Page 133 of Finding Hayes

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King

I didn’t want to bring this up, but Hayes had Roddy wearing booties when we he took him for a hike.

Protecting a dog’s paw pads is called being a responsible pet owner.

Nash

These are not conversations I ever thought we’d be having.

Romeo

I can’t say I mind it. It’s a lot better than the drama we grew up with. No one’s getting arrested or put inprison.

River

Damn straight, brother. We’re living the lives we couldn’t even dream of when we were teenagers.

King

Good women. Good jobs. Good friends. I’d call that a damn good life.

Are you drunk?

King

Nope. Just happy.

Yeah, brother. I think we all are.

Ain’t that the fucking truth.

thirty-six

. . .

Savanna

I’d just arrived backfrom Dallas with Hayes. He’d worked his schedule so that he could take off the weekend and come with me. We’d gotten a hotel near the hospital and spent our days with my father and Nadia and our nights wrapped around one another.

It made the stress of this whole experience so much better with my husband by my side. My dad was four weeks into treatment, and to say he was responding well was an understatement.

His numbers were improving.

He was feeling better.

Eating better.

Sleeping better.

It was a small win, and one that I would take. He was improving, and there was hope in that. I knew it didn’t mean that he would be cured overnight, but the hope was that eventually he would be in remission.

I wanted my father to be around to know my children.

He and Nadia were already looking at homes in MagnoliaFalls. They planned to get married and move there when they left Dallas. I couldn’t ask for more.

Life had a funny way of working out.

Hayes had dropped me off at the Golden Goose to meet the girls for lunch, and he was going to run a few errands.

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