For The Love of Easton : A Single Parent Romance and Sequel to For The Love of English

by A. M. Hargrove

  He definitely got the gist of my snarky comment. “Uh, that’s not it. She is. But—”

  “But what? You wanted this meeting, Stuart, not me.”

  “I suppose you’re right.”

  “Suppose?”

  “Hold on.” He walked away with his phone to his ear. When he returned, he said, “I’m all yours for the next hour and a half.”

  Great. Now I had to put up with this and Dad for that long. I should’ve kept my big mouth shut.

  The lunch turned out to be shorter than expected. Easton complained of a tummy ache, which was weird as she rarely got sick. After they played the games for a bit, we sat down to eat, but she said she wasn’t hungry. She loved pizza, so that was the second strange thing. She barely spoke to Stuart and she was usually a chatterbox. He was actually nice to her. We were all munching on our pizza when Easton threw up everywhere.

  Stuart flew out of his seat, yelling, “Gross.”

  Dad ran to get extra napkins and paper towels. Mom moved all the food away and I pulled Easton on my lap because after Stuart yelled at her she started crying. I glared at him over her head.

  “Um, sorry,” Stuart said. “Sort of a knee-jerk reaction.”

  “Kids get sick, Stuart, and don’t know what to do. She’s only six.”

  Dad came back and cleaned up the mess, including Easton. Stuart stood there like a dumb rock. I nearly cracked up when Dad shoved the soiled napkins in Stuart’s arms, saying, “Make yourself useful.”

  Stuart jumped back so as not to touch the heinous items. This man was not cut out for parenthood.

  I stood, still holding Easton. “I’m taking her home. Stuart, we’ll talk later. Mom and Dad, thanks.”

  “We’ll follow you,” Mom said.

  I walked out, not bothering to say anything else. My baby was sick and needed me. That was the only thing I cared about.

  Easton threw up two more times on the way home. My heart broke for her because she didn’t understand what was happening.

  “Mommy, I don’t like this.”

  “I know, sweetheart.”

  “I wanna be under the rainbow again.”

  “You will. Soon. We’ll get you home and in the bathtub.”

  Her sobs stabbed me straight in the heart. “My princess dress is ruined.”

  “Guess what? It was too small for you anyway, so we’ll get you a brand-new one.”

  “I don’t want a new one. I like this one.”

  “What if we get the exact same one?” Our house was down the street and I exhaled a sigh as we pulled into the garage.

  “Okay.”

  As I reached to unbuckle her from the booster seat, another round of vomiting hit her. It covered us both this time.

  Mom and Dad pulled into the driveway. One look at me and Mom came running.

  “Can you go inside and grab some towels, please?” I asked.

  Mom headed inside and Dad went to the cabinet where I kept the paper towels. He wiped what he could and Mom was there handing me the towels. I wiped Easton and got her out of the car. Then I stripped the dress off.

  “I’m going to bathe her.” I carried her directly to the bathroom where I ran the water. She still cried, saying that her tummy hurt. “Baby, where does it hurt?”

  “All over.”

  Mom came in then and I asked her to get the thermometer. It showed Easton was running a fever of a hundred and one.

  “That’s not too bad,” Mom said. “I remember the first time you were sick. I was in full panic mode.”

  “Kind of like I am now.” Easton’s whimpers were gut-punching me.

  “Yeah. It’s no picnic when your kids get sick.”

  “Mommy, make it go away.”

  “It will, sweetheart.”

  “Make the rainbow come back.” She hung her head as she sat in the tub. I was used to seeing her splashing around, laughing in the bubbles. This was not normal.

  “Should I call the doctor?” I asked Mom.

  Dad poked his head into the bathroom. “How is she?”

  “Not good.”

  “Boppy, my tummy hurts.” And with that, another burst of vomiting occurred.

  “Where is all this coming from? Her stomach should be empty.” My answer came in the form of dry heaves that followed.

  “Mommy, make it stop.”

