Chapter 23
Paisley opened the door to the Sutton Building, her heart hammering. She stared at her phone and the text she’d sent to Emma.
I need to talk to you about something. Is there a time when I could come see you in your office?
Emma had texted back about ten minutes later. I’ve got half an hour before my next patient. Do you want to come now?
Paisley had responded that she did. Before she could change her mind, she’d slung her purse diagonally across her body, told Megan she needed to run out, and headed for Emma’s office.
A woman looked up from the front desk and smiled. “Hi, can I help you?”
“Um, yes. I’m here to see Dr. Emma Sutton. I’m Paisley.”
The woman flipped through some papers. “I’m sorry but I don’t see you. Is there another name?”
“Oh, no. It’s not an appointment. I’m a fr-friend.”
So embarrassing to stumble on that word but she wasn’t used to having friends. The woman smiled. “Oh, I’m so sorry. Of course! I’ll tell her you’re here.”
“Thanks.”
A moment later, Emma walked through the door separating the reception area from the offices. “Paisley, I’m so happy to see you. This is Greta. She’s our receptionist.”
The willowy blond woman was sinking into her chair again after going back to get Emma.
“Pleased to meet you,” Greta said, holding out her hand. “And I’m sorry again.”
Paisley clasped her hand and shook her head. “No, no. I should have said I was a friend. It’s my fault.”
“Come on back,” Emma said, holding the door for her.
Paisley waited inside the door so Emma could lead. She went into an office with a big wooden desk and photos on the wall that Paisley assumed were her parents. Emma followed Paisley’s gaze.
“It’s my dad’s office. Mine is being painted.” Emma looked businesslike in her lab coat and glasses. She had a stethoscope around her neck and her face radiated confidence and friendliness. “What can I help you with today?”
Paisley’s heart beat harder than ever. Heat flooded her until her palms were damp. “I…um…oh shit.”
Emma was on her feet, pressing a bottle of cool water she’d magically produced into Paisley’s hand.
“Breathe, Paisley. Sip that. It’s okay. You can tell me what’s going on.
You aren’t technically my patient, but we’re in my dad’s office and this space is sacred to me.
You can rely on me not to share anything you say. ”
Paisley took a sip of water and closed her eyes. Then she worked on breathing for a couple of moments. “Sorry,” she said.
“It’s okay.”
There was nowhere to start but at the beginning. “You asked if Ethan and I had met before. I said no, but that’s not true. I’m sorry I lied.”
“Paisley,” Emma said with a serenity Paisley envied, “you don’t owe me any explanations. Your private life is yours. I should apologize for prying.”
“What? No.” Paisley shook her head. “You were right. When I saw him in the Dawg—well, it’d been five years and I thought he’d dumped me.
A man he thought was a friend told me he had, and I believed it.
Ethan was sent on a mission and couldn’t call me until he returned.
By then, Trey—that’s the man he thought was a friend—had managed to hack my phone and intercept all calls and texts from Ethan.
Then he sent a message from my phone telling Ethan I’d met someone else. ”
“Oh no.”
Paisley sucked in a breath. “It gets worse.”
She closed her eyes and told Emma the rest of it.
How she’d been drunk and slept with Trey.
How she’d learned she was pregnant later and married him.
How he’d been abusive and she’d finally found the courage to leave.
And then she said the words she’d never said aloud to anyone except Trey.
The words she’d skipped over because it hurt to say them.
“I don’t actually know who Violet’s father is.
Trey or Ethan. And I-I need to tell Ethan but I don’t know how.
And what about Violet? What do I tell her? ”
Tears slid down her cheeks. She took a tissue from the box on the desk to wipe them away. “Sorry.”
Emma slid her chair around the desk and took Paisley’s hand.
“Oh, honey. Don’t apologize. What a terrible, terrible thing you’ve had to endure.
I don’t know if this will help or not, but I know what it’s like to think you’ve found a decent man and then he winds up abusing you.
Before I met Blaze, I was with someone like that.
Nothing like what you endured, but the first time they hit you—well, it’s shocking.
