We had the bistro to ourselves since Sabrina left us earlier when her shift ended. I sat on the end stool and watched as he made himself right at home. Sipping the hot tea soothed me. “How would you feel about running the show for a few days while I take a trip?”
His face lit up, and then I noticed his brow raise. “You’ve known me for all of two seconds, and you’re trusting me with all of this?” His arm extended through the air.
“You won’t be alone because Sabrina will be here, and my best friend and cohort in crime, Shawna, will be here for the boutique. She can barely boil water, so don’t expect any help over here.”
His huge smile lit the room up. “I’d be honored. And by the way, if the apartment ever comes open upstairs, I want first dibs.”
Fear instantly gripped me and my tea cup hit the counter with a splash. “When did you see the apartment?” My tone was surely audible for two blocks.
He stopped still in his movements behind the counter and put his hands in the air as if the police had arrived. “Easy. I’ve been coming in here since you opened this side. I made friends with Sabrina, but I told her not to say anything to you when I heard about the job. I wanted to get the position on my own merits, not have a friend pull favors.”
Immediately, I felt better, but I couldn’t help the reaction I had, especially after Carson’s shenanigans. “I’m sorry, I’m just nervy these days. Well, now I understand how you were so comfortable with the espresso equipment. Have I been duped?” I turned the tense moment around with a tease.
“No, I’m a fast learner.”
I propped my aching head on my hand, elbow supported by the counter. “But you didn’t finish art and design school?”
He came to sit beside me. “ADD means I get bored easily. I would drift off to never-never land and fail to finish my assignments. I gave ‘Look, shiny object’ a new name.”
We both laughed.
We chatted for a few more minutes before leaving, and I couldn’t help but smile. Everything seemed to be coming together after so much negativity in my life. What could go wrong now?
* * *
It was comforting catching up with Denise. I felt like I’d been apart from her forever, not a mere handful of days. She was shocked to hear about Oliver and disappointed that Ian hadn’t reached out to her.
“From what I gathered from Sylvia, she and Richard went to see Oliver, and he begged to come home with them to the point that Ian’s parents finally said yes.”
She settled into the chair with a Diet Coke in hand. “I’ve met them. They aren’t southern hospitality by any means, but they didn’t seem like bad people.”
I took the clip out of my hair and placed it on the end table beside the sofa. “They were cold to me. It was obvious they didn’t like me and had decided so before we ever met. They whisked Oliver away so quickly just when he and I were beginning to meld.”
She wiped at the tears that had begun to leak. “That poor little boy. Can I see him?”
Picking up my phone from the coffee table, “Only one way to find out.”
When I got off the phone with Sylvia, Denise and I were both smiles. Sylvia and Richard were meeting Ty and Denise at Main Events to play games and have dinner on Wednesday night. Ty was going to be over the moon as well. I’d miss seeing Oliver, but I prayed my visit with his daddy would mean that perhaps all of us would soon be reunited.
If only I had a genie in a bottle…
* * *
I took Ty to school and kissed him goodbye then since I was leaving before he’d get home from soccer practice. He was giddy that I was going to see Ian, but I tried to explain it might not mean anything.
“That’s okay, I get to play with Oliver tomorrow night.” He was bucking in his seat with excitement. Denise was going to have her hands full with him the rest of the night. The kid didn’t do well with anticipation. He definitely mastered “Are we there yet?” at a very early age.
“Yes, you do. And you can call me on the phone and tell me all about it.” I gave him a kiss. “Be on your best and remember how much I love you.”
“Me too, Mom.”
As I watched him run into school, I thought about how much he’d been through as well.
I was going to put a lot of cards on the table. I prayed Ian realized how much he was worth to us…
* * *
Clearing my desk of to-do items was easier when no one was there besides me. I thought about how Mom sat at the same desk and studied magazines to stay ahead of the trends. I’d sat across from her in the same chair that now sat empty across from me and wondered if we’d be good partners even now. She wouldn’t have been the type to enjoy retirement; she enjoyed every minute of her life and always found the glass more than half full.
Say a word to the big man, Mom. I need both of you today and every day.
A cup of hot tea and a piece of shortbread cookie was placed on the desk in front of me. When I looked up, Sabrina was beaming.
“What’s got you all excited?”
She sat down in the chair, which she rarely did. It was a sign she had something to tell me. “Thank you for hiring Parker. He’s going to be amazing.”
“You could’ve told me that you knew him, but I understand his opinion on the matter. He’s really nice and very handsome, all the ladies around here will love him.”
She sighed. “Yeah, just a shame he pitches for the other team.”
With a slight laugh, “It’s okay, he told me.”
She sat forward in the chair. “He did? In an interview?”
“Yeah, I was a bit surprised by the admission as well, but listen, my interests lie in the welfare of the store, patrons, and employees. Relationships are hard, and romance in the workplace is even harder. Speaking of romance…”
She immediately acted like she could dance in her seat. “Jason is coming in to see me this weekend. Are you certain—”
I put my hand up. “Stop it. You know the truth about everything. GO. Have fun and relax with him. He’s a great guy, and I couldn’t be happier. I’m going to see Ian tomorrow, and I hope I bring back good news of my own.”
