Page 18 of The Sinner’s Son (Sawyer and Royce: Felonies and Fatherhood #2)

“A timeless classic,” Katie agreed as she pulled a notebook from her desk. She asked for Nina’s and Cayden’s contact information and jotted it down at the top. She looked up and said, “Tell me again what you know as fact and what you suspect is true. Don’t leave out a single detail.”

He fast-forwarded past the NSFW parts before Jason’s visit but took his time retelling everything else as he understood it.

Katie stopped him a few times to clarify things, but she mostly jotted down notes.

When he finished, she put her pen down and looked at him.

“I’ll call Nina to take an official report and enter it into the system. I’m going to give this my all.”

“Thank you.”

They exchanged contact information, and Royce took his first easy breath since kissing Sawyer goodbye.

When Sal’s Hardware and Home Goods came into view, Royce noted a familiar Harley in the parking lot.

Not long ago, he would’ve kept driving, but he parked next to Eddie’s motorcycle instead.

Their relationship had continued to bloom since their big talk at the Keys’ Memorial Day party.

Eddie and Jo were frequent visitors to their house, much to Dolly’s chagrin, though the Yorkie was slowly warming up to her.

After spending the morning with Nina and hearing her talk about regrets, it felt like kismet that Eddie would be at the hardware store too.

Some boys bonded with their dads at a fishing hole or on a sporting field, but Sal’s had been their special place.

Eddie exuded rare patience inside those four walls, showing the various tools to young Royce and explaining what they were used for.

He always let Royce choose candy from the selection Sal kept at the counter.

Sometimes Royce ate the treat right away, but he usually stashed them until Eddie had one of his volatile episodes.

Young Royce had hidden in his closet with his box of treasures and ate the candy to remind himself that his father wasn’t always a monster.

Royce exhaled a deep breath as he shut off his SUV’s engine.

It wasn’t even lunchtime, and he’d run through one emotional gauntlet after another.

It would be so easy to let those old feelings of resentment and heartache taint the interaction he was about to have with his father, but Royce was tired of taking one step forward and two back.

They both deserved better, so he wouldn’t take his rough morning out on his dad.

Eddie was at the front counter, drinking coffee and shooting the breeze with Sal when he walked in.

Both men greeted him like he was Norm from Cheers .

Instead of pouring him a mug of beer, Sal lifted the coffeepot when Royce approached.

“Want a cup? It’s freshly brewed.”

Royce had often wondered just how much coffee the store went through each day. The seniors who didn’t meet at McDonald’s or the barbershop gathered at Sal’s hardware store, some of them lingering for hours. “I’ve had my limit,” Royce said, waving him off.

Eddie set his cup down and hugged his son. “This is a pleasant surprise. Aren’t you working today?”

“I’m taking a personal day to tackle some things.”

Eddie assessed him with cool gray eyes. “Everything okay?”

“Things are great for me, but one of my students is really going through it right now. I’m just trying to help his family.”

“I’m sorry to hear it. Is there anything I can do?” It was strange for Eddie to offer his help and even stranger for him to mean it.

“Not really, but thank you.” He turned to Sal, who watched them with a smile on his face. “I’m sure you prefer this encounter to the one where Eddie and I got into an argument in your store.” It had happened after Royce came out as bisexual.

Sal chuckled. “For sure. Is there anything I can help you find?”

“I need to replace a circulation pump on a dishwasher.”

Sal didn’t bother telling him which aisle he needed since Royce knew the store almost as well as he did.

Eddie and Sal resumed their conversation when he walked away, their voices a pleasant hum that followed him through the store.

Royce didn’t pay attention to what they said as he compared the available pump models.

But then Sal urgently called his name, and Royce immediately abandoned his search to jog toward the front of the store.

“Ed, do you want me to call an ambulance?” Sal asked anxiously.

Royce pumped his legs harder and rounded the endcap at a dead run.

Eddie’s cup lay on the linoleum floor with a puddle of coffee around it.

His dad leaned over the counter with one hand braced against the surface and the other clutching his chest. “Christ, Eddie. What’s wrong?