You don’t know what to think, and you wonder if it’s your fault.
It’s not, of course. But they make you believe it is. ”
“Yes,” Paisley said, her chin quivering.
Emma sucked in a breath and squeezed her hand.
“I saw the way Ethan reacted that night in the Dawg. And I see him with you and Violet now. He was dealing with shock and pain that night. But the way he treats you both now, well, I see caring there. He already knows you married the man he thought was a friend, and that didn’t make him run away, did it? ”
Paisley shook her head and wiped her nose.
“Okay. Then I think the way you tell him is that you sit him down and say what you said to me. If either of you want to find out for sure, we can do that. A couple of cheek swabs and we’ll get an answer in a few days.
You can offer him that, but I’ll tell you what I see.
This is the friend talking now, not the doctor.
She favors him. Her eyes, the shape of her nose, her smile.
She has your chin, your cheekbones, your forehead.
But she so clearly belongs to you both from what I can see.
Again, not a formal diagnosis, just your book club bestie telling you what she’s observed. ”
Paisley drew in a breath. It shook on the way out.
“I think so too. I wasn’t certain at the time, and then when he came back into our lives—” She shredded the tissue in her fingers.
“Well, I thought I was seeing what I wanted to see. That it was hope and not reality. But if it’s true, if Ethan is her father—well, I don’t know if it helps my divorce situation or hurts. ”
Emma frowned. “I don’t know either. But your husband’s name is on the birth certificate, and he’s her legal father.
I don’t know what the process is in Florida, but I would imagine you’d have to petition the courts with the information.
They might also order another test of their own, though I don’t know for certain.
I think you need to talk to Ethan. Tell him the truth, give him a chance to react.
You don’t have to tell Violet anything until you and Ethan establish what you want to happen. ”
Paisley nodded. “You’re right. I know that. I just—I needed someone to talk to. And you’re a doctor, so I figured you were used to hearing people’s problems.” She bit back a bubble of hysterical laughter. “Maybe not these kinds of problems, though. I’m sorry if I presumed too much.”
Emma laughed softly, and Paisley felt a little better.
It was a warm laugh. Friendly. “You’d be surprised what people talk about sometimes.
I’ve heard a lot of things I wasn’t expecting.
But I can’t say I wasn’t expecting something about Ethan and Violet at some point.
Like I said, there’s a resemblance. Not that any of the others have said anything to me about it, but I think I’m more in tune with the human body than the rest of them. Do you feel any better?”
Paisley sat quietly for a moment, feeling the chaos in her soul. It wasn’t the whirlwind it’d been, but it wasn’t gone either. “I do. I’m still scared to tell him, but I know I have to. I just have to find time to do it when Violet isn’t there. I don’t want us to have to tiptoe around her.”
“Can I help? Blaze and I can take her to Rory and Chance’s place. They have chickens and goats, but no ponies. There might even be a cow out there somewhere.”
“I…I think that would be amazing, yes. She loved those animals, didn’t stop talking about them all weekend. She still talks about them, but she’s also kind of hung up on the kittens next door.”
Emma pulled her phone from her pocket and started typing something. “How’s tonight? I’ll text Rory, make sure it’s okay.”
Paisley swallowed her apprehension. Was she ready to do this? To tell Ethan he might be a father, and then endure the inevitable emotional fallout of that conversation? No, but there was never going to be a good time and sooner was better than later at this point.
“That would be great. Are you sure it’s not a problem?”
“Positive.” She sent the text. A moment later, an answer pinged in. “And there’s Rory saying yes, come on out.”
“I have to pick her up at five. I can bring her by if that’s okay. I think she’ll be excited.”
“That works. We’ll stay at the farm until you text me. And don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone what it’s about. They’ll just think you and Ethan want some alone time.”
She got to her feet. “Thank you, Emma. For listening. For not judging. For being supportive.”
Emma stood and pulled her in for a hug. And Paisley, who wasn’t effusive with anyone, hugged her right back.
“That’s what friends are for, honey. Told you you were in the club.”
“Best club ever,” Paisley whispered, and meant it.