I Want to Hold Your Hand Read Online Free PDF Page A

he?”
    “Not so good.”
    Her mom had brought food that she set out in the kitchen. The others wandered in there, but Hannah never left Homer, and Nolan never left Hannah.
    “I’m sorry our plans got messed up tonight,” Hannah said.
    “This is more important.”
    Only because she was watching him so closely did she see Homer take one last deep breath before his chest stopped moving altogether. She bent to hug him, whispering in his ear, “I love you, Homer. Don’t forget to give Dad my message. You guys have fun together. I’ll see you both again someday.”
    Nolan’s hand lay warm on her back, rubbing her shoulders as she sobbed for Homer and for Caleb and for all that she had lost. She hugged Homer until his fur was wet from her tears.
    “Let Myles take him, Han,” Hunter said through his own tears.
    “He needs his blanket.”
    “Where is it?” Will asked.
    “Upstairs in my room on the bed.”
    Will headed for the stairs. “I’ll get it.”
    Her brother returned a minute later with the battered quilt Caleb’s mother had made for Homer when he was a puppy. Thinking of a much younger Homer dragging his “blankie” around from room to room made Hannah cry again as they all worked together to wrap Homer in his beloved blanket.
    A knock on the front door preceded Amelia and Bob Guthrie into the house.
    “Oh no.” Amelia’s eyes shone with tears as they rushed into the room and saw Homer wrapped in the blanket. “We’re too late.”
    “Just by a few minutes.” Hannah stood to greet her in-laws with hugs. “Why don’t you spend some time with him before Myles takes him.”
    “We’d appreciate that,” Bob said gruffly.
    Hannah felt Nolan’s hand on her back as they joined her family in the kitchen. Everyone hugged her, and Hannah moved through each embrace on autopilot. She knew Homer was gone, but the pain couldn’t seem to permeate the numbness. It was far too reminiscent of the day Caleb died, when she’d been surrounded by loved ones wanting to do something for her when there was nothing anyone could do. She remembered all too well what it felt like when the numbness wore off and the pain rushed in.
    “I’m so sorry,” Cameron whispered.
    “Thank you. Glad to have you back.”
    Cameron’s watery smile was reassuring. Hannah adored her, and having her here definitely lifted Hannah’s spirits.
    She hugged her parents next.
    Unshed tears swam in his eyes as her dad kissed her forehead. “I’m so sorry, baby,” Lincoln said. “Homer was a good old boy.”
    “Yes, he was. Caleb will be happy to see him again.”
    Will slipped from the room, and Cameron went after him.
    “Everyone wanted to come over,” Hannah’s mother, Molly, said, “but I told them you had a full house. They’re all thinking of you.”
    “I know.” Hannah had little doubt her other seven siblings were upset about losing Homer. “Thank you for running interference.”
    “What can we do for you?” Molly asked, smoothing a hand over Hannah’s hair.
    Hannah shook her head. “Nothing special. It helps to have you here.”
    “We should tell the Sultans,” Hunter said, echoing a thought that had been on Hannah’s mind since shortly after she arrived home to find Homer in such dire condition. “They’d want to know.”
    “Would you call them?” Hannah said. “I don’t think I could do it.”
    “I’ll take care of it.” Hunter’s eyes were rimmed with red, his jaw set in a way that reminded Hannah of the months after Caleb died when her twin had tried so hard to hold it together for her that he’d buried his own grief.
    “You guys don’t have to stay,” Hannah said to her family. “I’m okay. I promise. And Nolan is here.” She looked at him and was comforted by his nod as much as his quiet, steady presence over the last couple of hours. A flutter of nervous energy passed through her at the thought of leaning on him, at the thought of him wanting her to lean on him.
    When the others eyed him