Chapter 4
CHAPTER FOUR
Oaklee
My mind is spinning, just as it has since Friday night.
The night I decided to surprise Lance on one of his rare nights off and ended up being the one surprised.
After I got off work, I ran home and showered.
I shaved my legs and threw on some of my sexiest panties, grabbed some food from the Chinese restaurant around the corner from his apartment, and knocked on his door.
He wasn’t expecting me—that much was obvious.
He told me he was exhausted and just wanted to sleep until he had to wake up the next morning for another shift.
So imagine my surprise when the door opened and it was a woman. A woman who seemed just as surprised by my appearance at the door as I was by her answering it. I asked where Lance was. He was in the shower, of course.
And the woman?
Sabrina Dempsey, another resident physician at North Ridge and the woman he’d been sleeping with since he moved to town more than six months ago.
Now, when I look back, I can’t help but wonder if I didn’t know.
Deep down, obviously. If I would have known, I would have ended it.
But if I’m being completely honest, I can’t even remember the last time we had sex.
It was why I was surprising him at his apartment Friday night.
I was…in the mood. Had been for a while, not that he’d realize that, since clearly, he was only concerned about his own needs.
But that’s how it’s always been with Lance.
Lance first, me second.
Always.
Now, here I sit, Sunday afternoon, and I’m just angry.
Sure, I was hurt and upset Friday night, but now?
I’m furious at him. At him stringing me along, and not just recently, but the entire time.
Looking back, I see it now. The rose-colored glasses have come off, and I can see, plain as the nose on my face, that I’ve always been an afterthought.
I should have listened to my gut and broke it off with him a few months back when said gut was telling me something was off.
But then he asked me to move to North Ridge with the intention of moving forward with a life together at some point.
And that’s just it.
At some point.
He knew what I needed to hear, even if he didn’t mean any of the words he said.
So, I moved, relocated to Cooper Town, took a job, and signed a one-year lease for a cute little rental house. I’m here for a year, whether I like it or not.
The problem is, I do like it.
I like Cooper Town.
I like working at the clinic.
I like my little rental house with the fenced-in backyard and the flower gardens.
I like spending time with Allison and getting to know the others I work with.
I was really looking forward to last night’s paint event at The Tipsy Lizard, but thanks to my douchebag now-ex-boyfriend, I didn’t feel like going out.
Instead, I gathered up every item I had at my place that belonged to Lance—which, surprisingly, wasn’t much, considering we’d been together on and off for six years—and I went and dumped it all out on his Welcome mat. I woke with a one-word text.
Mature.
Mature? Fuck him and fuck maturity.
But that’s par for the course, really. Lance did everything he could to blame me for his wandering eye—and penis—as if it were my fault he cheated.
The only silver lining to the entire blow-up was Sabrina ended up leaving, breaking it off with him too, since he had told her he broke up with me months ago.
I don’t wish her ill. The poor woman was strung along and lied to as well, but that doesn’t mean I want to get together with her and chat over iced coffees and cinnamon rolls.
Fortunately for me, she works at the hospital in North Ridge, and while I work for a clinic under the same hospital, neither of the cheaters work in Cooper Town with me.
Thank God for small favors.
My phone chimes with a text, and I pray it’s not from him. Not that he’s messaged me since yesterday after finding his crap piled in front of his door, but whatever. Since I’d rather he not contact me at all, I’m relieved when I see Allison’s name on the screen.
Allison
Hey, just checking on you.
Me
Doing fine.
Allison
That’s good.
Me
How are you feeling?
Allison woke up yesterday morning with a bad cold, complete with head congestion, sore throat, and low-grade fever.
She was disappointed to have to give up her seat at the paint night, and even though I didn’t have a plan to tell anyone about Lance, I ended up spilling my guts via text message after asking her to cancel my seat too.
Allison
Much better. I think the fever is gone, and I’m taking OTC meds for the congestion and sore throat.
Me
At least it’s not the flu bug going around.
Allison
No kidding!
Allison
Anyway, the other reason I’m messaging…Charli sent a text, asking if we wanted to meet her and Lizzie for lunch soon. Doc is off Tuesday afternoon, so I thought maybe we could meet up with them after the last appointment?
