Chapter 5
Five
Grace
“B lossom Beach Family Medicine, this is Danielle. How may I assist you?”
“Hey, Danielle, it’s Grace. How are you doing?”
“Hey, girl!” she exclaims. “You know, I’m doing alright. Ian got promoted at work, and it came with a nice little pay raise, so we’re re-doing the deck out back. How’re you, sweetie? How’re those little kiddos of yours?”
“We’re all good!” I reply with a smile. This is probably my favorite thing about living in a small town. The way everybody knows you, how they genuinely care how you’re doing. Some people dislike it because they feel like everyone’s always in your business, but I love it. Chatting has always been my strong suit. “Beau just started his second year of baseball. He’s getting so good. Oh, and Blakely starts gymnastics soon.”
“Oh, she’ll love that,” Danielle gushes. “My niece has been doing that for years. She lives down in Georgia.”
“Yeah, she’s pretty excited, and so am I.” Chuckling, I say, “I was super into gymnastics when I was a kid. I did it all the way until the end of middle school, then stopped when I broke my ankle.”
“Ouch! Well, I’m sure that won’t happen to Miss Blakely.”
“Let’s hope,” I reply with a small laugh. “She was supposed to start this week, but she’s got a pretty gnarly double ear infection, and she can’t start next weekend because we have a thing at the school with her class. So, she’s gotta wait two whole weeks, and you’d think I was telling her she had to give up one of her limbs.”
Danielle laughs. “Oh, kids are a hoot,” she murmurs. “What can I help you with today? As much as I’d love to catch up with you all day, I’d imagine you called for something else entirely.”
“You would be right, but catching up with you is always a bonus. You have got to stop by the bakery one day soon. I’ve got a caramel apple covered in Oreos with your name on it.”
“Ah, you’ve always known the way to my heart, Miss Grace. You’ve got yourself a deal.”
“That’s what I like to hear,” I chuff with a smile. “I’m hoping to talk with Alan or the other doctor. The new one… I don’t know why I can’t remember his name.”
Alan Schumer and Charles Thomas opened this practice many moons ago, and they’ve worked side by side up until Charles retired earlier this year. Some new doctor took his place, but I haven’t been in here since he started. Alan has been my primary care doctor since I was a born, and he’s been my children’s from the start as well.
“Dr. Winston Parker is the new Dr. Thomas,” Danielle supplies. “Dr. Schumer is with a patient right now, and he actually has back-to-backs all morning, but I think you’re in luck, because Dr. Parker just got here and he doesn’t have a patient for another half an hour. Let me patch you through to him, sweetie.”
“Thanks, girl. And remember, don’t be a stranger at the bakery!”
The dull elevator music hums in my ear for a minute before the line connects and a thick midwestern accent takes its place. “This is Dr. Parker. Is this Grace?”
“It sure is,” I reply sweetly. “Thanks for taking my call, Dr. Parker. I know we haven’t met yet, but me and my kids are patients of Dr. Schumer’s, so I’m sure we’ll be running into each other one of these days.”
“I look forward to it, ma’am. How can I help you today?”
Lord, his deep voice sounds hot. Chuckling to myself at the thought, I dive into the speech I wrote out for myself, going over the fundraiser as a whole, then getting into what we’re asking of the businesses around town. Dr. Parker graciously agrees to donate free physicals for whichever family has the winning bid.
“That’s so generous of you, Dr. Parker,” I murmur as I check his name off my list.
“It’s truly the least I could do. And while you’re at it, you should put Dr. Schumer down for the same.”
Breathing out a laugh, I say, “Well, I should probably talk to him and confirm first.”
“Ah, trust me. He’ll be on board.”
“Alright, if you say so,” I reply, making a note on my paper to confirm with Alan anyway. “You know, if you’re ever in the mood for a sweet treat, you should stop by my bakery. It’s down on Main Street, and it’s called Bake Me Happy . We’ve got a ton of goodies, and it’ll be on me as a thank you for your kind donation.”
I can hear him snap his fingers through the line. “Oh, I’ve walked past that place a few times on my way to the grill. Wait, are you the one I always see inside with the blonde hair and the pink polka dot apron?”
Chuckling, I say, “Yup, that’d be me. There almost every day. Confessions of a workaholic.”
“Hey, it’s not easy running a small business. I applaud your dedication, ma’am.”
“Please, you can call me Grace.”
“Well, Grace, you can call me Winston.” Oh, awkward. When I was a teenager, I had a hedgehog named Winston. I bite back a laugh as he adds, “It was a pleasure to meet you over the phone, and I look forward to meeting you in person.”
There’s a flirty edge to his tone, and despite not knowing what this guy looks like, I don’t hate it. In fact, I welcome it after the confusing incident with Conway in my office the other day. I still can’t wrap my head around it. We’ve been in each other’s proximity many times over the years, especially since our girls became friends, and he’s never done anything remotely like he did. I internally scold myself for the way my body heats at the memory of him looking so damn cocky sitting behind my desk, and then the way he positioned his chair so close to me after I booted him out of my spot. His rich, smoky scent made me dizzy, and I had to keep my eyes away from the very evident bulge in his pants as he sat relaxed in the folding chair that was way too small for him. When he kicked his legs wide and interlaced his fingers behind his head, I nearly combusted on the spot.
