The Stories We Tell by Charlene Carr

Author:Charlene Carr
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: life change events, interracial, blindness romance, strong female lead, single women, second chances, epic, sagas
Publisher: Coastal Lines
Published: 2017-12-12T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Two

Theo laughed, his face lighting up. He clapped his hands then ran around to the start of the track Lincoln had built for him months ago. He set his and Kali’s car up again.

Kali grinned and caught Lincoln’s eye. Lincoln smiled at her, at them, and how far they’d both come—Theo overcoming his fear of speech, Kali triumphing through the pain and loss of her vision. He’d played a role in all of it. He’d helped. But they didn’t need that help anymore.

“Okay, last run,” said Kali. “Then you need to get yourself changed for bed.”

“And stories.”

“And stories.” Kali laughed.

Theo stood and pointed his arm at Lincoln. “You.”

“What? Race?”

Theo’s eyes brightened. “Yes, race. And stories!”

“You want me to read to you tonight?”

Theo nodded as he waved Lincoln over to the track. Lincoln picked up a car and crouched down between Theo and Kali. After two more races, Kali insisted enough was enough.

Lincoln situated himself on the bed as Theo, in his race car pyjamas, sidled up beside him. He dropped five books into Lincoln’s lap. “Oh, I don’t know about that.” Lincoln gave Theo a sideways grin. “I think just two. You already had some extra races.”

Theo crossed his arms and shook his head.

“Yup. Just three.” Lincoln winked. “You pick which ones.”

Theo sorted through the books, pulling out the thickest three, and Lincoln started to read. After the third, Theo held up the fourth book.

“Nope.”

Theo tilted his head and grabbed the fifth.

“Not happening.”

With a little sigh, Theo gathered all five books and set them on the bedside table. He lifted his arms to Lincoln. Lincoln closed his eyes as the little arms reached around him. He stood and tucked Theo in, then walked to the door, his hand hovering over the light switch. “Sleep well, buddy.”

Theo smiled and snuggled into the pillow.

Back in the living room, Kali shifted over on the couch at the sight of Lincoln. She patted the cushion. Lincoln crossed the room and eased himself down beside her, shifting his body so that he could see her clearly.

“He go down all right?” Kali asked as she shut down her laptop.

“Yeah, no problems.”

Kali leaned into the couch. “You feeling okay? You’ve been really quiet tonight. The last few days, really.”

“Saw my dad a couple of days ago.”

“Oh.” Kali’s brows raised. “That must have been ...”

“Hard. It was very hard.”

“And are you glad? That you went?”

Lincoln looked to the seat cushions. “I wish I’d gone sooner. I wish I could bring myself to go again.” He looked back at Kali. “I think we should take some time apart.”

“What?” Kali sat up. “What do you mean?”

“I didn’t have my dad growing up ... for most of it anyway, not in the way I should have. And I know this is a different situation, but I, I don’t want to stand in the way of Theo having his father.”

“You’re not.”

“But I could be.”

“No.”

Lincoln raised a hand. “Look, if I’m not here, if you’re able to spend time with Derek, get to know each other again without thoughts of me, who knows? You said yourself .

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.