” Royce slammed on the brakes, but not before his shoes slipped in the spilled coffee, making him plow into the counter with a loud bang. “Is it a heart attack?”

“No,” Eddie wheezed. “Acid reflux.”

“People mistake heart attacks for acid reflux or heartburn all the time,” Sal said. “Let’s be safe and call an ambulance.”

“I don’t need to go to the hospital,” Eddie said, waving off the concern as stubbornly as ever. But then he grunted as if the pain intensified. “Well, maybe Royce can drive me.”

Sal reached under the counter and pulled out a value-sized bottle of antacid tablets. “It’s probably the coffee. I bought some high-octane stuff off the internet. Chew some of these and see if it helps.” Sal shook several tablets into Eddie’s upturned palm.

With his heart in his throat, Royce assessed his dad’s vitals as best he could while Eddie crunched the antacids.

His pulse was slightly elevated, but nothing too severe, and his breathing was steady.

He could use emergency lights and sirens to get Eddie to the hospital fast, but he didn’t have a medic riding along to render first aid if Eddie lost consciousness. “Did the antacids help?”

“A little,” Eddie said, rubbing his chest. “But I think you should still take me.” That settled it. Eddie was scared shitless.

And so, Royce was too. “Let’s go.”

“Keep me posted,” Sal called after them.

“Will do,” Royce replied.

Eddie settled into the vehicle, reclining the seat back a little to get more comfortable.

“Seat belt on,” Royce said as he backed out of his parking spot. “And don’t you dare fucking die.”

Eddie chuckled, but it turned into a groan. “Don’t want bad juju in your fancy SUV?”

“No, jackass. I love you, and I just started to enjoy spending time with you.” Powerful emotions rose to the surface, but Royce couldn’t afford to give in to them.

He stopped at a red light and looked over at Eddie, who watched him with a shocked expression on his face.

Yeah, Royce couldn’t remember the last time he told his dad he loved him either.

“And I have exciting news, but I’m not supposed to share it until the Labor Day party. ”

Eddie grimaced and rubbed his chest. “Maybe you should tell me now. Just in case.”

“Fuck that, Eddie. You’re too ornery to die.” But how many people had thought that before and were proved wrong? Damn it. “I fathered a child you need to meet.”

“Does Sawyer know?” Eddie asked.

Royce risked a glance and caught him smiling. “Not cool.”

“Sorry. Please don’t stop talking to me. It just sounded like you were making a confession, and shouldn’t that be my job if I’m on my deathbed?” He patted the leather seat. “At least this is a comfortable place to take my last breath.”

“Fuck that and fuck you, Eddie.” But Royce’s mouth quirked at the corners. “And yes, Sawyer knows. He was holding the sterile cup when I jerked off into it.”

Eddie winced, but Royce knew it had nothing to do with his medical condition. “I deserved that.”

“Hell yeah, you did.”

“And to be really clear, I would’ve been uncomfortable hearing that no matter who held the sterile cup. Parents don’t like to think their kids have sex.”

“Fair enough,” Royce said. “Kids feel the same about their parents.” Eddie got an ornery gleam in his eyes, and Royce worried his dad was about to say something that no amount of therapy could cure. “Don’t make me pull this car over, Eddie.”

Eddie held up his hands in surrender. “Are you really going to be a daddy?” His gruff voice was soft and full of wonder.

“Sawyer and I are expecting a baby in February, thanks to our amazing friend Kelsey. We haven’t told anyone else, so you have to act surprised when we make our big announcement at the Keys’ Labor Day party.”

“I can do that.” Eddie reached over and settled an enormous hand on his shoulder. “I’m so damn proud of you.”

Royce looked over at his dad and smiled. “And I’m proud of you, so you better not die.”

Eddie coughed, then released a loud belch that rattled the windows and stunk up the car.

Royce waved the stench away from his face. “What the hell is that coffee made of? Napalm?”

“Feels like it,” Eddie said, pressing against his sternum.

“I think that shit singed off my eyebrows.”

“You’re fine, pretty boy,” Eddie said. “And I feel better now. I don’t think I need to go to the hospital.”

