Taylor Lynne: The Women of Merryton - Book Two (20 page)

“I better call Easton and
let him know I’m not coming.” When I said his name a hush fell over the café
and everyone looked my way. “On second thought, maybe I’ll text him,” I said
for Jessie’s ears only.

“How about I call Blake?”
she offered.

I nodded like a child
that needed help. I guess I did need help. The knot in my chest was tighter
than ever.

I needed a friend.

Jessie and I sat on the
park bench farthest away from the playground. Privacy was a rare beast in
Merryton, but we were doing our best to keep our conversation between the two
of us.

Jessie handed me one of
her orange rolls.

I took the unhealthy,
carb-filled pastry and dove right in.
Oh my gosh.
“Wow,” I said after my
first bite. “You’re definitely in the right business.”

“Like I said, those
little beauties have me in the gym frequently.”

I looked her over. “You
don’t look like you’ve ever eaten one.”

She smiled. “Thanks. So
tell me the real version of what’s going on. I’ve already heard the
sensationalized tale.”

I leaned back on the
wooden bench and rolled my eyes while indulging in what might well have ruined
twenty years of eating right. “What is the story on the grapevine?”

Jessie leaned back too.
Her pretty eyes danced with amusement. “Let’s see, you’ve apparently turned
Merryton General into
General Hospital
. Not only is your ex-husband
hopelessly in love with you, but now he and Dr. Carmichael are fighting over
you. And, of course, you are stringing both men along.”

“What!” I exclaimed.

“Oh, yes,” she laughed.

“This town is too much.
None of that is remotely true.”

“Everyone is pulling for
Easton, especially since he has been holding vigil with you over your father’s
dying body.”

“There is a tiny grain of
truth there,” I admitted. “Easton stayed with me yesterday, but we weren’t
holding a vigil over Frank.”

She squeezed my free
hand. “Seeing Frank must be really difficult for you.”

I popped the last bite of
orange roll in my mouth and savored it while I gathered my thoughts. “More
difficult than I imagined it would be,” I confessed after swallowing.

She held out the bag
containing the second roll. “Ready for another?”

I shook my head. “I
better not. My system may go into shock. And my emotions are already wreaking
havoc on my body. Moving back here was a mistake.”

“Was it really?” she
asked with hesitation.

I bent over and rubbed my
face in my hands. “For Ashley’s sake no, but all this town holds for me is bad
memories and monumental loss.”

“Maybe it’s time to make
some good memories,” she suggested.

“All I’m doing right now
is trying to survive. I want my money back.”

“Money back?”

I sat up and looked over
to her intrigued face. “I bought into this brochure that guaranteed living
close to my ex wouldn’t affect me. It promised I could be apathetic toward him
and his daughter and basically ignore him unless we had to be at some function
for our daughter. It didn’t prepare me at all for Emmy, who’s the sweetest
thing ever, or Easton, who was supposed to be a louse, but isn’t. Did you know
Easton’s been taking care of Frank this whole time, financially and otherwise?”

Jessie’s eyes widened. I
took that as a no.

“Yeah, and he’s acting
like father of the year.”

“And this is a bad
thing?”

“Not at all, but it has
brought into question so many of my choices. And now with Frank, I desperately
want to run back to Alabama, but I know this time I can’t.”

She took my hand. “Last
year, when my whole world seemed to be crashing down around me, my therapist
suggested that I give myself a break. That I take a step back and give myself
credit for making it another day. I think you need to do that. Not only that,
but see the good you’re doing.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well for starters, Emmy.
We’ve all noticed a difference in her since you’ve been back. And let’s be
honest, not many women in your shoes would be half as kind to Emmy as you’ve
been.”

“She’s an innocent little
girl. Anyone would do the same.”

Jessie shook her head.
“Her own mother didn’t come close to treating her as well as you have.”

“Her mother is
ridiculous.”

“Among other things,”
Jessie added.

“Believe me, I didn’t
plan on being so involved in Emmy’s life.”

“Yet you are. And from
the hospital talk, you’re really breathing life into your job and helping new
moms.”

“You make me sound better
than I am. I can’t even stand to be around my own father. If he died today, I
wouldn’t shed a tear. What kind of person does that make me?”

“A human one. I don’t
know your whole story, but I’ve heard enough of Frank’s stories to know you
have a right to feel the way you do. I admire you for even being willing to see
him.”

I wiped the tears that
had started falling as we talked. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to lay all of this
on you.”

“I’m glad you did, and
I’m happy you’re back. I’m here if you need to talk.”

“Thanks, Jessie. I’m here
for you too.”

“That’s good to know. I
will probably need your advice soon.”

I looked at her
inquisitively and she blushed.

“What about?”

She grinned. “Well, that
will have to wait for another conversation. What do you say we go see how the
guys are faring? I hope we win tonight. That way we’ll have one more shot to beat
Riley Insurance in the championship game.”

We both stood up and she hugged
me tight. It reminded me how much women needed women.

***

Jessie Belle’s did indeed
win, which meant they would face their foe at the end of July. There was no
celebratory ice cream at the end—the girls were exhausted from their long day
at the amusement park and Easton wanted to check in on Frank. That meant the
girls came home with me, which was perfect. I had been missing both of them.

The three of us snuggled
together on the couch and watched
Cinderella
, the new live version. It
was more like
I
watched and
they
promptly fell asleep. I was
covered in brunette beauties. It was an enviable position, and exactly what I
needed after the last couple of days.