It’s maddening how sexy Conway is. He’s a smug asshole of epic proportions, who does nothing but get under my skin any chance he can get. He has no right being attractive. And I’m the desperate, sex-deprived fool pathetic enough to notice. I truly don’t understand what happened that day. In the fourteen years since that night he drove me home, he’s never once acknowledged the kiss or the way I exploded on him after. Like it wasn’t a good enough memory to keep, and I won’t lie, that stung. After the cheating and then the rejection on top of it, him acting completely aloof was another slice to my already tattered ego.
Truth be told, it made sense for it to never come up in the years that followed. I didn’t come home a lot until I graduated, and then I moved out of my parents’ place and in with Ethan, my now ex-husband, across town, so it’s not like our paths crossed a whole lot. When Blakely and Willow became close in second grade, and Conway and I unavoidably started seeing more of each other, I thought for sure that would be the time he finally brought it up, but nope. Not a peep. Every time we’ve been around each other, he’s been…fine? Cordial, I guess. Until now, that is, but the switch makes no sense.
I don’t like it.
And the comment he made about putting me in my place? Didn’t like that either. At all.
Okay, so I did like it. So fucking what? I think if any attractive man said something as domineering to me as he did, my body would’ve reacted the same way. It’s been entirely too long since the last time I got laid. My kitty cat purrs for anything these days. Accidentally gag myself brushing my teeth in the morning? Yup. Sitting in the massage chair at the nail salon when I get a pedicure? You bet.
Alright, neither of those is entirely true, but regardless, his gruff and growly, and slightly flirty demeanor, if I can even call it that, isn’t appreciated. Maybe that’s why I find myself giggling and letting myself flirt back with the faceless doctor for a few minutes before he eventually tells me he has to go to his next appointment. After going on one failed first date after another with jerks or guys only after one thing, it’s nice to feel wanted, even if it’s only through the phone and will go nowhere.
I’m able to knock out most of my half of the list before calling it a day. Today is my son, Beau’s, eleventh birthday. We’re throwing him a party this weekend with all the family and his friends from school and baseball, but to celebrate today on his actual birthday, his dad and I are taking him and his sister to his favorite pizza place just outside of town. Since it’s Ethan’s week with them, he’s picking them up from school and they’re meeting me there. Luckily, traffic isn’t bad at all, and I’m able to get there before them, which is what Ethan and I were hoping for, so I can decorate the back room the owner is letting us use. The theme is a chaotic mix of Marvel superheroes and baseball, but somehow I’m able to make it look cute.
“Holy crap, Mom!” Beau blurts out, startling me because I didn’t hear anybody come in.
Spinning around, a smile tugs into place as I take in his excited expression. “Don’t say crap,” I tease, and he chuckles, rolling his eyes in a way that he so got from me. “And you like it?”
“Like it?” He snorts. “I love it. It looks amazing. Thank you!”
“Well, to be fair, it wasn’t all me,” I admit, and my gaze lifts to meet Ethan’s behind me. “Your dad was the one who found the superhero decorations, so I suppose he deserves some of the credit.”
“Wow, someone’s feeling generous today,” Ethan teases as we all take a seat around the table. Our drinks and a tray of cheese sticks got dropped off right before they arrived, and I’ve already put in the pizza order. A large half pepperoni, half cheese for Blakely, Ethan, and me, and a personal Hawaiian pizza for Beau, because he’s the only one in the family who likes pineapple on his pizza. As somebody who passionately hates pineapple, I’d think Ethan wasn’t mine if I wasn’t very awake and very in pain during his delivery.
“What’re you talking about? I’m always generous.” I shrug, waggling my eyebrows. A chuckle hiccups out of me when Ethan and Beau share a look that screams they think I’m full of shit. “How was school, birthday boy?”
“Awesome! The whole class got ice cream sandwiches for my birthday, and my teacher had me stand In front of the class so they could all sing to me.”
“That’s awesome!” Focusing my attention on my daughter, I ask, “What about you, Miss Blakey-Blake? How was your day?”
“Good.” She grins with all her teeth. “Beau’s teacher let him bring me an ice cream too.”
“Well, how cool is that?” I bop her on the nose before stuffing my face with cheesy, garlicky goodness. The kids hustle me and Ethan out of all our spare change, taking it to the arcade in the next room over, leaving Ethan and I to devour this tray of bread ourselves before the pizza comes.
“How’s things with the bakery?” Ethan asks. “Heard there was a raccoon incident last week.”
Groaning, I say, “How the heck did you hear about that?”
“Maci told me,” he supplies with a shit-eating grin on his face.
“Of course she did,” I mutter sarcastically, matching the humor on his face. Maci is dating Sara Beth and is also basically Ethan’s niece. “That damn raccoon freaked me the heck out at first, but now it’s kind of funny to think about. Those little buggers are so unexpectedly fast!”
