julia reached her hand over and touched my arm. “Thank you for taking care of me until Jake got here. I’m sorry about your arm.”

“Don’t sweat it, sis, and you’re welcome.” I winked.

Chapter 29

I opened my eyes and took in the scent of roses that I loved so much on Amelia. She was wrapped up in my arms and snuggled tightly against my chest. I felt weighted down by the fact that I never told her about the beach house. Now that winter was settling in, the house was closed up until I decided to open it up next summer. She stirred in my arms and let out a big yawn as she opened her beautiful blue eyes.

“Good morning, baby.” I smiled as I kissed her head.

“Good morning.”

“You still look tired.”

“Well, considering we had three rigorous workouts last night, I’d say I am.” She smiled.

“Ah, what amazing workouts those were too.”

She kissed my chest and got out of bed. She looked sexy as hell in her silk black nightie that I bought for her.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going to make us some coffee. Stay right there and don’t move.” She pointed.

“Yes, ma’am!” I saluted.

I smiled as I put my hands behind my head and thought about last night. My phone rang; my dad was calling.

“Morning, Dad.”

“Good morning, son. I wanted to let you know that Diana called in today because Jacob is in the hospital. Why don’t you take the morning off and go visit him?”

“Thanks, Dad. I will.”

“I’ll see you this afternoon.” Click.

Amelia walked back in the room and handed me a cup of coffee. “Did I hear you talking to someone?”

“Yeah. That was my dad. Jacob is back in the hospital.”

“Oh no. That’s terrible.”

“When I drop you off at the hospital, I’m going to stay and visit.”

“Good idea, sweetie,” she said as she leaned over and kissed me. “Jacob will be thrilled to see you.”

We both took a shower and got ready to leave. I pulled into the parking lot, parked the Range Rover, and walked with Amelia into the hospital.

“Bye, baby. Have a good day,” I said as I kissed her.

“Bye, sweetheart. Let me know how Jacob’s doing.”

“I will.”

She went right and I went left. I took the elevator up to the pediatric floor and one of the nurses showed me to Jacob’s room. When I walked in, he was lying in the bed, hooked up to a breathing mask, and Diana was sitting next to him.

“Hey, bro.” I smiled from the doorway.

“Hi, Collin. What are you doing here?” Diana asked.

“My dad called me and told me that Jacob was here and I wanted to check in and make sure he’s doing okay,” I said as I walked over to him and placed my hand on his arm.

He gave me a thumbs up.

“That is very sweet of you and I know Jacob is thrilled you’re here.”

He gave another thumbs up. He couldn’t talk because he was in the middle of getting a treatment. I felt bad for him and it really hurt me to see him lying there like that. It was something he’d dealt with his whole life, but it was new to me and I didn’t know if I’d ever get used to it.

“Hey, buddy. As soon as you get out of here, I’m going to come over and spend the day with you. We can do whatever you want.”

I told Diana to go and take a break and get some breakfast. She’d been by his side the entire night and I could see that she was exhausted. She took me up on my offer, knowing that I’d be there with Jacob. Sitting on the table next to his bed was the book Diary of a Wimpy Kid. I picked it up and looked at it.

“Was your mom reading this to you?” I asked.

He nodded his head. I opened to the page that was saved with a bookmark and looked it over.

“Would you like me to read it to you?”

He nodded again. I smiled and began reading where Diana had left off.

I’d spent half the day with Jacob. It was time for me to get to the office because I had a meeting to attend. I kissed Diana on the cheek as she said goodbye to me, and I ran my hand through Jacob’s hair.

“You better call me when you get out of here. Got it?” I pointed at him.

He nodded.

****

As I stepped into the board room, my dad was already sitting down, going over the notes for the meeting.

“How’s Jacob doing?” he asked as he looked up at me.

“I don’t know, Dad. It was terrible seeing him like that. We need to talk after the meeting.”

“Okay, son.”

Once the meeting was over, I followed my dad into his office. I walked over to the refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of water.

“Sit down. What did you want to talk about?” he asked.

“I think you should rent the house in California to Diana.”

“What?” he asked with surprise.

“I’ve been thinking about this ever since I took Jacob surfing at the beach house. He was so much better there. You even mentioned it to me, remember?”

“Yes. I remember.”

“They have water-related programs for children with cystic fibrosis and I think the quality of life would be so much better for both him and Diana.”

He looked at me and cocked his head. “Collin, you want me to move my secretary?”

“Yeah. I know she’s good here, but she can be just as good in California. I know Reese just quit the art gallery to stay home and raise her baby. You can give that job to Diana. She’s a smart woman and I know she can do it. It’s close to the house and Jacob can meet other kids in the programs there that are like him. I just think California would be a better place for them.”

“Son, I know you want to help them, but you just can’t tell someone they have to move across the country.”

“Why? Jacob is everything to her and she’d do whatever she could to make him better. Plus, Mason is close by since they moved back there and he could kind of act as a big brother to him. I’m sure he’d love that.”