CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Palisade
The examination room smelled of disinfectant and dog shampoo. I'd been staring at the same bottle of ear cleaner for the past five minutes, trying to remember what I was supposed to do next.
Right. Mrs. Patterson's Labrador. Ear infection.
I picked up the otoscope, my hands moving on autopilot. Two days since Easton had walked out of my house. Two days of silence. I'd left the envelope on his doorstep yesterday morning with the birth certificate, hospital records, and the photo I'd carried in my wallet for six years.
No response.
Casey kept asking when Uncle Easton was coming over. When could they practice hockey? Did he not want to see her anymore?
Each question was a knife in my chest.
He's just busy, baby. He'll come to see you soon.
Lies. All lies.
I didn't know whether Easton would ever come back. I didn't know if he'd forgive me. I didn't know if Casey would forgive me when she found out the truth.
And she would find out. Soon. We couldn't keep this secret much longer, not with Easton knowing. We had to tell her together, gently and carefully.
My phone buzzed in my pocket.
I ignored it, focusing on the dog in front of me. Sweet old lab, patient as I examined her infected ear. Mrs. Patterson chatted about her grandchildren, oblivious to the fact that I hadn't heard a word she'd said.
My phone buzzed again.
Then again.
"Excuse me," I said, pulling it out. "I'm so sorry, I need to…"
Amber Falls Elementary appeared on the screen.
My stomach dropped.
"I have to take this." I stepped into the hallway, my heart pounding. "Hello, this is Palisade Honors, Casey's mother."
"Hello Dr. Honors. Let me transfer you to Ms. Carter's office."
Who the hell was Ms. Carter? "I'm sorry, who is Ms. Carter?"
"Oh, she's the school counselor. She can explain what happened."
What happened.
Not, "She wants to talk to you." What happened.
I waited for several minutes, listening to announcements about an upcoming school play. Finally, someone answered. "Dr. Honors?" The woman sounded much younger than I expected a school counselor would be. "This is Ms. Carter. Casey became upset during the lunch period."
"Upset how? Is she hurt?" I pressed, already grabbing my purse.
Ms. Carter hesitated. "It appears some children were… discussing family matters that upset Casey. I'd prefer talking to you in person rather than over the phone."
Family matters.
My stomach dropped.
Easton and I were supposed to tell Casey together. A planned, controlled conversation where we could both reassure her, answer her questions, make sure she understood how much we both loved her.
Not this. Not finding out from schoolyard gossip.
"I'll be there in fifteen minutes," I said, ending the call.
Mrs. Patterson and her Labrador were leaving the office when Monique spotted me. Her arms were crossed, eyebrows furrowed. "Is everything alright?"
"It's a long story, but I have to pick Casey up from school. Something…" I bit my lip, looking at Monique. "Did you hear about Easton's secret child?"
"I caught something, but I figured it was a rumor…" A look of remorse crossed Monique's features. "You don't need to explain a thing to me, Sadie. Do what you've gotta do. Chin up, girl." She squeezed my arm. "Aimee and I can take care of the rest of the appointments."
A wave of relief washed over me. From the moment the clinic opened, Monique's support had been a lifeline.
"Thank you so much, Monique." I gave her a quick hug and then left.
The drive to the school passed in a blur of anxiety, my knuckles white on the steering wheel. So many thoughts crashed through my mind. I couldn't even turn the radio on in case something else about Casey came up.
When I arrived, the school secretary gave me a look I couldn't quite decipher before directing me to the counselor's office.
I found Casey sitting on a small couch, her eyes red-rimmed and her expression confused.
Ms. Carter, a young blonde woman who looked more like someone's paralegal in a business casual skirt and blouse, sat beside her.
"Mom!" Casey jumped up, racing over to me. I wrapped my arms around her and inhaled the familiar scent of her strawberry shampoo.
"What happened, Casey?"
She pulled back and looked up at me with a question I'd been dreading.
"Lily and Max said Uncle Easton is my dad. They said their parents were talking about it. Is that true? Is Uncle Easton my real dad?"
A woman approached us, her hands laced before her. A grimace pulled across her face. I assumed this was Ms. Carter. "Perhaps we could speak privately, Dr. Honors?"
I nodded numbly. "I'll be right back, sweetheart, okay?"
After getting Casey settled with a book, I walked with the counselor a little way down the hall.
"Several children's parents were discussing something they'd seen. Easton Henley was at a sporting goods store yesterday. Apparently, he purchased a hockey stick and had it customized." She paused. "With Casey's name. Casey Henley."
My breath caught.
He'd done it. Publicly claimed her. Put his name with hers on a hockey stick for the entire town to see.
"I assume he made some comment about it being for his daughter," Ms. Carter continued gently. "And by this morning, it had spread through the parent network. The children heard their parents talking."
Of course they had. This was Amber Falls. Gossip traveled faster than wildfire.
"The children were quite persistent," she added. "Casey became upset when they kept insisting her uncle was actually her father. She said they were lying, but then became confused and asked to call you."
"Thank you for handling this sensitively," I said. "I'll take Casey home now."
After going back out to Casey in the hallway, I took her hand, and we headed out to the car.
