by Siera London
“Bria, I can’t just move my practice,” he implored to her holding her hands, “It took me years to build up this sort of clientele. I have a rapport with the parents, the community, and the children.”
“Seems to me you would be more concerned about the rapport you have with me,” she said handing him the infant.
“I am Bria, but leaving isn’t going to solve what is wrong with you, or us for that matter. If we move, we are only taking the problems with us,” he said. “We need to seek some counseling to help us.”
“You mean me,” she spat at him. “This is not just post-partum depression, Chad. It is something deeper.”
“Understood,” he told her, placing James over his shoulder to burp the baby, “however, we have to address the elephant in the room before we can give it more peanuts.”
“Screw you and the elephant. I don’t want to live here anymore,” she said. “I also don’t think I want to be married any longer or be a mom.”
“What?”
“You heard me,” she said, picking up her purse and keys. “This is not my life. I long for the big city, fancy parties and a social life. Bake sales is not a social life.”
“I’m truly sorry you feel that way, but my life is here,” he said.
“You can stay here,” she told him, heading out the front door.
He couldn’t believe she left. Bria Cayes Winter walked out the front door on that cold December morning and didn’t return for two weeks. After the first three days, he stopped worrying. When five days passed he called his mother to come lend a hand. When the five days morphed into two weeks, his mother, who had been ridiculously quiet during the whole ordeal spoke up.
“In another week you can file for divorce on the grounds of abandonment, seeking sole custody of James,” Jasmine Winter told him.
“Mom, I think she just needs some time to deal with the postpartum,” he told her.
“Bullpies,” Jasmine said to her son, “the heffah needs some therapy and an unselfish pill. How could she leave this adorable little boy alone without his Momma?”
“She also left me,” Chadwick said softly.
“Yep, which is why you should file for divorce and move on with your life,” Jasmine offered. “Pack up her things, put them in a box in the closet, and prepare to move on. When she returns, you can have all her things ready to go. You have no room in your life for a woman who walks out on her child.”
“I’m going to give her some time,” Chadwick said, “it is only fair.”
“Fair is moving on and finding this baby a new Mama,” Jasmine said. “The one he has is broken. Right now he doesn’t understand. By the time he is three, he is going to want to know why all the other kids are being picked up from school by their Mommies and he isn’t.”
”Mom, I also need some time to process all of this,” he said softly.
“There is nothing to process. Your crazy wife left you and this baby so she can post pictures of herself on Instagram with plastic people living shallow lives,” Jasmine countered.
“She isn’t shallow,” Chadwick said.
“That saucer has more depth than that woman,” she said, lifting her tea cup to better show off the delicate saucer. “Bria snatched you up in college so she could say she was married to a Doctor. This town paid half of the tuition for you to go to medical school and you owe it a debt.”
“I know my commitment to Endurance,” he said to his mother. “I have no intention of leaving. This is my home as well as where I want to raise James.”
“Good, we need to get to planning,” Jasmine said, picking up her phone to call her better half. “Cole and I will set the wheels in motion for the attorney, get the paperwork started. Your father has been expecting this day for a while.”
“Mom, she is coming back,” Chadwick said.
“Yes, she is,” she said as the phone begin to ring on the other end, “She is coming back for her crap, that I am going to box up today. Hell, I may even box it up and ship it to her parent’s house.”
“Mom, come on, really?”
“Really! You need to show this woman you are not some pushover to be trifled with and if she wants to be free, let’s give her a hand,” Jasmine said, turning her attention to the phone speaking to Chadwick’s father, Cole Winter. “Hey Baby, it’s me. No, she didn’t come back. Call the attorney and I am packing up her stuff and shipping it to her folks in Sacramento. It is the best thing for them both. Yes, I love you too. I will be home soon.”
Jasmine’s next call was to Miriam Welsh at Toddle Time Day Care. James was six months old and ready for childcare and his father to get back to work. He needed to work to get his mind off Bria.
“Get James dressed and over to Toddle Time. I am going over to Ma Hildie’s for some boxes. Hopefully, I can get my hands on the ones that had broccoli in them so when I ship her underwear, they arrive smelling like sour broccoli bits.”
He didn’t want to laugh but it was the first time he smiled in two weeks. “Ask Ma Hildie for one of the boxes the fish came in – we will put her underclothes in that one,” he said grinning.
His mother was right. James didn’t deserve a woman like Bria for a mother. He also didn’t deserve a woman who recoiled at his touch.