She ran around to my side of the desk and hugged me. “I couldn’t be happier for you and so grateful.” Her voice cracked, which surprised me. Sabrina didn’t give away her emotions very much.
“Don’t you dare. Now do some work before we both mess up our faces.”
Just a few minutes later, Parker arrived and took over the store. I stood at my door and watched the two of them as a mother bird observing her babies take their first flights.
Isabella and Mick came by to meet Parker and say hello. I looked at all the young people assembled in one room at the same time. With all the beauty and handsomeness of my employees and their partners, I laughed to myself that I could easily hire them out for a side business. And then it suddenly came to me that I should do a holiday fashion show and let Parker run it. I didn’t know if I could pull it off without much notice, and my plate was certainly full, but it gave me something to think about, something to calm me on the plane while I dealt with my anxiety of seeing Ian. It would help pass the three-hour flight time for sure.
Would he open his heart to me…?
Chapter Eleven
The main building looked nothing like a medical institution, more like a summer camp. The signage clearly said Martin’s House, so I knew I had to be in the right place, even though I felt like I was in the boonies about thirty minutes east of Helena, Montana.
“Can I help you?” The lady behind the desk asked.
“I’d like to see Ian Briggs. He’s a patient here.”
“Did he put you on the visitor list.” She studied her computer.
“No ma’am, not to my knowledge.”
Another lady approached the desk from the other side. “Linda, this lady would like to see one of our patients, but she’s not an approved visitor.”
“Which patient?” She leaned into the computer.
�
�Oh, he mentioned it, and I think I failed to load her into the system. I’ll take care of it.” They spoke to each other as if I weren’t a foot in front of them.
The lady named Linda came out of a side door and approached me. “Come with me.”
We went behind the locked door into a small office. “I’m Linda, Ian’s nurse.”
“Chelsie Peterson. Nice to meet you. Ian mentioned me as a visitor?”
“No, not in so many ways, but policies are in place. I’m breaking the rules, but I believe it’s for a great cause, and I’m willing to take my punishments.”
“Oh?”
“He talks about you all the time. You being here right now may make a world of difference in his sobriety.”
“Sobriety?”
That was when the tide turned, and she looked lost. “You do know that this a drug rehab facility?”
The floor fell from beneath me, and I found myself inside the tornado of Ian all over again.
What the hell?
Lies. All half-truths and innuendos that he’d shared flooded my brain.
I gripped the arms of the chair I was sitting in and stared at the floor in front of me. “No, I didn’t. I thought he was working on his physical rehabilitation from the accident.”
“I’m sorry, this situation is getting bigger by the minute. Let’s go see him and put all of these questions to rest.”
I followed her down a long path past numerous cabins; the place really did look like a campground. As we neared the last one on the row, I saw him sitting in a chair on the front porch, writing. We got within twenty feet of the steps when he looked up.
“Chelsie,” he cried out and dropped whatever was in his hands as he stood.
“Oh my God, Ian.” I ran to him, and he met me at the foot of the steps.
Linda had disappeared.
His kiss was warm and inviting as he held me snug in his arms. “I’ve missed you so much. God, I love you. I’m so sorry about California. I have so much to tell you, and not all of it is nice.” He was rattling.
I pushed away from him. “Ian, this is a drug rehab. Why are you here?”
His arms fell to his sides. His pause gave me time to look at him. That’s when I noticed he was thinner than I’d ever seen him and there was a good bit different about him. The hair was shorter, and the sleeves of his navy t-shirt were pushed up far enough I could view the severe disfigurement of his right arm.
“Sit down with me,” he asked quietly.
He sat first, and I watched as he seemed to struggle a bit with looking at me, his eyes glued to the floor. I didn’t know what to say or do, everything I knew of him seemed like a lie.
Tornado.
I waited for him to speak, although I wanted to flood him with a million questions. I wanted to scream at him, “Look at me, dammit. Tell me why you could do this to me. To us.”
It seemed like hours passed before he began to talk. His voice was soft and lacked the confidence and authority I had always seen in him.
“As a teenager, I had issues with using prescription drugs, and sometimes street drugs when that’s all I could get. But, as I started college, cocaine became my best friend. Olivia changed all of that, and I felt I owed her my life. When she died, I knew I had to stay clean for Oliver. This isn’t my first stint in rehab.”
The real meaning of the bracelet he wore…
Shocked, I felt trembles edge into my body, but I continued to listen, trying to keep an open mind regarding his confessions.
“When you came to California, the girl you saw me with was my sponsor. I was too ashamed to tell you.”
“Didn’t you tell me once that honesty goes a long way?” The moment I said it, I regretted my words. Hurting him at such a vulnerable point in his life was the last thing I wanted to achieve.
“I met you at the peak of my life. My practice was going great, Oliver was happy, and we’d both escaped people in our lives that hurt us.”
That comment was aimed at his parents, I was certain.
“I saw Oliver on Sunday. Ty begged to call you, he misses you beyond belief. We both do.”