A few minutes after ten,
there was a light rapping on my door. I carefully untangled myself from the
slumbering princesses and made my way to the door to greet their father. Standing
there in his dirty baseball uniform, he looked just as tired as his daughters.
I guess you could see to patients in any type of apparel.

“Emmy’s asleep,” I
informed him.

He smiled tiredly. “Can
we talk?”

I nodded and invited him
in.

“Why don’t we talk on the
porch?” he suggested.

Oh, it was going to be
one of those kinds of talks. I grabbed a sweater from the coat rack near the
door. Even in July it could get cool up here.

Easton helped me put on
my light pink sweater. He really needed to quit being a gentleman.

We each took a seat on
the top stone step and looked at each other like now what.

“How are you holding up?”
he asked.

I ran my fingers through
my hair and hemmed and hawed. “I’m trying. How are you? You look tired.”

“I’m finding I’m not as
young as I used to be.”

“I have that same
problem.”

He reached up and tucked
some of my hair behind my ear. “You still look young to me.”

“I think your eyesight is
failing you.”

He shook his head. “I
don’t think so.”

I felt heat in my cheeks
from the compliment. “So, did you want to talk about how we are aging?”

He chuckled. “No. I
talked to Frank tonight.” Easton looked wary. He paused before he proceeded.

I stiffened at the
mention of Frank’s name, and Easton took my hand. I looked down at our perfectly
matched hands, and it was anything but comforting.

“He seems to be
responding to the treatment,” Easton said first.

I remained emotionless. I
was a terrible person. It wasn’t that I wanted him to suffer. I didn’t wish
those kinds of things on people, but I was numb. It was a coping mechanism.

“He mentioned he saw and
talked to you. You don’t know how happy that made him,” Easton was proceeding
with caution as he spoke.  

I looked off into the
distance. “I can’t understand why it would.”

“You’re his daughter.”

“No, he’s the sperm donor
that made my life possible. He’s never treated me like a father should treat a
daughter.”

He brought our clasped
hands up and put them securely in his other hand. “Is that what you’ve called
me over the years? Ashley’s sperm donor?”

I looked up at him and
saw a faint trace of a smile. I shook my head. “No. I don’t put you and Frank
in the same category.”

“I’m glad to know I rate
higher than Frank in your book.”

I nudged him with my
shoulder. “Barely,” I teased.

“Ouch. I am trying.”

“I know you are. I’m
trying, too.”

“I’m sorry this has been
so hard for you. I would say I’m sorry I asked you to move back here, but that
would be a lie. Having Ashley and you here is the best thing that has happened
to Emmy and me in a long time.”

I wanted to ask him what
had happened with Kathryn, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to know. I got the
feeling he didn’t really want me to know. “I’m happy you’re making things right
with Ashley. Speaking of making things right, I want you to stop paying me
alimony.”

He looked at me confused.
“Why?”

“I don’t want or need
your money. I haven’t for a long time. I’m surprised you didn’t take me up on
the offer earlier. Now I find out your supporting Frank, too.”

He thought for a moment
before he spoke. “If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have made it through medical
school, my residency, and even the first couple of years of running my own
practice.”

I couldn’t believe what
he was saying.

“I know it didn’t seem
like it,” he responded to my scrutiny, “but knowing you had everything else
handled took a lot of pressure off of me. More than it should have. I should
have put my family first, but I thought I was by doing my job the best way I
knew how. And you don’t know how much all of your packed lunches and dinners
and encouragement meant to me while I was at UAB. Even just waking up to you, and
knowing I had you to come home to. You helped me push through. You deserved to
take part in my success.”

With my free hand, I
wiped at the corner of my eye. Why did he have to be so sweet?

“And,” he reluctantly
added. “It was the only way I could make sure Ashley was fully taken care of
without starting a major war on my end with Kathryn.”

I shook my head. “What do
you mean?”

“I always wanted to give
Ashley more, but it was a major source of contention in my marriage. I knew you
would use the alimony for Ashley, so I kept paying it. I guess it eased my
guilt.”

Curiosity got the better
of me. “Easton, I don’t understand why you stayed with her.”

He looked up to the sky.
“I don’t either. I tried leaving her after you let Ashley come and stay with me
when she was five. I already knew I had made a terrible mistake in marrying
her, but that was the final nail in the coffin.”

“I’m confused. That was a
long time ago.”

“Let’s just say don’t
hire an attorney in this town whose secretary is friends with your wife.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. She found out I
wanted a divorce and begged for us to work it out. She promised me things would
get better—she would go to counseling for her anger issues, I could see Ashley
more, and we could have a baby together.”

That piqued my interest.

“I had been wanting more
children and she changed her tune after we got married and decided children
would only get in the way.”

“I’m sorry if this sounds
cold, but why did you believe her?”

He sighed. “Because I was
only in my mid-thirties and I didn’t want to be divorced twice. I didn’t want
to be divorced the first time.”

I started to pull my hand
away.

He tightened his gentle
grip. “I’m not blaming you,” he said to ease the tension. “I should have gone
after you.”

“So why didn’t you see
Ashley more?”

“I tried,” he said with
some amount of desperation. “Every time I booked a trip something would come
up. She would have a pregnancy scare or an emotional breakdown. Once Emmy came,
I couldn’t leave Emmy with her and she would have never let me take her with me.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?
I would have brought Ashley here so she could see you.”

“That would have thrown
Kathryn over the edge. Besides, I didn’t think you would be okay with the idea.
I could hear the anger in your voice every single time I had to cancel my
trips. You don’t know how many trips I had to cancel. The stars had to align
perfectly for me to make the ones I did. I’m not making excuses; I just want
you to know I tried.”