Taylor Lynne: The Women of Merryton - Book Two (28 page)

As we cruised through
September, the days became cooler and crisper. The mountains surrounding
Merryton turned golden as the leaves of the aspen trees shed their green in favor
of gold. While it was lovely, it made me miss home. I wasn’t looking forward to
the cold and snow that would soon be arriving. I also missed Harry and Grams. I
found myself wishing they were here to be my support. Easton was still pursuing
me, and I was feeling more and more like I needed to speak to Frank. I knew I
couldn’t put it off much longer, but the thought terrified me.

Those thoughts all came
to a head near the end of September while we attended church. Once again,
Pastor Bates spoke to my soul. His sermon about loving the least of our
brethren penetrated my heart. He reminded us it was not our job to judge, but
to love. I didn’t think I could ever love Frank. I didn’t even think God
expected me to, but I felt a stirring inside that I needed to put it to rest. I
needed to find a way to forgive the man that haunted me. Just like Emmy was
working with a counselor to help her deal with the pain and hurt caused by her
mother, I needed to deal with my pain.

Easton was sitting next
to me, per his usual as of late. He was politely persistent.

The pastor’s words had
tears streaming down my face. It was the first time I let Easton hold my hand
during church, though I tried to keep it hidden from the girls and those around
us. It wasn’t a romantic gesture; it was comfort. I think Easton knew that.

Both girls were concerned
when they saw my tear-stained face as they walked past me on their way to
Sunday school. I waved off their concern and smiled at them. I did notice
Ashley notice who held my hand. I saw her try and hide her grin. That was going
to be a problem.

After most of the parishioners
had cleared out, we were only left with a few that were very interested in us, including
Veronica Riley. Easton turned toward me. The concern and care in his brown eyes
wasn’t helping the situation.

“Will you do something
for me?” I managed to ask through the tears that I couldn’t seem to stop.

“Anything,” he replied.

“I need to see Frank, but
I can’t do it alone.” 

He leaned in and pressed
his lips against my forehead. “Let me go tell Ashley she needs to take Emmy
home with her in your car, and I’ll pull the truck around. Okay?”

I nodded through my last
shudder of tears. I watched Easton walk away and I tried to compose myself
before I went out to the parking lot. I felt like an idiot for crying like
that, but I hadn’t been that scared in a long time. Facing your past is no easy
task, and I felt like I had already done so much of that with Easton the last
several months.

I was about ready to get
up and meet Easton when Veronica Riley made her way toward me. I was surprised
she could walk in the nine-inch heels and skin-tight dress she was wearing. She
placed her hand across her fairly exposed ample chest. “How touching. I guess
the rumors are true. Husband and wife together again,” she said as sweet as
snake venom.

“We’re friends,” is all I
said in return.

Her lips curled up.
“Close friends, from the looks of it.”

I stood up. “Excuse me.”

She grabbed onto my arm
with her hand that was adorned with long, blazing teal nails. “I have a close
friend, too, and she finds it so very interesting how close the two of you are,
especially how close you are to her daughter.”

I yanked my arm away.
“You can tell your friend that what I do is none of her concern.”

“Is it not?” she asked.

I walked away as fast as
I could. The last person I needed to think about at the moment was Kathryn. I
practically ran out the front doors. Easton had parked in front of the church
and was standing by the passenger side of his truck waiting for me. He opened
the door for me as soon as I approached.

“Thank you.” I stepped
into the passenger side and situated myself on the seat.

He shut the door and
jogged over to the driver’s side.

At first it was a silent
drive over to The Pines, but halfway there, Easton reached over and took my
hand. “Are you okay?”

I turned from looking out
the window and looked at him. “Not really.”

“I won’t leave your
side,” he promised.

“Thank you for taking me.
I don’t even know what I’m going to say.”

He squeezed my hand a
little tighter. “Don’t worry about that. It will come.”

“Easton, can I ask you a
question?” I was trying to forget about what Veronica said, but I was finding
it difficult.

“You can ask me
anything.”

“Do you ever talk to
Kathryn?”

He released my hand and
tightly gripped the steering wheel with both hands. “Only when I have to. Why
do you ask?”

I relayed my conversation
with Veronica to him.

He looked angry enough to
pop a vein in his head. “You don’t need to concern yourself with her.”

“Is she concerned about
me?”

Easton sighed heavily.
“She’s only ever concerned about herself.”

“I’m assuming my name has
come up.”

“Taylor, please don’t
worry about her. She’s finding out life isn’t everything she thought it would
be with her personal trainer and she only wants to stir up trouble. She and
Veronica are miserable and they want everyone around them to be just as
miserable as they are, so don’t let them get to you. There’s nothing for you to
worry about. I promise.” He took my hand back and tried to relax.

I’m glad one of us could.
I wasn’t sure I had ever felt so on edge.

The Pines complex was
beautiful. It got its name from all the pine trees that dotted the property. In
addition, there were lovely gardens placed strategically along walking paths. Several
caretakers were out and about, walking or sitting with their patients or loved
ones.

Easton took my hand and
led us to the entrance. A few of the guests and even residents waved hello to
him, almost like he was a celebrity there. We walked through the sliding glass
entrance and were greeted at the front desk by a young man who was also a fan
of Easton’s.

“What’s up, my man?” the
desk clerk—his nametag said Dwayne—asked. He stood up to greet Easton with a
fist bump. It looked like this was their usual greeting. “What are you doing
here today, Doc Cole?” Dwayne asked.

Easton smiled at me
before answering him. “I’m here to see a patient.”