“Ol is in a tough spot right now. I’m glad he’s with Mam and Grumpa. They all need each other.”
I nodded when he made eye contact. They were still as blue as the moment I first saw them.
“After my accident, pain meds were pushed before I ever woke up and I knew with my injuries, that my sobriety would be challenged—and it was. Look at my arm, Chelsie. I’ll never be the man you once knew, not inside or out.”
“Do you still love me enough to be with me?” My chin quivered, terrified of his answer.
“Yes,” he declared. “I’ve never stopped.” He picked up a journal and handed it to me with his left hand.
Looking at the well-worn cover, I knew there was time spent on it. Instantly, I felt Ian’s heart was bled out in between the pages.
“Good, because I love you, and when our baby is born, I want you to be there to love him or her too.”
“His back stiffened, and his eyes widened. ”What did you say?“
“The night you came to me, we conceived a child. I’m having your baby.” I touched my stomach which was beginning to pooch over my jeans. “I want you whole and with me. With us. Come home to me.”
“Home,” he whispered with heavy breath. “Leaving you alone to raise our baby isn’t right, but putting you in the middle of my trials isn’t the way it’s supposed to be either.”
“Tell me about your addiction. Help me understand.”
He spoke with conviction now and told me that he’d been sober for several months, although he feared it every day. “Cocaine makes me feel power that the world seems to take away, but the side effect is that it makes me hostile, snappy, mean even.”
“That’s the past. If you’re off of it and have been then we make a deal—first time you break your sobriety, you’re gone for good.”
“Deal.”
He told me about Dr. Starrett and his tough love approach in an open environment. He talked about the different facilities and felt his bigger burden was his inability to be a doctor anymore.
“I just didn’t feel whole in any form. Couldn’t practice, Oliver hated me for everything he could possibly blame me for and my parents were more disappointed if that’s even possible. They let us live there, but there was no conversations or any sense of family. It was as much a prison as prison itself. Their disappointment turned to my disgust with myself and so the circle continued. I’d use to feel better—if only for a short bit of time.”
“Did you lose your license?”
“No, because this wasn’t a work issue and a patient wasn’t involved.”
“So legally, you’re still a doctor?”
“Yes. Could you work with another scope of medicine?”
“Hadn’t thought about it. Orthopedics is my favorite and I was fucking great at it, which you already know. I suppose I could try clinic or hospital work. Right now, I’m not even sure I could pass CPR, but after the next surgery, I’m hopeful that I’ll, at least, get some nerve formation. I’m sure there would be a review hearing if I applied anywhere. I’d have to disclose my treatments, which means it’s all questionable.”
“Can you pour a beverage.”
“Yes, actually that is something I can do.” He smiled.
“Good, cause I could use a drink, not that either one of us could enjoy it at the moment.”
He leaned over and kissed me. “A baby. It’s really happening.” His smile ignited passion within me. I kissed him hard, my desires peeking through my touch.
“I want you right now.”
He laughed. “There are no locks on the doors.”
“When have you ever been shy?”
He stood and led me into the cabin. Oddly enough, it wasn’t as rustic on the inside as out. There was a small kitchenette with a door in a small alcove that I assumed was a bathroom. There was no TV, but I did hear music coming from somewhere i
n the distance and knew it had to be Ian’s because it was the sounds of his favorite group of all time, Theory of a Deadman playing a familiar tune.
“What, no Marvin Gaye?”
He laughed. “Did you bring that same outfit to do a striptease for me again?”
“I love you so much it hurts.” Tears oozed from me as I covered my face with my hands.
He pulled a hand away and held it tightly. “Me too, beauty.” His eyes watered.
Beauty. I craved to hear the word come from his lips for so long.
Time stood still as we held each other…
He let me go and moved to his nightstand and removed the iPod from the dock and changed the song. “As you ordered,” he cocked his brows and took a seat on the mattress. Marvin Gaye’s I Want You crooned softly behind him. “Now, if I remember correctly, you need to tell me what you want.”
The old Ian was coming back.
“I want you to hold me and whatever happens from there, I know will be beautiful.”
He reached for me again. When I took his hand, he tugged me into his lap and I almost tumbled. I felt more at peace there than I ever had. His lips were so soft on mine, but his hunger matched my needs intently. It had seemed like forever before we came up for air and that lasted only a second until we could get my shirt and bra off. I had to help him once I realized how much he was challenged with disability. I made a mental note of being more aware of what he could and couldn’t do.
As the thunder and rain began outside, a cleansing of souls took place inside the walls of our hearts.
Ian explored my body, and the sensitive bud of my nipple felt at home in his mouth. “These are bigger,” he said with a smile.
“Your daughter is doing that to me.”
He stopped and pushed me back with a beaming face. “It’s a girl?”
I hated to disappoint him after seeing him so excited. I shrugged, “Don’t know yet, I’m just hopeful.”
Under him, I felt his power over me, body and soul. “I crave to feel whole again with you.”
Captivated On 5th Avenue: Book 3 (5th Avenue Romance Series) Page 6
