Chapter 5
Ash
“How was school, John?” I asked as John slid into the backseat next to his sister, who was overly thrilled to pick her brother up from school.
“I got an A on my math test,” he said with his usual air of arrogance.
I smiled at him as I pulled out of the school parking lot. I waved at Mrs. Thomas, the school principal, as she helped guide students to their buses. Someone had to keep the kids safe from all the parents who were always in a frenzy, waiting in the car line to get their kids from the pickup lane.
“Your dad will be happy to hear that. You were stressed about this one, though,” I said. “Are you sure you want to keep taking advanced classes?”
I smirked when I glanced up and saw John roll his eyes through the rearview mirror, “Dad didn’t become one of the youngest chief cardiologists in the country because he screwed off in school. He took advanced classes and didn’t stop until he reached the top.”
I sighed. “That is true; however, your dad said he wasn’t being challenged enough, so his father insisted he take gifted classes. You don’t have to do that. You can still be successful in anything you do without putting pressure on yourself like that.”
“I know, Mom,” he nodded, but my advice was falling on deaf ears.
Jake and I had very different upbringings when it came to academics.
I was an artist, and my parents had always nurtured that side.
Jake, however, was raised by his father, who pressured him to excel in everything, which wasn’t surprising when I thought about it.
His father was the founding CEO of Mitchell and Associates, and it took tremendous drive and dedication to run such a global empire.
Jake and Jim’s father wanted his sons to succeed in their own right, not just be trust-fund babies who ran around living off their daddy’s money.
His plan ultimately worked since Jim went on to take over as CEO of the company, and Jake had gone on to have a distinguished career as a cardiovascular surgeon, becoming chief at a world-renowned hospital as a young man.
The difference with John was that I didn’t want my son to think he needed to take the same path as his father just to prove that he could be successful. I wanted John to do whatever he was passionate about. Maybe I was getting ahead of myself, though. After all, he was only eight.
As I contemplated John’s schoolwork, Kaley drifted off to sleep in her car seat, and John put in his earbuds, most likely trying to avoid any further conversation of me trying to coach him along.
Ring! Ring!
“Hey, Avery,” I answered the car phone. “What’s up?”
“Girl,” she said with the dramatic annoyance she usually held when her daughter, Addison, was arguing with their youngest, Isabel. “We need a goddamn vacation.”
“Honey, you’re always on vacation,” I laughed. “I know so because I’m usually babysitting for you when Jim whisks you away to your castle in England.”
“I mean a girl’s vacation. Just the ladies,” she said.
“Is Jim irritating you?” I laughed.
“No more than usual,” she chuckled. “I don’t know what it is. I’m just at my limit. I’m sick of hearing Izzy and Addy fighting nonstop and Jim pacing the floors every time a deal goes sideways. I’m just burnt.”
“I heard that big merger didn’t go through, which surprised me because Spence thought he had that thing nailed down.”
“The whole thing was a bust after they found out about that company’s embezzlement shit,” she confirmed. “It’s all good now, but days like this make me want to get away with my girls.”
“We can always steal the yacht and leave the kids with Carmen and my dad?” I teased.
“Why don’t we meet for coffee tomorrow? I miss you, and the two of us haven’t hung out by ourselves in forever. I want to have coffee at a cute little hole-in-the-wall diner on the beach and watch the sunrise.”
“That sounds awesome,” I said, feeling Avery return to reality again. “There’s an adorable coffee shop and bookstore down by my gallery that’s cozy inside and out. I’ll see how early they open.”
“Why haven’t I heard about this little gem before?” Avery questioned with a laugh.
“Because, like you said, it hasn’t been just you and me in a long time. We’re forever doing dinner dates with our husbands, or I’m trying to soak up my rare time alone with Jake.”
“We can’t let marriage kick our asses like this,” Avery said. “Seriously. We’re getting caught up in the trap of the mundane.”
“We’re just living our lives with our husbands and kids,” I chuckled. “Shit, you must’ve had a really shitty day.”
“It’s been rough. I’m dealing with a frustrating woman in my clinic.
It’s hard because we all love her and understand the situation she’s in with her marriage and the abuse, but every time she leaves the guy, he speaks these big, beautiful words to her, and she falls for it.
It’s a tale as old as time, I guess. After all these years, I shouldn’t be surprised, but it gets to me every time. ”
I frowned. Avery founded a women’s shelter to help those looking to leave domestic violence situations, hoping to help them start over and providing a safe space and numerous resources.