“You bringing your
girlfriends to work with you now?” Dwayne asked.

“She’s more than my
girlfriend,” Easton responded.

I raised my eyebrow in
scrutiny at his comment before turning toward Dwayne. “I’m his ex-wife.”

“What! Ex-wife?” Dwayne
exclaimed.

I had to laugh a little
at his reaction.

Easton cleared his
throat. I could tell he didn’t like to refer to me that way, though I couldn’t
understand why. We had been divorced twice as long as we had been married.

“She’s the mother of my
oldest daughter.” Easton gazed down at me. “And someone I care deeply for.”

I think I may have
blushed, but I quickly recovered when Dwayne responded.

“You have kids together?
Well you better work it out then,” he advised us.

I felt Easton squeeze my
hand as if he agreed with Dwayne’s counsel. I refrained from pulling away from
him; I needed his comfort at the moment.

“You know the drill, Doc,
sign in here,” Dwayne instructed.

Once we were signed in
and I had a visitor’s badge, Dwayne opened the automatic doors for us with the
push of a button. Easton led the way down the well-lit hallway. Several staff
members greeted Easton and took a glance at our clasped hands.

I suddenly felt like I
couldn’t breathe. I stopped Easton in the middle of the hall. “I don’t want to
do this,” I whispered.

He pulled me off to the
side into a little alcove. He drew me to him, and for a moment neither of us
spoke as I listened to the rhythm of his heartbeat. It was a familiar tune.

“You don’t have to do
this. No one would blame you if you didn’t,” he spoke quietly in my ear.

“What about God?” I
asked.

“He understands your pain
better than anyone.”

“I feel like he wants me
to forgive Frank.”

“Then I have no doubt you
will.”

“He was terrible, Easton.
He made my life a living hell and he crushed my mother’s soul.”

“I know, and Frank knows
that, too.”

“You don’t know how bad
it was living like that.”

He took my face and
cupped it in his hands. His brown eyes looked so warm as he stared into my own.
“No, I don’t, but I’m here for you if you want to talk about it. I wish you
could have trusted me enough to tell me when we were married.”

My eyes began to well up
with tears. “I wanted to, but I didn’t know how.”

“Maybe,” he said with
regret, “if I had been a better husband, you would have.”

I shook my head. “I don’t
know.”

“Do you want to go home?”
he asked.

“Yes, but … I need to do
this.”

“Have I told you how
beautiful and amazing I think you are?”

“Yes, and you should
stop.”

A laugh rumbled from his
chest. “You aren’t getting rid of me that easy.”

I sighed. My resistance was
waning, but I wasn’t sure that was a good thing.

He dropped his hands from
my face and took up holding my hand again. “Come on,” he encouraged.

I followed silently. I
concentrated on the sound my high heels made and kept my eyes locked on the
sterile floor. I wasn’t even bothered by the subtle glances of several of the
staff members. Easton was definitely doing his best to keep up the
reconciliation rumors.

We stopped in front of
room 149.

Easton glanced down at me
and gave me a reassuring smile before he opened the door. I almost turned and
ran away, but I had promised myself no more running. I had to do this.

I reluctantly walked into
the semi-dark, lifeless room. The first thing I noticed was the smell of
antiseptic. Then I saw Frank. The only reason I knew he was alive was because
of the sound coming from the heart-rate monitor near his bed. The room almost
mirrored that of a hospital room, but there were personal effects scattered
about, including a dresser, recliner, and pictures. I held back a gasp when I
realized who was in the frames.

There I was, nine months
pregnant, looking ready to pop at any moment. There were more pictures that I
had been missing, like those with my mother, Ashley, and me all together.
“Where did he get these?” I whispered. I hoped not to wake up Frank.

Easton looked sheepish
and wouldn’t quite meet my eyes. “I made copies for him and gave them to him,”
he reluctantly admitted. “It seemed to mean a lot to him.”

I wasn’t sure how to feel
about it other than bothered, but I couldn’t dwell on it at the moment. I had
bigger issues in front of me, literally. I looked at Frank’s almost lifeless
body. He appeared worse than the last time I saw him in the hospital. His shallow
breaths were hard fought and his skin tone was even more sallow than before.
His sunken cheeks made him look like he was knocking on death’s door.

“Has his condition
worsened?” I eked out.

Easton nodded gravely.

I was surprised Easton
hadn’t told me or pushed me to see him in light of that information.

Easton carefully situated
two chairs by the bed. I let Easton take the one closest to him, or more like
insisted that he did. Once we were seated, it was me that reached for Easton’s
hand. He held it firmly and kept me steady. I felt ill. I looked at the dying
man and still had hard time reconciling that he was my father.

“I’m going to open up the
blinds,” Easton informed me. “The sunlight will be good for him.”

I almost begged him not
to. I had a feeling the sunlight would do more than give him some much needed
vitamin D. He began to stir as soon as the sunlight entered the room. I looked
at Easton, who made his way swiftly back to me.

“Frank,” Easton alerted
him to our presence.

My heart was beating
wildly out of control.

Frank battled to gain
consciousness. It was painful to watch him struggle.

“Easton,” he strangled
out. He was having a hard time opening his eyes.

I gripped Easton’s hand
tighter and tighter.

He made circling motions with
his free hand across my hand while frequently looking my way to, I’m sure,
gauge my mental state.

“Frank, I brought someone
to see you,” Easton said.

I silently exhaled and
prayed for strength.

“Another specialist?”
Frank murmured, while trying to focus.