I startled when I saw his tears and gasped when he suddenly grabbed me, pulling me into a desperate embrace. The speed at which he moved was shocking, but the tenderness of his actions stopped my heart. He rested his head on my stomach, and I couldn’t find my voice. He was open to me in that moment, laid bare, and his vulnerability provoked tears of my own. His breathing was deep, the rise and fall of his chest heavy, as I brought my hands to his hair and started to stroke.

I felt his face move and realised he’d placed a kiss on my stomach over the fabric of my top. I swallowed deeply, unsure whether I should touch him back or allow him to take the lead. His hand came to the soft part of my belly and began to push up the hem of my top until it revealed skin. The old, faded lines of the stretch marks I’d gotten when I was pregnant with Oliver were a stark reminder of everything I still had to tell him. I couldn’t stop him, though, didn’t want to, and he didn’t seem to draw the connection between the little silver lines and the fact I might be a mother. He simply marvelled at my skin, like it was a thing of wonder.

He started to stroke me, almost reverently, and every pore on my body drew tight. His hand was warm and big and manly, and I loved the feel of his callused fingers on my soft skin. I lay back, completely still, and allowed him to find his own way, go as far as he was comfortable. But he didn’t try anything else, seemed content to simply run his hands over my bare stomach and concentrate on the movement of his fingers.

After a long time, his hands stopped and his eyes fell shut. I closed mine, too. I only realised we’d both fallen asleep when the buzzing of my phone startled me awake. King still slept, but I managed to reach inside my pocket to check my text without waking him.

It was a message from Elaine, asking when I’d be home. I had to go, but I didn’t want to leave. I wanted to go back to sleep, lie here with King for hours, and just feel the peace of being with him. Unfortunately, life had other ideas. His breathing was loud and steady, with a little bit of a rattle. It reminded me that he’d agreed to see the doctor, and my heart felt suddenly lighter.

As quiet as a mouse I slipped out from under him and left the camper, and almost walked straight into Jack as I was leaving.

“Oh, my God, you gave me a fright,” I whispered loudly, my hand going to my chest.

He seemed awkward. “Sorry. I get that a lot.”

“You’re one of those big men with silent feet, huh?” I went on.

Unexpectedly, Jack smiled. He was gorgeous when he smiled. Well, he was already gorgeous, but he frowned a lot. It made him seem closed off. The only time I’d really seen him smile was when he was with Lille or his brother.

“Yeah, you could say that,” he agreed.

I glanced back toward the camper. “King’s inside sleeping, but listen, he’s told me he’ll go see a doctor. I work during the day, so I won’t be able to take him. Do you think you could do it? Maybe make an appointment for tomorrow.”

He nodded. “Sure. I’ll take care of it.”

“Thank you. Oh, and there’s another thing. Do you know that he used to play the piano?”

Jack shook his head. “No, but I did know that his mother played.”

“That’s right. Well, King used to play, too. Music meant a lot to him, and I’ve bought tickets for a concert I want to take him to see. I think it’ll be good for him to hear a live orchestra again, therapeutic maybe, but I’m not sure I can handle taking him alone. So, do you think you and Lille could come along?”

Jack arched a brow. “Like a double date?”

He was teasing me now, and it made me grin. I didn’t realise Jack had it in him to tease. I placed a hand on my hip. “Yeah, like a double date.”

His lips twitched. “I think we can manage that. When’s the concert?”

“Next Saturday. Will you have a show?”

“Yes, but I can fix to have the night off.”

“Great. That’s great. Thank you so much. This means a lot.”

Jack’s eyes wandered to the camper. “I’ll do whatever I can to help you, Alexis. I’m sorry if I was rude before, but I’ve spent years watching that man suffer. It’d be nice to see his suffering come to an end.”

His words made me slightly emotional, so all I could do was nod and turn to walk away.

The following day at the office, I couldn’t help checking my phone every five minutes. I sent Lille a message, asking if she’d let me know how things went at the doctor’s with King. It was almost the end of the day, and I still hadn’t heard a peep. It caused me to worry. What made matters worse was when I called Elaine to tell her I’d be home late again, and she asked questions. She was starting to become suspicious, especially since I told her I’d be home by nine yesterday and didn’t get back until after midnight. I hated lying to her.

In the end, Lille met me when I arrived at the circus. I’d worried myself sick, thinking something might be terribly wrong with King. She sat me down in her and Jack’s camper to give me the details. It turned out that he did have quite a few ailments, but nothing that couldn’t be dealt with. He had acute bronchitis, which accounted for the coughing. He also had a few patches of eczema. They’d done some tests on his liver but wouldn’t get the results back for a couple of days. It was also looking likely that he had a stomach ulcer. The doctor had prescribed antibiotics for the bronchitis and the ulcer, some specialist creams for his skin and a drug called Disulfiram to help him stop drinking. As regards his liver, the fact that he was making an effort to quit was a big help.

Even though all this wasn’t exactly news that he was healthy, I was incredibly relieved to hear that he didn’t have anything incurable. I could see light at the end of the tunnel. When the door to the camper opened and Jack walked in with King following behind, I gasped. He’d shaved off his beard.

Standing, I walked over to him and instinctively brought my hand to his cheek.

“You shaved,” I whispered.

His eyes, dull and bloodshot only a couple of days ago, had regained some of their colour. They look clearer, bluer. “I thought it was high time.”

“I can see your face now,” I smiled, noticing the lines that weren’t there before. They gave him character. He also had a small scar on one of his cheeks. “How did this happen?”

“Honestly, love, I can’t remember,” he replied, and I shivered at his term of endearment. He always used to call me “love” when we had sex, and several goose bump–inducing memories swept through my mind all at once.

“Drink will do that to you,” said Jack, giving King a firm pat on the shoulder. “It’s the elixir of memory loss.”

King shot his friend something of a smile while Lille widened her eyes at her boyfriend. “Jack.”

“We need to be able to joke about it. Takes away its power,” Jack explained, and I thought he made a lot of sense.

I looked back to King. “Come for a walk with me?”

Without a word he moved to the side and gestured for me to lead the way. I said goodbye to Lille and Jack before exiting the camper. When we got outside, I gently slid my arm through King’s so that we were linking. He glanced down at me, his eyes lingering on our linked arms.

“Where did you go last night?” he asked tensely. I was still trying to get used to the sight of him without the beard. Plus, his question made me strangely shy as I remembered his hands on me, his tender, worshipful touches. I looked at my toes as we walked.

“I had to get home and didn’t want to wake you.”

“You could have stayed,” he said quietly, and I didn’t know how to respond.

A silence ensued as we made our way past the front of the tent. A couple of the circus workers went by, and I noticed some of them doing double takes when they saw King. He’d cleaned up a lot in the last few days. I reached up and playfully tugged at a strand of his hair.