Chapter 24 That Shocking Discovery in Summer
That Shocking Discovery in Summer
Erin
The toddlers in their matching pink leotards were adorable, but of course, I thought my daughter was the cutest. It had taken too many fairy clips to twist her wispy curls into something close to resembling a bun, and her pink stockings were a little lumpy around her ankles, but she still looked so stinking cute.
With a giant grin on my face, I waved to her, and in true Matilda style, she scrunched her nose and flashed me a peace sign.
I turned. “Cal, isn’t she the—”
I stopped.
Callan wasn’t sitting on the chair beside me.
He was lurking in the back of the church hall, his shoulder against the wall, his arms folded.
He never missed Matilda’s dance class, but the tension stretched too tight for him to be around Jeremy.
The two of them had almost gotten into a fistfight in the parking lot.
Jeremy started it. His cruel words were calculated, but Callan had walked away, and that left the spot beside me free for Jeremy to slither into.
“Okay, girls!” The teacher clapped her hands to command their attention. “Are we ready?”
Their little faces pinched with concentration as they copied pointing their toes and moving their arms through each position.
There was some twirling. Matilda, of course, took it all a little too far, leaping extra high and spinning too fast. Her pink slippers skidded on the wood, and she plopped down on her bottom.
Tear-filled eyes landed on Jeremy, and her lower lip quivered. She wasn’t hurt—more embarrassed than anything. Did he notice her searching for him? Of course not. His head hung low, too engrossed in his phone to care about his daughter.
I pushed up from the seat, but Matilda’s tiny slippers scurried to Callan. He was already striding from the back of the hall.
“Matilda fell!” she wailed as he bundled her up in a hug.
Jeremy grunted beside me. The commotion must have finally been enough to earn his attention. “He’s certainly weaseled his way into my daughter’s life,” he muttered.
“What did you expect?” I replied. “You weren’t even watching her. You were too busy looking at your stupid phone.”
Jeremy’s eyes narrowed. I never used to call him out for ignoring us, and he certainly didn’t appreciate the change. “I was dealing with a patient. The challenges of being constantly on call for people in crisis isn’t something I’d expect you to understand.”
Condescending piece of… “That was the story of my life when I worked in human resources.”
“It’s hardly the same.” Shaking his head, he shoved his phone in his pocket.
“Insignificant workplace disputes about one lawyer not saying hello to another are hardly the same as Tallulah threatening self-harm when she can’t get her own way.
” He flashed me a simpering smile. “But I’ll let you know if I have any questions about how many vacation days my secretary is entitled to. ”
Don’t react.
Fighting the shock, I dug my fingers into my thigh.
Tallulah.
Disgust lurked deep in my belly. The indifference in his voice was as if she were as annoying as a bug he blotted with his thumb. She was his patient. She must be vulnerable. No matter how willing she was, no matter how much she pursued him, he should have backed off.
“It must be so hard for you,” I said through gritted teeth.
“You know psychiatry is my passion. Even the most challenging days are fulfilling in their own way.”
“I bet…”
Jeremy’s eyebrow lifted, but he didn’t challenge me. “What are your plans after the class? I’d love to spend more time with Matilda if it’s not too late. Is the ice cream shop still open?”
I nodded. “She’ll love it if you take her.”
“You’ll come.”
It wasn’t a request. It was an order. My words, the endless threatening letters from the lawyer—he ignored them. He was still delusional enough to believe he could charm his way back into my life. But the woman he’d married was gone. The new version of me was stronger.
“No, Jeremy. I won’t be coming anymore.”
“You’re quiet.” Callan’s hand briefly left the steering wheel to touch my knee. “Did that jerk say something to upset you?”
My gaze tore off the murky trees whizzing past on the back road. There were no answers there anyway. “Yeah, but not what you think…” I exhaled slowly.
How was I going to explain this? I wasn’t sure if I understood it myself.
“That’s a big frown.” Callan flicked a look in the rearview, his eyes on Matilda. She was occupied trying to cram her fuzzy ginger bear into the new critter convertible Jeremy had bought her. “What’s going on, Ez?”