He took James to Toddle Time returning shortly after with the smelliest boxes he could scrounge up at Ma Hildie’s and loaded in Bria’s expensive clothing. The shoes he donated to the local consignment shop as the start of James’ college fund. With pride he took the boxes to the post office shipping them the Cayes home in Land Park. The payment for the shipping felt cathartic as he watched the boxes disappear behind the wall.
Three days later they arrived in Sacramento, according to the tracking slip in his hand. He watched the screen on the computer monitor which confirmed the boxes had arrived. Chadwick didn’t know what to expect, but a call from Ernest Cayes was the last thing on his list of possibilities after the boxes arrived.
“Chadwick, Ernest Cayes here,” the man said into the line.
“Dr. Cayes, how are you?” He replied.
“Been better son,” he said pausing, listening for a word from his son-in-law but reviving none, “the boxes arrived.”
“Glad to hear it,” Chadwick said.
“Don’t be too angry at her,” Ernest said.
“Actually, I’m not, but James doesn’t deserve a mother who walked out on him,” Chadwick replied.
“I called in hopes that you won’t see a need to punish us for her behavior,” Ernest said.
The words hit him hard in the chest. Bria’s decision didn’t just impact him and James but also her parents. He would be fair. Cole Winter had taught him to always be fair in his decisions and judgements with others, giving the benefit of the doubt and showing empathy to his patients. He’d taken over his father’s practice in Endurance when he retired and had grown the business three-fold. Chadwick had done it with time, patience and understanding of the needs of the community. In return, they embraced him and helped him through the most difficult time of his life. Empathy was all he had left since anger and a boat load of pissed-offness couldn’t be his only friend.
“Dr. Cayes, I would never deny James time with his grandparents. He is your grandson and you are always welcome in my home to spend time with him,” Chadwick said.
“Will you let us spend time with him in our home?”
“Right now, he is too young,” Chadwick said. “We are making a transition and I have to learn how to be a single father, you know, make us a life.”
“I understand,” Ernest said, emotion choking up his words. “Lana and I love him and wants what’s best.”
“Again, my door is always open to you, but call first to schedule a time,” he said clicking off the line.
That was two years ago. He had not seen Bria in over two years. She didn’t even bother to show up to court.
“Enjoy your freedom,” he muttered as he dropped the papers on the table, picking up his son to get him
ready to head over to Toddle Time. His schedule too was full today.
The phone rang. The theme from the Lone Ranger began to plan and he shuddered. It was his mother’s ring tone. She’d set it in his phone the day she left him and James alone in the house to fend for themselves through the muck of Bria’s aftermath.
Reluctantly, he answered the call. “Morning Mom,” he said, making a small tub of warm soapy water to clean up his son.
“Chadwick, it is time to start dating,” she started the conversation.
“It is good to hear your voice as well,” he said.
“No seriously,” she said. “Your twenty-year reunion is later this year and you will not enter those doors as a single parent. You need to get remarried or at least engaged.”
“You need to get off my phone and go feed the Munchkins or meet with the Lollipop Guild or something,” he said to her.
“Aren’t you funny so early in the dang morning,” Jasmine said. “Seriously, though, son, it is time for you to starting getting.”
“It’s time for me to get dressed, get James to daycare and get to my office,” he replied. “Have a great day Mom, loads of love to Dad.”
He hung up on her. The sound of the music announcing her call was like an omen. She was going to pop up with a wild hair up her nose or worse with a plan she hatched up after waking up from a dream where three fairies came to her and predicted his future.
“I need a cupcake,” he mumbled as he prepared James and himself for their day.
-Fin-
Also by Siera London
Forbidden Series
Forbidden Distraction: A Bachelor of Shell Cove/Fiery Fairytales Crossover Novella
Forbidden Attraction: A Bachelor of Shell Cove/Fiery Fairytales Crossover Novella
The Bachelors of Shell Cove
Convincing Lina
A Doctor for Christmas: A Bachelors of Shell Cove Romance Novella, Book 2.5
Catching Rebecca
Claiming Janna
The Men Of Endurance
Going The Distance (Coming Soon)
Staying The Course (Coming Soon)
Watch for more at Siera London’s site.
About the Author
Siera London is a bestselling author of contemporary romance and romantic suspense. She crafts stories of diverse characters navigating the challenges and triumphs to find lasting love. Intelligence, wit, emotion, drama, and sensual romance are between the covers of every Siera London novel. Siera lives in California with her husband, and a color patch tabby named Frie.
Read more at Siera London’s site.