Chapter 16
Calida
Dad loaded my bag into the back of my car and shut the door. “Are you sure you’re ready to be in that big ol’ empty house by yourself?”
I smiled at Shawn as I finished buckling him in. “Yes, Daddy. I told you I’m fine. Besides, I’m not alone. I have the best companion right here.” Shawn laughed as I tickled his belly.
“Still, what if something happens? What if you blackout again? We still don’t even know why you did.”
“The doctors didn’t find anything wrong. I’m fine. I promise. We’ll both be fine, and besides, Mom already gave me contact demands.”
As I said that, Mom walked out with a bag full of food containers. She’d been cooking up a storm so that I wouldn’t have to for a few days.
“Yes, Collin, I told her to call or at the very least send us a text message for the next few nights just to be sure.”
“Yep, otherwise Mom is sending out the National Guard. So, see, fine.”
He still looked unconvinced. Daddy was normally the rock of the family. Mom was the emotional one, but I could tell that he was hiding his concerns and fears behind his playful overprotectiveness.
Mom had been a wreck when they’d arrived from Greece, and he slipped back into that military man role of keeping focus on the task at hand to get us through the crisis. This time, he let his worry show, and that bothered me more than I thought it would. My parents should have been enjoying their golden years instead of worrying and taking care of me at this stage in my life.
I placed the food on the passenger’s seat before giving them hugs and kisses, then climbed into my car. I was looking forward to alone time again, although I already knew Macy would be by later; she’d said so after she learned I was going home. She’d visited right after I was released from the hospital, and stopped by again mid-week. While I’d appreciated her visits, I was also a bit skeptical. Macy was the only person that didn’t drill me on finding out what happened, and that was unlike her. I tried not to overthink it, and instead would enjoy hanging out with my friend while the kids played.
When I got to the house, I sat outside the gate, staring at it. My beautiful prison. When I’d first seen this place, it had made me happy because it was somewhere different. A different location made it easier for me to lie to myself, to pretend my life was something other than what it was, to pretend Seth wasn’t who he really was. Pretending. I’d gotten good at that over the years. Thought I’d had it perfected. Obviously, I needed to do better.
A quick glance in the rearview mirror brought a smile to my face. Shawn slept in the backseat, not a worry in the world. If only we could all have it that easy. Pressing the home-link button in my car, the gate croaked to life, opening slowly with a squeal. The second button was pressed to open the garage door. I pulled into my spot. Same place I’d parked since day one. These walls held a lot—fear, anger, sadness, but most importantly they held familiarity. I knew what to expect within these walls. I took comfort in the solace they afforded me.
We were home about an hour before the call button buzzed. Picking up Shawn, we headed to the front door, expecting it to be Macy, but it wasn’t. A low groan passed my lips as I watched Dorian’s little blue sports car come up the drive. Why was I cursed with two unannounced visits in such a short time span? Shawn, however, started kicking in his excitement. I took in a quick breath, as his excited movements caused discomfort of my sore ribcage.
“Why are you here? And why didn’t you call first?”
Dorian reached out to take Shawn, who was fighting to get to her. “At least he’s happy to see me.”
“He’s too young to know any better.”
No rebuttal came as she walked into the house, pretending I hadn’t spoken. “I called Mom and Dad,” she finally said. “They told me you’d left their house and had gone home. You might want to consider some concealer for that bruise by the way. People might get the wrong idea.”
She sat Shawn down next to his toy box before taking a seat on the sofa. I sat opposite her on the loveseat, waiting on an answer as to why she was here.
“I don’t really care what people think, but I’m fine. Thanks for asking.” Despite my words, my hand went to the bruise. Even a week later, it still remained dark purple and angry looking.
“I know. Our parents kept me informed when I called. You fell down some stairs. Did you expect me to drop everything and come running to keep vigil at your bedside?”
“Of course not. I know better than to expect you to go out of your way for me unless it somehow benefits you. Even then, the chances are still slim to none.”
Shawn walked over to me with two of his books in hand. Reaching down, I lifted him up, and grimaced as pain shot through my side. I placed him on the sofa beside me, but he quickly climbed into my lap before he started flipping through one of the books.
“You still haven’t said why you’re here.”
“To stay until I find a place. We haven’t finalized the divorce, or sold the house, but since you came to your senses and got me hired, I gave notice at my firm. I still have a few cases to tie up or hand off, but for the most part my move is in the works.”
“Did you…wait…what? To stay? Here?”