Dr. Houston has a few afternoons marked off his calendar to attend appointments with his wife.
She was diagnosed with thyroid cancer before I started working at the clinic, and he’s determined to be by her side through treatment.
I’ve been told they’ll send another physician when he takes the week off for her surgery, but until then, we’re just not scheduling appointments during the afternoons he needs to be by her side.
Part of me wants to decline the offer. Yes, I may have told Allison about the whole Lance thing, but I don’t know if I want to get into it with my newest friends. I barely know Charli and Lizzie, and I’m certain my relationship will come up at some point in conversation. It always does.
Allison
You can say no if you want. I understand not wanting to pretend to be fine in public.
It’s one thing to act that way at work, but completely another when you’re surrounded by friends.
But if I can make a suggestion, as someone who went through a divorce.
Don’t sit at home and mope for too long.
Yes, grieve the loss of the relationship you once had, but don’t drown in the misery it can create.
You know he’s not at home crying in a bowl of Rocky Road.
I read and then reread her text, her words striking a chord in my brain. She’s absolutely right. He’s not at home, crying. He’s not trying to make things right. He’s living his best life, completely oblivious of the hearts he’s breaking or the pain he’s causing along the way.
The truth is, Lance has always been self-centered and selfish. It was always about him first. He’d break up with me for whatever reason and then come back. He didn’t care about my needs, my time, or my feelings. He used me, plain and simple.
And that realization hurts more than the actual breakup.
Me
I’d love to go. I don’t plan to leave Cooper Town now, and I want to get to know Charli and Lizzie.
Allison
Yay! I told them we’d meet at the diner, since it’s in the middle of town. Easy walking distance for all of us.
Me
Perfect. See you tomorrow morning at work.
Allison
Have a great rest of your Sunday. If you get bored at home, call me. We can go for a walk or shopping or something.
I glance around my little rental. There are still boxes that need unpacked and laundry that needs washed.
Not to mention I need to purchase a lawn mower.
I didn’t have to worry about it before when I lived in an apartment, but now I have a lawn to take care of.
Making my decision, I fire off a quick text to Allison.
Me
Actually, I do need to do a little shopping. Want to go shopping with me?
Allison
Absolutely! I can be ready in thirty minutes. I’ll even buy lunch.
A smile spreads across my face and my fingers move across the screen.
Me
I’ll pick you up in about thirty.
Allison
See you soon!
I set my phone on the counter and head to my bedroom.
I might have just had my heart ripped from my chest, but I refuse to go out in public in my cleaning clothes.
Instead, I put on a pair of cute denim shorts with lace around the leg holes and a loose-fitting tank top in a deep blue color.
I slip my feet into a pair of brown sandals and then head for the bathroom to make myself presentable.
After straightening my hair and putting a little eye makeup on my face, I return to the kitchen and grab my things.
I exit the door off the laundry room and enter the attached garage, where my Jeep Cherokee is parked.
It’s older, with high miles, but it’s a solid, reliable vehicle.
And it should have enough room in the back, especially if I put the back seat down, to fit a push mower.
I head over to Allison’s place across town.
She lives in the small two-bedroom house she got in the divorce and is saving to have the siding redone.
It’s currently canary yellow, a color her ex-husband was fond of, and she hates it with a passion.
But siding isn’t cheap, that’s for sure, and she’d prefer not to take out a loan or put the expense on credit cards, like most homeowners would do.
There are a few broken pieces that really need replaced, especially around the front porch, or she’d just repaint it.
She says she can live with the color until she can pay for it outright. Until then, she’ll save where she can.
A quick text lets her know I’m close, and when I pull into her driveway, she’s standing on her front porch. “I could drive if you want,” she offers as she climbs into the passenger seat.
“No, I don’t mind. I need to buy a lawn mower, and it’s probably easier to put it in my Jeep than your car,” I tell her, slowly backing out of her driveway and pulling on to the street.
“Oh! An adult purchase. Where are we headed?”
“Well, there’s a couple of places in North Ridge we can check out.”
“Yep,” she says, setting her purse on the floor. “Do you like hibachi? There’s a great little place near the Menards over there.”