Free A Broken Man by Brooklyn Wilde Page B

all of them. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d actually looked forward to Christmas—maybe not since his parents had died. The feeling was strange in the best of ways. So on Christmas Eve, when Jared announced that he had a Christmas gift for Ethan and Sarah that he’d been working on, Ethan was filled with so much emotion that he could barely keep his voice from cracking.
    He called Sarah into the living room, and the two of them sat and waited to see what Jared had in store. They watched as he affixed a rope to the handle of the refrigerator door and called Dame into the room.
    “Dame, sit,” Jared said. She did.
    “Dame, lie down.” She obeyed.
    “Dame, newspaper.” Dame went to the front door, pawed the tennis ball Jared had hung, and headed outside. Her gait was so smooth Ethan sometimes forgot she was missing a limb. She returned a moment later with the paper and placed it at Jared’s feet.
    “Good girl.”
    Dame’s eyes glistened, and her tail wagged nonstop. She was having the time of her life.
    “Dame, water.”
    Dame trotted over to the fridge, pulled the rope, and stuck her nose inside. She gently took a bottle of water from the bottom shelf into her mouth and brought it back to Jared.
    The show continued for at least ten minutes. Sarah’s eyes filled with tears. Sometimes a mom needs to be reminded just how amazing her son is. Jared had taught Dame everything a service dog ought to know and a whole lot more. Dame practically beamed when everyone gushed over what a good girl she was.
    “That’s amazing.” Ethan leaned over to give Dame a good rub. “I could never have done this. Thank you.” He laid a hand on Jared’s shoulder, and a single tear slipped out of the corner of Sarah’s eye.
    “Well,” he said, “if we’re doing presents early…” His voice trailed off as he rolled toward his room.
    He returned a moment later with two envelopes and handed one each to Sarah and Ethan. They both looked at each other before tearing into the packages. Sarah stared at the paper in her hand for a long time before looking up at Ethan, confused.
    “This is a plane ticket to London.”
    “Yep, I got into that clinical trial I was telling you about.” It had nearly killed him to keep it secret from her, but he wanted so much for it to be a surprise. This clinical trial could change his life forever, and he wanted—needed—both her and Jared to be there with him, start to finish. The study coordinator had warned him not to get his hopes up, but it was no use. He could see himself walking through the streets of London with Sarah on his arm, Jared and Dame tagging along behind. He could hear the orators on their soapboxes as they made their way through Hyde Park. He could feel the hard ground beneath his knee when he dropped down to propose to Sarah beneath the statute of Eros in Piccadilly Square…
    “And I get to go too? Awesome!” Excitement was spilling out of Jared’s ears. Something seemed to occur to him, and he looked up. “What about Dame?”
    “Dame’s coming, too. Scored her a first-class ticket of her own.”
    “You hear that Dame? We’re going to London!” Jared dropped to the floor and gave the dog a good scratch. Ethan’s chest swelled with pride. He’d never seen Jared so thrilled—and he’d done that. He’d made that happen.
    “This is incredible.” Sarah’s voice was filled with disbelief. “When do we leave?”
    “Tomorrow night.” Ethan wished they were leaving right then.
    “Wow, that’s soon. For how long?”
    “Eight weeks.”
    “Eight weeks? We can’t be gone that long. I have to work. Jared has school.” Her face darkened. Ethan could tell she hated having to disappoint Jared. It hadn’t even occurred to him that he should have asked her before springing something like this on them. “I’m sorry. I wish we could go, but thank you. Really.”
    Ethan heard the words but couldn’t seem to make sense of them. “You have to come. Do you have