“Yes, here. It’s not like you don’t have the space. I was going to stay with Mom and Dad, but I’m too old to be living with my parents, even temporarily. So, this is a better option.”
I moved Shawn off my lap onto the couch. He quickly scrambled back to his spot, frowning at me in the process. I knew, I knew that getting her on at Jokobi Enterprises would come back to bite me in the ass. No good deed goes unpunished. I should have gone with my gut and made her hunt for a job like normal people, but no, I had to be the old me and give in and be nice. Look where that got me.
“No! No, no, no. You can’t decide to move into my house without first asking me if that’s okay. You were going to stay with Mom and Dad. That was your plan, so stick to it.”
“No, no, no,” Shawn repeated, wiggling in my arms until I put him down. He toddled over to Dorian, wanting her to read the book since I hadn’t. She ignored his request, making him cry in the process.
I walked over to pick him up. “Ow! Crap!” Too much of his weight was put on my bad arm. Dorian put her hands out quickly, catching him before he fell from my arms.
I took a seat, rubbing my tender arm through the cumbersome brace. Dorian sat Shawn down on the couch beside me. He climbed into my lap, and wrapped his arms around my neck.
“Sorry, kiddo.”
“Maybe you should have stayed with our parents longer.”
I rolled my eyes at her. “I’m fine. Just a little distracted by your announcement. Do I ever factor in with you? You make this decision about staying at my house without even asking me first.”
“Stop acting like me staying here is the end of the world. It’d only be a couple of months at best.”
The callbox buzzed, and Macy’s voice came over the speaker asking for entry. Dorian mumbled something under her breath, but she had no right to say anything about guests coming to my house. Ignoring her, I adjusted Shawn in my arms, and walked into the kitchen to open the gate before heading to the front door. Macy parked her SUV next to Dorian’s car, and gave me a quizzical look as she got out.
“Dorian.”
“Shit? Really? What the hell does she want?”
“To move in.”
“You’re kidding?”
“I wish. Where’s London?”
“Having father-daughter time with Mitch. They were snoring on the couch when I left.”
She reached for Shawn, who happily transferred into her arms. Dorian came walking toward us as we headed to the living room.
“I’m going to go visit Mom and Dad. Do you have a remote or something for the gate?”
“I do, but I’d have to find it. You can buzz like every other guest.”
She rolled her eyes but said nothing else as she walked around us. It wasn’t missed on me that neither she nor Macy spoke to each other.
“She really is a bitch, and I hope you aren’t seriously considering letting her stay here.”
Shawn repeated “bitch” and giggled. I frowned at Macy, who apologized for her language.
“Put him in the highchair please. I need to get him a snack.”
Macy went about taking care of getting Shawn settled while I pulled cheese from the fridge and grabbed a banana from the basket. She walked over to me, picked up the banana, peeled it, and then proceeded to cut it up for me.
“How long do you have to wear the brace?”
“Um, another week or so maybe. Depends on how I’m feeling. But happy it wasn’t a fracture or break.”
“I bet. So…”
“So…what?” I questioned, carrying the cheese cubes over to Shawn.
She joined me at the table, depositing the banana pieces onto his tray. “What happened? Why did you pass out? I mean that’s some scary sh…stuff, Lee, especially if there wasn’t a reason.”
Shawn held out a piece of cheese for me, I leaned forward letting him put the cube in my mouth. “Yum, thank you baby.”
I looked over at Macy, who was patiently waiting on me to answer her question, as was everyone else that’d asked me the same thing. Why? What happened? There has to be a reason. That anxious feeling crept up on me. The slight increase in heartbeat. The gnawing in the pit of my stomach.
“It is, but I’m fine. I just got lightheaded or something.”
“There has to be more to it than that.”
Macy could be relentless when she wanted. She’d learned to not push as hard than in the past, but still she had her moments. I felt like this would be one of those moments. I got up to get a sippy cup for Shawn, and filled it with milk.
Shawn reached out for the cup when I returned. He went back to happily eating his snacks. , Brushing his hair from his face, I focused on him. “It happened, but I’m fine, so can we leave it at that?”
She sat back and crossed her arms. “Just tell me there’s nothing wrong with you. Nothing pressing on the brain or any of that stuff I need to worry about.”
I smiled at my friend. “No, Mace, I don’t have any sort of brain tumor or anything like that. I promise.”
The look on her face told me she wasn’t entirely happy with not having answers, but then again none of them were. For a brief moment, I thought about letting her know, but I couldn’t. Letting her know would have a domino effect, and I didn’t want that.