  “Hey, Dad, can you run to the store and get some of those children’s ice pops? You know, for when they get sick?”

  “Do you need anything else?”

  “Yeah, ask the pharmacist what works to stop vomiting.”

  Dad disappeared and I emptied and rinsed the tub, then refilled it as Easton shivered.

  Three hours later, she was still dry-heaving and refused to suck on an ice pop, no matter what we did. Her complaints were what scared me the most. Easton was a tough kid. She’d been knocked down on the soccer field, she’d fallen off her bike a dozen or more times, and throughout it all, I’d never seen her complain or cry about being hurt more than a minute or so. Sure, throwing up was awful and gross. But her whimpers about the tummy ache were worrisome.

  Finally, I voiced this to my parents, who were still here. “I wonder if this is more than a virus.”

  Dad’s eyes drilled into mine. “There’s only one way to find out. Let’s take her to the hospital.”

  There was a great pediatric emergency room near us, so I bundled her up, as she was shivering, and off we went.

  Turned out Easton had to have her appendix out. It was after ten that night when they decided to remove it. Because of the time, she spent the night there with me by her side.

  In the morning, when she was fully awake, I got my first smile.

  “Mommy, what are you doing on that little bed?”

  “I stayed with you. You’re in the hospital. You had an operation.”

  “I did? Did I have my tonsils out?”

  One of her school friends had had that done in the fall. I laughed. “No, sweetheart, you had your appendix out. It was making you sick. Remember how your tummy hurt?”

  “Yeah, it doesn’t hurt now.”

  “That’s why.”

  “Why’d it do that?”

  “Who knows. Sometimes it happens, but now that they took it out, it won’t hurt you ever again.”

  “You mean my tummy will never hurt?”

  I pushed her hair back and rubbed her cheek. “I wish I could tell you yes, but no. Your tummy might hurt again, but never like that.”

  “Oh. Do I have to live here for a while?”

  “No, you get to go home today.”

  “Can you come with me?”

  I hugged her. “Of course.”

  Mom and Dad came in and her eyes brightened even more. “Guess what? They took out my ’pendix and it won’t hurt me no more.”

  “That’s certainly the best news.” Mom grabbed her toes.

  “Boppy, can we go get pancakes?” That was one of their things they did together. It reminded me of when my dad used to take me.

  “Maybe tomorrow.” Then Dad asked, “Has the doctor been in?”

  “Not yet.”

  It took a couple more hours for us to get released due to the paperwork, but then we went home. My brothers and sisters popped in for a visit and brought Easton gifts. One of them was a brand-new yellow princess dress.

  “Mommy, look! I got a new dress.”

  “Isn’t that wonderful?” I glanced at my mom and she winked. Then I mouthed, “Nice work.”

  Everyone soon left so Easton could rest. While she was napping, my phone rang. It was my best friend, Stacey.

  “Hey, girl, what’s going on?” I asked.

  Her sobs told me something was very wrong.

  “Stacey, what’s going on?”

  “He broke up with me.”

  She was bawling so hard, it was difficult to understand her. “What?”

  “Reed—he broke it off. He broke off our engagement.”

  I was stunned. They were the couple
that had made it, the one everyone wanted to mimic. “Stacey, I don’t know what to say.”

  “Neither did I.”

  “Why don’t you come over and tell me about it?” I explained why I couldn’t leave the house. She only lived about a mile from here.

  “Yeah, okay. I’ll be there in a bit.”

  Chapter Seven

  Tristian

  Family. Most people loved this word. Not me. It represented nothing but harsh words and conflict. My family should be listed under the word ‘dysfunctional’ in the dictionary. It stood for everything wrong and nothing right.

  The circular driveway was filled with their high-priced cars when I arrived. Mother had certainly called out the posse for this.

  One of the servants opened the front door before I’d even had the chance to turn the large knob. “Welcome home, sir.”

  “Nice to see you, George.”

  “They’re in the drawing room.”

  “Of course they are.”

