Hearts the Last Beat (Angel Fire #6) - Ellie Masters Page 0,65

when Trevor found out about Lucy, he wanted to meet her. He had a lot of questions for her. We meet up every year with each other on both of their Donation Days. That first picture was the year Trevor was officially pronounced cancer-free.”

“You’re an incredible man, Kaleb.” Mrs. Lovecraft wipes the corner of her eye. “What about their parents?”

“Here, let me show you.” I flip the phone to another set of pictures. “We all get together at the annual Angel Fire Bone Marrow Registry drive. They get backstage passes to meet the band. It’s all kind of tongue in cheek.”

“Why’s that?” Mr. Lovecraft switches his perusal of my piercings to my tattoos.

“Because they’re all in on the secret, and they know no one in the band knows. It’s our little secret society reunion.”

“That’s crazy. I can’t believe it hasn’t been leaked out.”

“We developed a special bond through the years. Keeping it secret makes it more special.”

“I see.” Mrs. Lovecraft keeps flipping through my photos. “Is that… Will you do that for Ian?”

“Only if it’s okay with you. I’d love to meet him, but he still has a long road ahead of him. I would never want to intrude, but it may, or may not, help things if he knows who I am. Trevor told me that being a part of a secret society brought him a sense of being special, especially when things were rough. He said it helped him. I’d like to offer that to Ian.”

“Who’s this pretty girl?” Mrs. Lovecraft turns my phone around, and I can’t help but grin. My heart trips a beat when I see Angel’s face. It’s a cameo photo, one of many I took when no one was looking.

“That is Angel.” My heart swells just thinking about her.

“She’s someone special, isn’t she?” Mrs. Lovecraft watches my reaction and her expression softens in that way it does with women when they realize a man’s in love.

“She is very special.”

“Girlfriend?” Her attention shifts to my left hand where there’s no wedding ring.

“For now.”

“And for later?” Her expression brightens.

“I hope to make her my wife.” I take the phone back from Mrs. Lovecraft. “You probably don’t want to keep swiping right.”

Dinner arrives and we settle into talking about random things. I ask about Mr. Lovecraft’s job. He’s an engineer in Huntsville, working on rocket engines. Mrs. Lovecraft is a school teacher. Ian is their only son.

They edge away from asking about Angel Fire, but we eventually get around to it. I tell them everything, probably more than I should. And we talk all about Angel, Bash, and the band.

At the end of dinner, we part. I offer to pay the bill, but Mr. Lovecraft insists, stating since I donated my bone marrow, and will be paying the medical bills for their son, it’s the least he could do.

“It’s been a real pleasure meeting you.” Mr. Lovecraft shakes my hand. “Life is short. Grab it by the horns, and if your heart is telling you that girl is the one, don’t hesitate. All the rest will sort itself out.”

“Thank you.”

I way over-shared during dinner, telling them all about Angel and my concerns with Bash and the rest of the band. They thought nothing of the age gap, but then I learned Mr. Lovecraft is twelve years older than his wife. If it’s not a problem for them, it shouldn’t be for me.

“Ian’s transplant is scheduled for early in the morning. I don’t know how he’ll be feeling afterward.” Mrs. Lovecraft hesitates, and I get her concerns. She’s focused on her son’s recovery and worried about the stress of meeting me. I step in and make things easy on them.

“Well, you have all my contact info. That’s my private number. Maybe when Ian feels better, and is stronger, he might be interested in meeting me. It might be best to wait, and I do have a—thing that I need to get back for.”

“Thank you. We appreciate everything, more than you know. You’re an angel.” She takes my business card and holds it close to her chest. “I definitely know Ian will want to meet you. He’s going to be so excited when he finds out who his donor is—and maybe he’ll want to get to know Lucy and Trevor too. It’ll be good for him to meet others who’ve been through the same thing as him. You know, something to give him hope?”

“That sounds wonderful.”

I’m a bit bummed I won’t be able to see Ian right away,