Light This Candle (Harlequin More Than Words) Read Online Free PDF Page A

hel—” he corrected himself hastily “—heck raiser. He
got in trouble with a few of his buddies for getting into a fight. Have you ever
been in a fight?”
    Wide-eyed, Cody shook his head.
    “Good for you. Your daddy would be real proud to hear that.”
But remembering vaguely what it was like to be five, he added in a
conspiratorial undertone, “Wanna hear about your dad’s fight?”
    A big nod at that.
    He launched into a heavily sanitized version of the bar fight
that had erupted between a bunch of marines and Jimmy and company. He called
upon his own comic-book memories in describing the fight and made sure to paint
Jimmy as the hero of the entire encounter.
    When his story finally wound down, Cody said eagerly, “Tell me
another one!”
    “Want me to tell you about what your dad did in the military?
It’s pretty cool stuff.” He commenced describing how Jimmy and the other guys in
their unit crept to the front lines of war zones and beyond to spot enemy
emplacements and call in air strikes and artillery bombardments. Cody was
spellbound, and Mitch found himself warming to the project of making the little
boy smile.
    And then came the questions. Dozens of them. About Jimmy and
Jimmy’s job and the military. He was careful about how he portrayed Jimmy. After
all, it was Cassidy’s right to determine how her son remembered his father.
Mitch assumed she wouldn’t mind him painting Jimmy in a heroic light, however.
Given her reaction last night, though, he steered clear of the questions about
the military altogether.
    Thankfully, Cody drifted to other topics soon enough. He was
clearly a bright and curious child. Mitch found himself really enjoying watching
how the child’s mind worked.
    “Do you like to play games?”
    Mitch was caught off guard by Cody’s question. “Sure. How about
you?”
    “Uh-huh. I like video games and computer games. When I’m
feeling good, I can play on that TV. The controller’s over there somewhere.”
Cody waved a hand with an IV tube in the back of it.
    “I used to be pretty good at video games,” Mitch said. “Wanna
have a go with me?”
    Cody’s face fell. “Maybe when I’m feeling a little better.”
    Wow. What five-year-old turned down playing a video game? It
was a stark reminder of just how ill this kid was. Mitch asked gently, “Is there
a game you don’t have or would like to learn how to play? I could get it and
bring it back.”
    Cody considered for a moment and then surprised him by
announcing, “Checkers. I want to learn how to play checkers.”
    “Dude! You don’t know how to play checkers? Your dad was the
unit champ. I’ll bet there’s a checkerboard somewhere in this hospital. Want me
to go find one right now?”
    “Yeah!”
    Mitch chuckled at Cody’s enthusiasm. He went out to the nurses’
station and they called down to the pediatric ward. In about two minutes an
orderly came up with a complete checkers setup. Apparently the ICU got what it
wanted when it wanted it. He carried the game into Cody’s room.
    “I’m not tiring you out, am I?” he asked when he realized the
boy’s eyes were closed. “I can come back later.”
    Cody’s eyes flew open. “Don’t leave. I don’t know if I’ll be
here when you come back.”
    Mitch sat down on the stool beside the boy. “What do you
mean?”
    “I might have to go to heaven.”
    Mitch was staggered. What on earth was he supposed to say to
that? His first impulse was to deny the truth. To tell Cody he was going to live
a long, full life. But he could promise no such thing. Instead, he went with his
heart and asked, “Are you scared?”
    “Nah, I’m not scared. God loves little children best of all.
I’m kinda looking forward to seeing a real, live angel And I’ll get to be with
my daddy. Do you suppose that’s why God made him an angel first? So he’d be
there waiting for me?”
    How was he supposed to answer that? Mitch replied through the
sudden tightness in his throat, “I hear