“Jeremy said he was having trouble with a patient tonight.”
“I guess that’s a better excuse than I thought he’d have for not getting off his ass to comfort his daughter.”
“Yeah, but…” I drew a deep breath. “Realistically, what do you think are the chances of his patient having the same name as the woman he cheated on me with?”
Callan’s mouth pressed flat. He didn’t like where this was going. “If her name’s like one of the many Kimberlys or Stephanies from high school—”
“It’s Tallulah.”
“Then there’s a one hundred percent chance they’re the same person.” Callan’s grip tightened around the steering wheel. “So, Jeremy had”—he mouthed the word “sex” so Matilda wouldn’t hear—“with a patient?”
God. If Callan thought that, too… “I feel sick,” I mumbled.
“Want me to pull over—”
“No… I just… Cal, what am I going to do?” My fingers worried the edge of the seatbelt. “He’s a doctor.”
“He’s her shrink.”
I swallowed. That was worse, wasn’t it? So much worse. “What if she loves him?”
“Does that matter?”
“I… I don’t know… I know almost nothing about her, but she can’t be okay if she’s seeing him, right? This is such an abuse of trust. I know I should report this, but…”
“But nothing.”
“If I do, there’ll be an investigation, and he’ll probably lose his practice… Any money in our accounts will go to legal fees. There’ll be nothing to go towards making sure Til is taken care of.” My gaze stuck to the dashboard. “If I stay quiet…”
I’d have a backup. Money would be in my account if my world fell apart again. Callan was beautiful, perfect even, but Jeremy had taught me that life could spin upside down at any second. Taking our security for granted was what landed me on Callan’s doorstep in the first place.
“Ez.” Callan’s hand gripped my thigh. “I don’t think you’ll give yourself any peace if that’s what you choose.”
“I… I know, but…”
“Is it just the money you’re worried about?
I know I’m not Til’s father, but that crazy kid is half of your DNA.
If I love every bit of you—and I do—and she’s half of you, then I love her too.
Neither of you will ever have to worry about money.
” Blue eyes crinkled in the corners flicked to the rearview.
“I’m already considering restoring the old stables to hold weddings to pay for all the shoes that girl’s going to need. ”
“You’re a good man, Cal.”
“I’m your man. You know I’ll support you no matter what. My love for you isn’t conditional. And, at some point when I screw up, I hope you’ll choose to keep loving me, too.”
“You’d never screw up.”
“What if I told you I actually do like reality TV shows?”
I rolled my eyes.
“Yeah, see?” He grinned. “Never say never.”
My smile faded. The noise in the truck dulled to the soft chirps of Matilda talking to her little bear and zooming his car along the back of the seat. My thoughts still scattered.
“Maybe I’ve gotten this completely wrong…” I said. “And I’m still going to fight for every dollar I deserve from the divorce, but… I don’t think I can sit by knowing what I do and not report it.”
Callan’s hand squeezed my thigh. “Good.”
“It’ll be up to the medical board to figure it out, right?”
He nodded. “If Jeremy hasn’t done anything wrong, he has an annoying investigation to deal with, and that’s it.”
“Will you really support me if doing this means losing every last dollar I would’ve gotten in my settlement?”
“One thousand percent. This is the right decision. And you have a home on the farm, whether you’re with me or not… And if you hate that idea… You can stay at Bronte’s place.”
My eyebrows rose. “Is there a proper roof on the sheep station yet?”
“Uh…” He grinned. “I’ll pay for a roof.”
I laced my fingers with his and brought his hand up so I could kiss the big vein on the back of his palm. It meant a lot to know Callan could listen to me think through my issues without judgment. He gave me space to figure out my next steps. It was such a change from being ordered around.
When I woke up tomorrow, just like I did in the dying days of winter, I’d pick up my phone and make a difficult call. Back then, it was my first call to my lawyer. Tomorrow, it would be a call to the medical board.