Chapter 58
Jane sat at her kitchen table. It was Sunday afternoon, and the kids were running through the house.
Joe was supposed to have them, but he’d called her Friday saying he was sick. It had to be complete bullshit. Still, she’d had to get her parents to come up and babysit because she'd worked Saturday.
She’d managed to put this off until now. She was back on shift tomorrow. She’d arranged daycare for Stella and Claire and after-school care for Tyler and Dylan. She would be on her feet for twelve hours but only Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. Next week though she would be working four days.
It was too much, she knew. Especially with Joe not even doing his part. Asshole .
The kids ran by, screaming, playing some version of tag. As per usual, Claire couldn't keep up, but still seemed to enjoy the game. Her tiny feet pattered by last, and Jane took a quick glance to see that the lid was still on the sippy cup. She had procrastinated as long as she could.
It was past time to look at the numbers .
Sales of Carlisle’s kit had not exploded into the stratosphere like she'd wished. She hadn't been stupid enough to believe they would. They looked more like what she'd expected. They were growing, that’s what was most important.
She'd hoped there would be enough money so she could go down to part time at the hospital. Then she could help Carlisle send out kits faster. Maybe spend more days doing interviews without having to take time off.
She tried three different ways, but she couldn’t make the numbers work. Lips pursed, she stared at the columns first one way and then another. She didn't think the hospital would offer her thirty hours a week. Traveling nurse positions were an option and paid very well. But she wasn't sure she could do that part time.
Besides, she was already traveling and leaving the kids with her parents and occasionally with Joe for interviews and things she needed to do for the business. Traveling more wasn't an option even if she liked the money.
She did know of a few other nurses who worked at the hospital just two days a week. She added up what that would look like then realized her health insurance might be in jeopardy if she didn’t average full time for the whole year. She could take a bet on next year—Joe covered the kids, but not her anymore—but she couldn’t not have coverage. Just look at Carlisle’s freak accident.
Then she calculated how much longer she needed to work full time to hit the average. Adding in her overtime lifted the number. She’d worked enough extra shifts in the beginning of the year banking money for the divorce, not quite sure how Joe's money was going to play out. She’d worked when Joe took the kids. He’d been trying to look like a good father who deserved the part-time custody he’d been granted. That was turning out to be just as much a lie as everything else.
She added it twice. Just two more weeks would do it. Three more, she thought, just to be safe. The extra money would help, too.
But what would a part time paycheck look like? She calculated daycare savings. Then she added a lowball estimate of what the business could make in bad months. She added up the columns again but couldn't quite make it work.
Son of a bitch. She was almost in tears.
Jane needed to be here for her kids. She needed it even more as their father partly disappeared on them. She was trying to get a business off the ground, but she was a single mom with a full-time job, and she was using all her time off for interviews.
She would be a couple hundred short each month. She could use savings, but not in perpetuity. She had the apartment to rent. If she added in rent it would make up the difference and put a little extra in her pocket.
But she was more than wary about it. She had four young kids. She couldn't trust just anybody to move onto her property. And who was going to move in this week? She needed rent now .
It might not be another month or so until she found the right person and got them to put down a deposit. She couldn't go part time, or even tell her boss, until she actually had the money in hand.
But who?
Claire was tiny, too small to tell her if the renter was doing something inappropriate. Jane swore a few more times. She couldn’t rent the place. Not until she had the right person. That meant she had to keep working full time.
She was ready to cry again.
Then, just as she lowered her head into her hands, she had an idea.
Picking up the phone, she called Carlisle.
“Hey, Jane!” the voice was happy. “Tell me you had a brilliant idea for how to sell Carlisle's kit.”
“Not quite.” They were doing online advertising. Carlisle was playing around with test ads. Jane, if she went part time, would be able to try her hand at it, too.
She heard Simon in the background of the call, glad that the two of them had been able to work things out. She was thrilled for Carlisle, even as she looked around her pristine dining table, knowing she would be perpetually single.
She’d thought Joe was the love of her life. But that love had slowly faded into just two people in the same house. He’d ultimately completely transformed into someone she didn't even recognize and now hated. What a fool she'd been. She’d come to terms with being on her own, but it meant she was going to have to pay her own way.
“I need to rent out my apartment. If I can, it will allow me to go part time at the hospital,” she explained.
“That's fantastic, Jane. We need you.”
“I know.” The business did need her and, if they were going to make it any bigger, she needed to put more into it. “So, I have a question for you: is your brother still looking to move out?”
Thank you so much for reading Simon and Carlisle’s story. I hope you loved all the ups and downs as they found their way to each other. Next up, it’s Charlie’s turn!
Charlie knew war was hell, but he never expected a photographer would live that kind of tradegy. Broken and adrift, he wonders if he’ll ever be himself again. Can Jane be his light in the darkness?
Already feeling stupid for not knowing her own marriage was a sham, the last thing Jane needs is to fall for a much younger playboy. Soon she’s let him into her home and her bed. Letting him into her heart will only leave her devastated again. Can Charlie convince her to take a chance, or will he leave, too?