  “May I bring you a beverage?”

  “Not yet, thanks.”

  All eyes turned to me as I entered the room. They were dressed in the finest money could buy, and I wore jeans and a T-shirt. Grit your teeth, Mother. I smothered a laugh.

  “Well, look who’s here.” That was my lovely sister, Ravina. She was as sweet as a rattlesnake.

  “Hello, sister. You’re as welcoming as ever.”

  “And you’re looking quite… shabby.”

  “Why, thank you. Shabby is a compliment coming from you.”

  Mother approached me and air-kissed my cheeks. She was never one for affection. “She’s right, Tristian. You could’ve dressed more appropriately.”

  “You told me to come right away, so I did. That precluded a stop to change clothes.”

  “Don’t tell me you wear that to work.” Mom’s pinched mouth all but shouted her disapproval.

  “Okay, I won’t.” I grinned.

  “Nice to see you, big bro.” My little brother, Landry, greeted me. He was the nicest and most sincere in the family. “Looking good.”

  “And you. Looks like you’ve been hitting the gym.” I punched his arm playfully.

  “I’m trying to take after you.”

  “Can we stop this useless chatter? Your father’s and brother’s lives are at stake and you two are prattling on about muscles.” My mother narrowed her eyes in disdain. What else was new? I’d had a lifetime of her disapproval and contempt.

  After taking a seat, I nodded. “Fine. What’s going on?”

  A long sigh wheezed past her artificially plumped lips, causing them to flutter. They reminded me of those balloons the dude at the carnival twisted into wiener dogs. “They were driving home from a meeting this morning and we’re not exactly sure what happened, but the car flipped and they’re both in critical condition.”

  “Why aren’t you at the hospital?” A reasonable question, I thought, since their lives were at stake.

  “And what could I possibly do there but sit?” Her hand flapped through the space in front of her. “I can do that just as well here.”

  Her selfishness had only gotten worse in the years since I’d been gone. I rose and went to leave.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” she asked.

  “To the hospital, of course. I’d like to see them.”

  A bitter laugh rang through the room. “Why now, when you haven’t cared about them in all these past years?”

  “It’s not that I haven’t cared, because I have. I wasn’t here to avoid the disastrous conflict that’s ever-present in this family.”

  Her index finger aimed at the chair I’d vacated. “Sit down.”

  “Why? So you can continue to belittle me? No, thanks.”

  “If your father and brother die, you are next in line to inherit the family conglomerate. That is why.”

  Now it was my turn to sigh. I hoped my lips didn’t look like wiener dog balloons when I did. “Don’t want it. Thought I made myself clear.”

  “You don’t have a choice.”

  “Yes, I do. It can go to Ravina or Landry.”

  “No, it cannot. The by-laws forbid it as long as an older member of the family is alive, which is you.”

  “Then change the by-laws.”

  “You really are a pain.”

  I stared down my mother. If I was a pain, then what the hell was she? “My word is final. I. Don’t. Want. It. If it reverts to me, I’ll give it to my siblings. Either that, or be an absentee owner. I have my profession and it’s what I love.”

  “For a member of this family, you have no sense of duty,” she said.

  I wanted to say that she’d never had a sense of duty as a mother, only I held back. “Not when it involves the family business. I’m going to the hospital. I’ll give you an update if anything changes with my father or brother, since you don’t seem to care enough to be there.”

  I would not allow her to manipulate me. Ever. If she wanted me to run the family business, she had a big surprise coming.

  I drove to the hospital where I knew my father and brother would be. The family had donated millions and there was a wing named after them. I was sure that was where they’d been taken. When I gave my name, I was escorted to their private ICU units. They had personal around-the-clock care.

  The doctor was kind enough to give me information, but not a complete report—the HIPAA guidelines forbade it—but I gleaned enough to know how grave it was. It was difficult to walk away from a car that had flipped several times. It was estimated they’d been traveling over sixty miles per hour. My first inclination was to say the car had been tampered with, but my brother had always been a fast driver, even reckless at times. Perhaps he was finally paying the price.