Once home, I led Casey to the living room couch, my heart pounding so hard I wondered if she could hear it. This wasn't how I wanted this to happen. Easton and I had agreed to tell her together, to present a united front despite the complicated emotions between us.
But that plan had gone out the window the moment he'd ordered that hockey stick.
"Am I in trouble?" Casey asked in a small voice as we sat down.
"No, sweetheart. Not at all." I took her hands in mine, noticing how they'd grown this year, with scraped knuckles from hockey practice and a Shadow Wolves bandage on one finger.
"The kids at school," she began, her voice wavering. "They said Uncle Easton is my dad. They said their parents had heard him say so at the store. But that can't be right, can it? Because you said my dad wasn't around."
Hanging my head, I took a deep breath, trying to calm the panic rising in my chest. When I looked back up, I said, "Casey, there's something I need to tell you, and it might be confusing at first." I squeezed her hands gently. "Easton is your dad."
Her stare intensified, a mixture of shock and something else. Excitement?
"Really? Uncle Easton is my actual dad? Like, my real dad?"
I nodded, tears pricking at my eyes. "Yes, he's your biological father."
"But…" Her brow furrowed as she processed this. "Why does he live in a different house? And why did he say he was my uncle? Does he not want to be my dad?"
The innocent questions cut deeper than any accusation could. How did I explain choices and consequences to a six-year-old?
"He didn't know he was your dad until recently," I said carefully. "I… I didn't tell him."
Casey's face scrunched in confusion. "How come? Didn't he want to know?"
I struggled to find words a child could understand without burdening her with adult complexities. "It's complicated, sweetie. When you were born, Easton and I weren't together. He was very busy with hockey, and I thought… I thought it would be easier if it were just you and me."
"But he knows now?" Casey pressed, her mind working to make sense of this revelation.
"Yes, he knows now. He recently found out, and he came to talk to me about it the other night when I sent you upstairs."
"Is that why you were crying? Was he mad?" Casey's blue eyes were so wide in her face.
I nodded, blinking my eyes. "He was a little, but not at you, baby."
"And he wants to be my dad?" The hope in her voice was unmistakable, and it made my chest ache with guilt and love in equal measure.
"He wants that very much," I assured her, nodding. I remembered the raw emotion in Easton's voice despite his anger. "He's been so excited about spending time with you these past few weeks, even when he thought he was just your uncle."
Casey was quiet for a long moment, processing everything I'd told her. Her blue eyes, brimming with gravity, met mine. "Is that why he looks at me funny sometimes? Because he's my dad?"
I smiled through my tears. "Probably. He sees himself in you. You have his eyes, you know."
She nodded solemnly. "Lily's mom said that too, about our eyes."
Of course, she did.
The Amber Falls gossip mill had probably been speculating about Casey's parentage since we moved back.
"Are you mad at me?" Casey asked, her voice small.
I frowned at her question. "Mad at you? Why would I be mad at you?"
"Because I'm excited that Uncle Easton is my dad." She tested the word carefully, like she was trying on a new piece of clothing to see if it fit. "I always wanted a dad who plays hockey."
A laugh escaped me despite everything, caught between laughter and a sob. Of course, Casey would focus on the hockey connection.
"I'm not mad at all," I assured her, pulling her into a hug. "I'm glad you're happy about it."
As I held her, I thought about Easton's face that night, the hurt and anger, but also his determination.
I want to be her father. Not her Uncle Easton. Her father.
Despite everything, he'd put Casey first, insisting we tell her together in a way that wouldn't damage her relationship with either of us.
And now, that careful plan had been derailed by schoolyard gossip stemming from what Easton said at the sporting goods store.
"Can I call him?" Casey asked, pulling back from our hug. "To tell him I know he's my dad now?"
I hesitated, then nodded. "Let me talk to him first, okay? Then you can speak with him."
As Casey bounded off to her room, apparently satisfied with this arrangement, I sank back against the couch, emotionally drained. The secret I'd guarded for so long had unraveled in a matter of hours, leaving me to navigate the aftermath.
I pulled out my phone, my finger hovering over Easton's contact information. Before I could talk myself out of it, I pressed the call button, preparing myself for the conversation that would forever change our already complicated relationship.
"Sadie?" His voice was cautious when he answered, probably wondering why I was calling so soon after our fight.
"The kids at school know," I said without preamble. "Casey knows. Whatever happened at that sporting goods store yesterday, it's all over town."
There was a beat of silence, then a muttered curse. "Is she okay?" His voice shifted immediately, concern overriding everything else. "How did she take it?"
My chest tightened at the question. Despite everything between us, his first thought was for Casey.
"She's… she's actually excited," I admitted. "She said she always wanted a dad, especially one who plays hockey."
I heard him exhale, a sound caught between relief and something else. Maybe hope.
"I'm coming over," he said, his voice firm with determination. "We need to handle this together. For Casey."
"For Casey," I agreed before ending the call.
I knew that despite everything, the shared love for our daughter had created an unbreakable connection between Easton and me.
Whatever happened next, Casey's wellbeing had to come first.
And for the first time in two days, I felt like maybe we could actually do this.
Together.