Chapter 8
Chloe - Lunchtime - Five Days After Chloe’s Birthday
I’d woken up this morning feeling refreshed. Actually refreshed, not that fake “I’m fine” feeling I’d been performing for days.
Sam had already left for work by the time I’d opened my eyes — gone early for delivery hours before I’d even stirred. That stupid contingency plan list I’d made? I’d thrown it in the bin. The catastrophizing, the escape routes, the assumption that everything was ending — I was done with all of it.
The past few days had been rough. The cattle emergency had devastated me in ways I was still processing.
Fifty-seven lives ended, watching that farmer apologize to each one.
I’d needed to withdraw, to cocoon myself away from everything while I dealt with that trauma.
Yeah, Sam had tried to talk to me, tried to tell me something important.
But I hadn’t been ready. I’d needed those couple of days to pull myself back together.
Now I was back. And I was ready to deal with whatever the hell was going on.
Here I was in the produce section of Willowbrook General, buying groceries for tonight.
It was Emma’s birthday today — both Sam and I had the afternoon off for her party.
After the party, we’d come home, and I was going to sit Sam down and tell him exactly what I knew.
The receipt. The overheard conversations about the proposal.
The phone call at the restaurant. The cash withdrawal.
The credit card charges to Millfield. All of it.
Then I’d let him explain.
I didn’t believe for one second that Sam was cheating on me. But something was happening, and it ended tonight. Tomorrow we could have a lazy day at home, just mooching around together, spending actual quality time like we used to. But first, we needed to clear the air.
“Dr. Parker!” Mrs. Williams waved at me from the dairy section, her cart loaded with enough groceries to feed a small army. “How are you, dear? You look well!”
“Thanks, Mrs. Williams! Just picking up some things for the weekend.” I moved toward her with a genuine smile.
“And how’s that handsome boyfriend of yours? I haven’t seen him at the farmer’s market lately. Sam never misses the fresh vegetables for the bar.”
“You know how it is this time of year — everyone’s busy,” I said. “But we’re both taking this afternoon off for Emma’s birthday party.”
“Oh, that’s lovely! Such a sweet little girl. Four already, can you believe it?” Mrs. Williams’s smile was warm. “Harper is around here somewhere with little Emma,” she said, looking around.
Harper and I had been playing phone tag for the past few days – between my late-night animal emergencies and her managing a preschooler’s schedule, we kept missing each other. It would be good to see her at the party today.
“I’ll keep an eye out for her,” I said.
I grabbed ingredients for a nice dinner — something quick we could make together after the party. I was adding a second bag of coffee to my cart when I heard Emma’s distinctive giggle from the next aisle over.
“Mama, can we get the cookies with the rainbow sprinkles?”
“We’ll see, sweetheart. Help Mama find the pasta sauce first.”
I rounded the corner with my cart, genuinely smiling. Emma spotted me immediately.
“Dr. Chloe! Dr. Chloe!” She skipped over to me, her pigtails flying. “We saw kitties yesterday! The orange ones! And today’s my birthday, and I’m FOUR!”
“Happy birthday, sweetheart!” I said, matching her enthusiasm. “Four years old! That’s so big!”
“We’re having a party,” Emma announced proudly. “Daddy’s doing the balloons!”
“I know! I can’t wait to see you in your birthday dress this afternoon,” I said. “I bet it’s beautiful.”
“This one’s so excited. I’m keeping her out of the house for a bit while Jack finishes setting up,” Harper said with a warm smile.
Emma tugged on my arm. “We saw kitties yesterday!”
“Did you now?” I crouched down to Emma’s level, letting her excitement wash over me. “What did the kitties say?”
“Mew mew mew!” Emma dissolved into giggles, and I found myself laughing too.
When I stood back up, Harper was studying my face. “How are you doing, Chloe? Really?”
“Life’s been hectic,” I said, keeping my tone light. “Spring animal emergencies, Sam’s been slammed at the bar. We’ve both been a little off our rhythm, you know? We just need some downtime together. A quiet night at home should help.”
Harper’s expression relaxed. “Good. You two need that. You’re coming this afternoon, right?”
“Wouldn’t miss it,” I said with a genuine smile. “I’ve got Emma’s gift at home already wrapped,” I whispered.
“Perfect.” Harper squeezed my arm. “See you at three?”
“I’ll be there.”
After they left, I finished my shopping with purpose. Ingredients for tonight’s dinner, breakfast supplies for tomorrow, and the basics we’d been running low on.
The parking lot was busy with lunchtime shoppers. I was unlocking my truck when I spotted a familiar vehicle across the lot – Sam’s truck, parked near the medical building that housed Dr. Peterson’s family practice and the small lab that served Willowbrook’s basic testing needs.
My stomach clenched. Was Sam sick? Had he been dealing with some health crisis he hadn’t told me about? That would explain the secretive behavior, the stress.
But as I watched, Sam emerged from the medical building, and he wasn’t alone.
A woman walked beside him, tall and thin with dark hair. Behind him, a little boy skipped along, chattering about something that made Sam smile.
My world tilted sideways.
Then my training kicked in, cataloging the similarities the way I’d note symptoms in a patient: ear shape identical, facial structure a perfect miniature match, even the way he moved with that careful, deliberate precision that was purely Sam.