“Too late,” Royce said as he turned into the facility’s parking lot. He followed the signs for the ER and stopped outside the double doors. “Go on inside and register. I’ll be in as soon as I find a parking spot.”

Eddie grumbled something in response when he reached for the door.

“Don’t you dare think about sneaking off. I’ll tell Jo.”

“Fine.”

Eddie shut the door, and Royce drove off once his father entered the building.

He thought about calling Sawyer as he searched for a parking spot, but Eddie’s life didn’t seem in peril.

Royce would reach out to him after the staff evaluated Eddie instead of upsetting Sawyer over something that could be a severe case of acid reflux brought on by drinking panther piss at the hardware store.

He applied the same logic to Jo. Eddie wouldn’t want to upset her unless there was something to worry about.

He exited the car and hurried to the ER before Eddie could escape.

Royce found his dad at the registration desk, charming the pretty clerk.

The young brunette smiled and shook her head at whatever Eddie had said. “The next signature is your consent for treatment.”

Eddie scrawled his name on the electronic pad and tilted his head toward Royce. “He’s making me do it.”

The clerk smiled. “I’m sure he has good reasons.”

Luckily, they didn’t have to sit in the waiting room for very long. A petite nurse with blonde hair and green eyes offered Eddie a kind smile before showing him back to an evaluation room. She ran through a series of questions as she checked his vitals.

“Your heart is beating nice and steady now,” she said.

The old Eddie would’ve made a lecherous remark, but this new version of his father interacted appropriately with the pretty nurse.

She pulled the stethoscope from her ears after listening to his lungs. “The doctor will be in soon. She’ll probably want to run tests just to make sure you didn’t experience a mild heart attack. We’ll try not to drag this out too long.”

Two hours later, Dr. Hannah White confirmed Eddie had suffered a severe acid reflux attack, but they found other concerning issues.

They suspected an ulcer had formed in his stomach and recommended additional testing.

He also had a slightly inflamed gallbladder and elevated liver enzymes he couldn’t ignore.

“Your symptoms and test results aren’t severe enough to admit you,” she said, then provided a list of symptoms that would require his immediate return.

“I’m going to write prescriptions for medications that you need to start immediately, and you need to follow up with your primary care physician.

I’m also referring you to a gastroenterologist, but the best thing you can do right now is to take your meds and eat very mild foods.

” She made some suggestions of things he should eat before laying out a long list of things he needed to stay away from.

“I know it’s overwhelming, but I’m going to send you home with some information that will help. ”

“Okay,” Eddie said, sounding dejected and looking overwhelmed. “It sounds like I can’t eat anything that tastes good.”

“Well, Sawyer Locke will fix you right up. He knows all the best things to eat and knows tricks to make them taste better.”

Eddie cocked his head to the side. “He took our last name?”

Warmth bloomed in Royce’s chest as he nodded. “He still goes by Key professionally, but he’s all mine in every way that matters.”

“I know it’s short notice, but do you think he’d mind if I came over tonight and got some tips?” Eddie asked.

“We’d love that. Bring Jo. We can eat healthy food that mostly tastes good and relax at the pool.”

Eddie chuckled and shook his head. “You’re not much of a salesman, son. ‘Mostly tastes good’ isn’t a very good marketing pitch.”

“Okay, fine.” Royce plastered a fake smile on his face. “You’ll barely notice the missing fat and calories,” he said enthusiastically.

Scrubbing a hand over his face, Eddie groaned. “Don’t suppose you’ll take me through a fast-food drive-thru once they release me from here?”

“Sure.”

Eddie perked up in the bed. “Really?”

“Most of them offer great salads, and you can add grilled chicken for extra protein. You gotta skip the rich, creamy dressings though. It’s vinaigrettes from here on, pal.”

“You eat like that all the time?” Eddie sounded completely disgusted by the idea.

“At least eighty-five to ninety percent of the time.” Before he could ask why, Royce leaned forward and said, “We have a baby coming, remember?”

Eddie’s grin stretched from ear to ear. “Yeah.”

“And I need stamina for other things.” Royce waggled his brows to drive home the point, but Eddie didn’t seem remotely uncomfortable.

“Yeah, well, the apple doesn’t fall far from the ole tree.”