  I hoped not. The argument I’d face wasn’t something I looked forward to, not to mention I didn’t want them to die.

  Dad’s age was a hindrance. He was in his early eighties. Mom was twenty years younger, so she was much healthier and more robust. My older brother, Stanton, had to survive if my life was to remain normal.

  “What are their chances?” I asked the doctor.

  “We don’t like to speculate.”

  “Say you did.”

  “I’d say fifty-fifty.”

  Man, he wasn’t budging. Dad’s face was so swollen he was unrecognizable. Stanton seemed to have fewer injuries. Time would tell and I hoped it would be gracious.

  I sat on one of the chairs and reflected on my family. They were about as fucked up as they came. Money wasn’t everything. In my opinion, it only led to greed, a fight for power, and then dysfunction. I’d been much happier without money than I was with.

  Life is all about choices and I’d gladly choose the path I’d taken over and over again. Fancy cars—no, thanks. Huge mansion—nope. Designer clothes—didn’t give a damn. All of those could not buy the single most cherished thing in life and that was happiness. When you had that, you had everything.

  Chapter Eight

  English

  Stacey showed up, her face reminding me of a red balloon. Her eyes were puffy along with her lips. She fell into my arms, weeping and muttering things I couldn’t understand. I dragged her to the couch and soothed her as best I could.

  “Slow down, I can’t understand you.” I offered her a handful of tissues.

  She blew her nose, hiccupped, and lay back on the cushions. “I just don’t know what happened. He came home and started packing his things. When I asked, he told me he wasn’t happy anymore and needed to move on.”

  Gosh, that didn’t sound like the Reed I knew. “Go on.”

  “That’s about it. I asked him what brought this on and he did the old ‘it’s me, not you’ thing.”

  “Well, damn. I’m so sorry.”

  “English, what am I going to do? I can’t afford that house on my own.”

  I grabbed her trembling hands. “He’s responsible for half of it since his name’s on the mortgage.”

  “It’s not. The
mortgage is in my name.”

  “Wait. What?”

  “He advised for it to be in only one of our names.”

  I ticked off the months since they’d bought the house and it was only six. He must’ve been planning this back then. That clicked in her brain too.

  “Oh, no. You think?”

  I nodded. “Why else would he have done this if you were getting married?”

  She buried her face in her hands as a new round of sobs wracked her body.

  “Oh, sweet Stacey, I’m so sorry.” I wrapped my arms around her. Then I thanked God I had zero men in my life. I’d thought Reed was one of the good ones, but I’d been mistaken.

  When she calmed down again, I asked, “Why don’t you look for a roommate to help defray the cost?”

  She sniffed and nodded. “I’ll have to.”

  “Hey, did you keep the diamond?”

  “Yeah, he told me I should.”

  That was big of him. What an ass. “Sell it. That will give you some cash for a while.”

  She sat up straighter. “I could do that. It only brings bad memories anyway.”

  “My parents know a jeweler who might be able to help.”

  “You think?”

  “It won’t hurt to ask.”

  “Thanks, English. You’re such a great problem-solver.”

  “Me? I didn’t do anything. Not to change the subject, but guess who had her appendix out last night?”

  “You?”

  “No. Easton.”

  “Gosh, I bet you were worried to death.”

  “Yeah, when she wouldn’t stop throwing up and saying how much her tummy hurt.”

  “She’s okay, though?”

  “Much better. She’s napping now. It started at the pizza place when she threw up all over the table. It freaked Stuart out.”

  “Stuart? What was he doing there?”

  I remembered I hadn’t filled her in on all that yet. “Oh, I decided to allow him infrequent supervised visits. After yesterday though, I’m not sure he’ll want them anymore. He practically ran out of there.”

  Stacey glowered at me and I shriveled. “English Bridges, have you lost your mind? That man is abusive and you’re letting him near your daughter?”