The child looked exactly like Sam. Not just a passing resemblance, right down to the same way of tilting his head when he was listening intently.
When you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras.
But sometimes it really was zebras.
They were moving across the parking lot, the little boy between them, now holding Sam’s hand.
I sat frozen in my own truck, groceries forgotten in the back, and watched the man I loved help a child into a car seat in an older sedan.
The woman said something that made Sam laugh. Then she reached up to touch his arm, but Sam leaped back like he’d been electrocuted. Even from this distance, I could see the horror on his face.
Despite everything, I found myself sputtering with unexpected laughter. The sheer panic on Sam’s face when the woman had tried to touch him was almost comical.
Whatever was going on here, I knew instinctively — no way was this man cheating on me.
Still, my chest felt like someone was squeezing it in a vise.
Sam’s phone rang. I watched him answer it, his expression shifting from relaxed to tense in seconds. He said something to the woman, who looked disappointed but nodded. Sam ruffled the little boy’s hair through the car window, then walked to his truck and got in.
I watched his truck pull out of the parking lot and disappear down Main Street, leaving the woman standing alone by her sedan with the little boy still buckled inside.
I was still processing what I’d witnessed when someone knocked on my passenger window. The woman was standing beside my truck with the little boy, both of them smiling at me.
I rolled down the window.
“You must be Chloe!” she said with aggressive cheerfulness. “I’m so sorry to bother you, but I couldn’t help noticing you in the parking lot. I’m Jenna, and this is Leo. I’ve told Leo all about you.”
So this was Jenna.
I’ve told Leo all about you. The casual familiarity in her voice made my stomach clench. How long had they been in Sam’s life? What had Jenna told this child about me?
“Hi,” I managed, my veterinary training kicking in to provide professional composure when my personal life was falling apart. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“Are you the animal doctor?” Leo asked, bouncing on his toes and pressing closer to my window. “Mommy says you take care of ALL the animals in the whole town and that you’re the bestest at making them feel better when they’re sick!”
“I am,” I said, forcing myself to focus on Leo’s innocent face instead of the implications. “I’m Dr. Chloe. Do you like animals?”
“I LOVE animals! Especially dogs and puppies!” Leo’s whole face lit up. “Mommy said I can have my own dog when we find a house. Do you have any puppies at your place? Can I see them?”
This child was sweet, innocent, and completely unaware of the chaos his words were causing. And he was definitely Sam’s son.
“We’re still getting settled in the area,” Jenna said, her eyes never leaving my face as she cataloged my reactions. “Sam’s been so helpful, showing us around, helping with… logistics. He’s such a good man, isn’t he? So responsible about taking care of the people he cares about.”
The way she said it made my skin crawl. “He is,” I said carefully, not sure what game we were playing but determined not to lose it.
“Leo, honey, we should let Dr. Chloe get home with her groceries,” Jenna said, though her attention remained focused on me. “Willowbrook seems like such a tight-knit community. I’m sure we’ll run into each other again soon.”
“I’m sure we will,” I said, then started my truck. “Bitch,” I whispered as I smiled and waved.
I drove home on autopilot, my mind racing through everything I’d just witnessed while my hands mechanically steered through Willowbrook’s familiar streets.
Observe. Hypothesize. Test.
The same methodology I used for complex medical cases. When an animal presented with mysterious symptoms, you documented everything - environmental factors, behavioral changes, physical findings.
Observations: Sam had been secretive for days. The cash withdrawal. Trip to Millfield. Phone calls he took in private. And now, undeniable evidence – a woman and child who knew him well, were comfortable with him.
Physical evidence: The child looked exactly like Sam. Not just similar but identical in ways that couldn’t be coincidental. The same distinctive features that would make any geneticist nod in recognition. Like the unmistakable coat patterns that confirm breeding lines in animals.
Behavioral evidence: Sam’s panic when the woman tried to touch him. The woman’s calculated friendliness, like she’d been expecting this encounter. The child’s casual familiarity with Sam. Body language that spoke of established pack dynamics.
Hypothesis: Sam had a son he’d never told me about. A son old enough that he’d been conceived before Sam and I ever got together.
Just like when an animal’s symptoms finally coalesced into a clear diagnosis - everything that had seemed random suddenly formed a coherent pattern.
This was what Sam had been trying to tell me.
I pulled into the driveway and sat for a moment, processing. Sam had a son. A little boy who looked exactly like him. It all made sense now.
And Sam’s reaction when Jenna tried to touch him? Pure panic. Whatever was going on between them, it definitely wasn’t romantic. That much was crystal clear.
I carried my groceries inside and unpacked them methodically. My hands were steady. My mind was clear.
This was big. Really big. But it wasn’t the end of the world. Sam had a child from before we met. That child had apparently shown up in his life recently — probably my birthday, given the call I’ve overheard. And Sam had been trying to figure out how to tell me.
Yeah, he’d handled it badly. The secrecy instead of just being honest. That was on him, and we’d need to deal with that. But I understood panic. I understood being overwhelmed and making bad choices when you didn’t know what else to do.
The real question was: where did we go from here?
I glanced at the clock. Two hours until Emma’s party. Enough time to get my thoughts together so we could have a proper, grown-up conversation tonight after the party. No more delays, no more excuses. Just honest talk about what I’d seen and what it meant for us.