I was so proud of her and her work because I couldn’t imagine how difficult it must’ve been to pour out all that love and support daily, constantly trying to help others.
“Okay, after I get home, I’ll look the place up. If nothing else, we can do lunch. I will be at the gallery tomorrow anyway while Carmen and my dad take Kaley to the museum for the day, so it’ll be perfect.”
“Sweet. Love you, Ash,” she said.
“You too, babe,” I said, and then we hung up.
I stood before the stove, stirring the Bolognese sauce I’d made to prepare John and Kaley’s favorite meal.
They loved spaghetti, and when their dad worked his 48-hour shifts at the hospital, we cooked the food he despised.
I still couldn’t believe Jake hated spaghetti.
He always acted like it was equal to eating dog food.
Oh, well. It was truly his loss because my sauce was delicious, so he could suck it.
“Momma?” I heard Kaley say, her voice sounding like she had a stuffy nose.
After placing the garlic parmesan bread in the oven to broil, I turned, “Yeah, baby? Dinner will be done in about ten minutes, so go wash up and tell your brother.”
“I’m scared,” she said.
I turned to see her glassy eyes filled with a bit of panic, “What did John say to you now? Halloween is over, and so is the time for spooky stories.”
“I can’t breathe in my nose,” she said.
“What do you mean?” I walked over to her, seeing her nose and sinuses oddly swollen.
I pressed around, feeling hard nodules in her nose, and then I tilted her head back.
“Ow, Mommy,” she said while I pinched my lips to avoid laughing at this wildly unexpected turn of events.
“You have a jellybean stuck in your nose, silly,” I said, gently pushing on her nose, and a green jellybean dropped out of it.
She started crying. “There’s more,” she said with embarrassment.
“More?” I said. “How many more?”
“A lot,” she said. “They hurt.”
“Good God,” I said, a little fearful now. I felt around and tried to push down from the outside, but I had no idea what I was dealing with and didn’t want to hurt her. “Do you know how many are in there?”
“I can’t count, Mommy. Remember?”
I sat back on my heels, trying to contemplate what the hell to do.
Right! Cameron. He’s in pediatrics.
“Hold on. Let me call Cam and see what he thinks. Maybe he can come over and help.” Jesus H. Christ. The joys of unexpected surprises from a three-year-old. “Hey, Ash,” Jessa, Dr. Brandt’s wife, answered on the first ring. “What’s up, lady?”
“Hey, honey. I’m sorry to bug you at dinner time, but Kaley decided to shove beans up her nose. I have no idea how many are in there, and I was wondering if I should take her into Saint John’s or if Cam was home and could help me with this?”
The Brandts lived close to us in Malibu, and since Cam was a softie, I knew he wouldn’t be put out to come over and free my daughter’s sinuses from jellybean prison.
“Cam’s on-call tonight, so just take her in, and he’ll be the one to treat her.”
“Thanks so much, honey. I’ll do that,” I said, annoyed to be heading to the hospital instead of eating spaghetti.
That’s when the smoke detector started blaring a notification that my goddamn garlic bread had caught on fire and my pot of noodles was boiling over everywhere.
Dear God, why did things escalate into disastrous affairs with no warning? I’d gone from peacefully cooking dinner, excited to have coffee on the beach with my best friend, to the full-blown chaos of nasal-cavity jellybeans and a small-scale kitchen fire.
“Grab your coat and get Kaley’s, too. We’ve got to go to the hospital,” I hollered at John as he came rushing into the kitchen disapprovingly. “Your sister decided to do some weird experiment by shoving beans up her nose, and I have no idea how many are up there.”
“Kaley, you’re so weird,” John stated with annoyance.
“Be nice, young man. She’s scared.”
“I’m not weird,” Kaley insisted, erupting into a fit of tears.
“You’re not weird, Kaley,” I said, throwing the charred garlic bread into the sink and spraying it down to keep the damn things from bursting into flames.
I shut off all the burners, and the Momzilla in me erupted when I turned to see that John was not doing what I asked while Kaley began crying uncontrollably.
“Everyone stop it this instant,” I demanded in a firm voice.
“John,” I looked at him with an intensity I only had when I was frustrated and pissed off, “go and do as I told you—no arguments and no insults—and meet me and Kaley in the car.” I looked at Kaley, “Don’t worry.
Uncle Cam is going to help get those things out of your nose. Let’s go.”