68
CONNOR
“You should try to get some sleep,” I said, stroking Lynne's hair.
“I can’t.”
We were lying in bed, holding each other in the darkness, neither of us able to think about anything except what the morning would bring. “You’ve got to take care of yourself,” I insisted. “Kiwi needs you.”
“He needs his father, too, but that’s not stopping you from leaving,” Lynne said, tears welling up in her eyes. “You’ve talked about how it felt, growing up not knowing who your father was. Is that what you want for him?”
“Of course not,” I said, my heart breaking. “But if I can’t come back, he’ll have what I didn’t—his mother, who can tell him about me, about how much his daddy loves him.”
“Are memories supposed to take the place of having you there?” she wanted to know.
I sighed heavily. “W