Ethan coughs to hide a laugh. “Something like that would only happen to you, I swear. Hilarious disasters seem to follow you wherever you go.” Taking a sip from his Coke, he adds, “Remember that time you accidentally dumped hot chili all over the old pastor at that one random church event we went to when Blakely was like, what, four?”
I snort. “How could I forget? I’m lucky he didn’t get third-degree burns from it! To this day, I still don’t know why the hell he was so dang close to me.”
Anthony, the owner, delivers the pizzas to the table, setting Beau’s, which is decorated all around the edge, in front of his chair.
“This smells so good,” I mutter. “Thank you so much, Anthony.”
“My pleasure, Grace. Want me to stop by the arcade and tell the kids?”
Ethan nods, already serving himself a slice. “Yeah, but if they’re in the middle of a game, they can finish before coming to eat.”
With a tip of his hat, Anthony says, “You got it, boss. Enjoy the pizza, you two.”
“You know we will.” I breathe out a small chuckle. We’ve been coming here for Beau’s birthday since he was a toddler. Once he leaves, I grab a slice for myself before asking Ethan, “How’s Trey anyway?”
“Thrilled about my new work schedule,” Ethan replies with a mouthful of pizza.
“My god, the manners on you,” I tease, face scrunched up. “Unparalleled. What a lucky man Trey is.”
“Ha-ha,” he drawls. “Hilarious.”
“When does the new schedule start?” Ethan’s a truck driver and has been since Beau was first born. When we were still married, he worked for a great company who always made sure to give him semi-local jobs so he could be home with us every night, but the business shut down a few years back, and he was forced to accept an offer from a competing company, but the hours suck. They’re short-staffed all the time, and his jobs frequently have him driving all over the east coast. The schedule and its unpredictability made for an interesting learning curve when it came to co-parenting. It took us a while, but we finally had it down when they offered him the Carolina and Georgia clients, meaning his travel time and the time away from his house will be cut way down.
“Couple weeks. I’m training the guy now who’s taking over my list.”
“And the remodel, how’s that going?”
“As well as can be expected,” he groans. “I warned Trey he was going to hate doing it ourselves, but he insisted because it would save us so much money, and he’s complained every single day about how hard it is and how long it’s taking since day one.”
“Sounds like Trey.”
“Oh, speaking of Trey,” Ethan says. “I wanted to see if it was okay with you if he took Beau to the Goldeye’s game next weekend? It’s your weekend and you can say no, but it’s the only home game they’re playing for the rest of this month.”
“No way am I saying no,” I quip. “That’s Beau’s favorite team. He’d never let me hear the end of it if he wasn’t able to go.”
“True, he wouldn’t.” Ethan chuckles. “But Trey wanted to make sure it was okay with you first, before we told him. So, if y’all already have plans, he would never know.”
“Well, that’s sweet, but I’m more than okay if he goes to the game with Trey. He’d have a blast, and Blakely and I can have a girls’ spa day or something equally boring to Beau.”
Ethan beams. “Cool. I’ll text Trey and let him know before we leave. He’ll be stoked to surprise Beau when we get home tonight.”
Ethan and Trey have been together for a few years now, and their relationship used to be a sensitive subject for me. It was never Trey who I had a problem with; he’s the sweetest, and he’s always adored the kids, but it was how their relationship came to be that was a tough pill for me to swallow. For the last year of our marriage, Ethan was attending a support group for men who found out later in life that they weren’t straight. I had no idea he was going to these meetings every week, and the only reason I found out was because I was convinced he was cheating on me. I went into full FBI mode on him and ended up following him one night to the group.
When I confronted him afterward, he broke down and finally told me he thought he was gay but didn’t know how to tell me. Trey attended the same support group, and it’s how they met, and while I believe nothing happened while we were still married, it was still hard for me, especially after finding everything out and feeling like everything about my marriage was a lie. Luckily, with time and therapy of my own, I’ve healed and been able to move past the anger I felt toward them.
The kids book it around the corner, pulling me from my thoughts as they race to their seats, talking a mile a minute at a level loud enough for a packed train station about stuff I can’t even make out. Ethan and I watch as they shovel slice after slice into their mouths in between gabbing, and I can’t decide if I’m more impressed that they’re able to hold a full conversation while eating so fast or disgusted by their appalling lack of manners that I know they have…most days, anyway. Tonight, they’re a couple of wild animals disguised as my sweet children. I drag my gaze up to Ethan, and we both crack up, causing them to look at us like we’re the heathens.
Once we finish the pizza, Anthony brings in a birthday cake, and the staff joins us in singing Happy Birthday to our sweet boy, who proceeds to inhale his slice at an alarming pace before asking for seconds.
Right about now, I’m pretty dang happy these hyper kids are going home with their dad tonight. Mama’s got a hot date with her Kindle and a large glass of wine while she soaks in a candlelit bubble bath.
A perfect end to the evening.