The Cure (A Michigan Sweet Romance #1)

by Parker J Cole

  When problems and unresolved issues came into her life, she drowned them with snack food when she got home. Sinking her teeth into the decadence of Maxine’s muffins, she rolled her eyes with pleasure as the sweetness combated the acidity of the altercation she’d endured with Micah.

  “You know, eating all those won’t make the problems go away.” Maxine warned.

  “I’m aware of that, Mom. But it releases those hormones in my brain and gives me the false security everything will be okay now that I’ve taken a bite. Or two.”

  “If it were only that easy,” her mother murmured, taking another sip of her lemonade.

  Savannah reached for another muffin when her mother took the plate away and got up from the table.

  “No more for you, my dear.”

  Savannah sipped her hot chocolate. When she’d taken over Bart and Fiona’s home a year ago, she thought she’d never be able to get used to living in the house where her sister once lived. After all, it was their house they had built together ten years ago. She felt like an intruder and wasn’t sure if she should remove anything from the home.

  Then her mother had arrived from her second home up North, and slowly boxed Fiona and Bart’s things away over a period of three weeks. Despite the sorrow that accompanied her, Maxine let her know it was okay to make changes.

  “She and Bart are alive in Liliana,” Maxine told her that day when she’d boxed up the last of their clothes, ready to give them to the local charity shop. “I can pretend to try to keep her alive with things orI can rejoice that she’s with my Lord and King. I can mourn her absence or I can take comfort in the Lord’s graciousness that He gave me a granddaughter to continue my baby’s legacy.”

  Savannah studied her mother. At fifty-four, Maxine retained a youthful appearance with a short pixie cut of blond hair and smooth, unblemished skin. Over the past eighteen months, lines had formed around her eyes and mouth but no one would say those lines detracted from her beauty.

  Despite the pain of their present circumstances, having Maxine and Lawrence with her made everything bearable.

  “Thanks, Mom,” Savannah vocalized her thoughts. “And not just for the muffins and hot chocolate.”

  Maxine went over and hugged her close. Enveloped in the scent of her mother’s favorite perfume, Savannah sent up a silent prayer of thanks.

  “I’ve always enjoyed reading the story of Job.” Maxine pressed a kiss to the top of her head and then released her. “ButI never thought my life would in any way resemble his.”

  Her parents’ unquenchable faith remained a source of comfort, yet Savannah saw how difficult it was for Maxine yesterday when she’d gone to see Liliana for a few short minutes. Though the little girl had given Maxine a weak smile when she saw her grandmother, the sight of her granddaughter in that state almost broke her. Once she’d gone out of Liliana’s eyesight, Maxine crumpled into Lawrence, who took her back to the house.

  “Snuffy was more alert today, just like Dr. Yamaguchi said she would be.” Savannah took her cup over to the sink and swished water inside of it. “She talked to me for a little bit, asking where Markita was.”

  “How is her little friend? God forgive me, I forgot to ask about her.”

  “No worries, Mom.” Savannah picked up the plate with the last few muffins on them and placed them on a display stand in the center of kitchen table. “I saw Markita’s mom yesterday and today. Her daughter is doing a little bit better than Snuffy. I know Dr. Yamaguchi is working with her, as well. I think they want to keep the girls apart for another day or so and then they’ll let them see each other.”

  “Will it help them? Seeing each other in that state?”

  “Dr. Yamaguchi thinks so. The girls are close.”

  A quick stab of sorrow pierced the middle of Savannah’s stomach. Although a three-year age gap existed between them, she and Fiona had gotten along well. Perhaps it was because Fiona had a gentle, loving spirit. She was content to be in the background, comfortable with anonymity. When Nascha approached Savannah about a career in modeling, Fiona had encouraged her to pursue it.

  “You’ll always wonder if you didn’t do it, Savvy,” Fiona’s words echoed in her mind. “If you find out you don’t enjoy it, you can leave and come back home to Tawas.”

  “Or, you can come stay with me at my high-rise apartment in New York,” Savannah had responded back with a soft laugh.

  Fiona shook her head, her gray eyes warm and shining. “Oh no, sister mine. Everything I want is right here. I’ll raise my children here with Bart and we’ll die here.”

  Savannah surfaced from the past. Dear God, did you have to take both of them away? Couldn’t you have just left one to help Liliana?

  No, she couldn’t think like that. Despite the fact she didn’t know how Fiona and Bart’s death served a purpose, the fact was it did, whether she understood it in this life or the next.

  Thinking of her sibling made her think of Micah and her back stiffened once again at the memory of their quarrel.

  “What is it, my dear?”

  Savannah glanced over at her mother, who studied her with calm blue eyes. She wondered how the other woman would take the news of Micah’s presence. Talking about their failed relationship had been a taboo subject for her for a long time. When her parents tried to approach it years ago, they were met with her insistence she didn’t want to rehash the past. It made sense she’d be the one to bring it up.

  “I contacted Micah yesterday. He came into town today and was with me as we went over Liliana’s condition with the doctor.”

  Maxine froze and blinked like an owl, the glass of lemonade suspended on the way to her mouth. “You did?”

  Savannah made herself busy, opening the dishwasher to her left and starting to remove the dishes from it. ‘Yes. I thought it was best if he were here to give his opinion on her case.”

  She tried to keep her voice dispassionate. Her mother didn’t need to know how much it cost her to reach out to her former fiancé and ask for his help.

  “No wonder you ate three muffins and downed two cups of cocoa.”

  The plate she held in her hand clattered to the counter top. “Mom.”

  “Well, my dear. I’m surprised you’d reach out to him after all this time. I believe you told me you never wanted to see or hear from him again.”

  “Well,” she answered, mimicking her mother’s tone, “desperate times call for desperate measures.”

  Maxine went on to drink her lemonade. “Desperate? I don’t know about that. I think you needed him because out of everyone in the world, he’d be the most logical choice.”

  The memory of the text message she sent Micah made Savannah squirm.

  “I’m glad you contacted him, Savvy.” Her mother’s face lit up. “Your father and I liked him. We still do. Fiona adored him. I know if there was anyone she’d trust with her daughter’s life in a situation like this, it would be Micah.”

  Savannah knew that to be true, too. Fiona had discernment about people. An awareness if a person was genuine or not.

  “Fiona was heartbroken when you two split,” her mother said as if Savannah had expressed her thoughts aloud. “It bothered her you two couldn’t work things out.”

  “There was nothing to work out, Mom. Micah turned out to be someone I couldn’t trust anymore.”

  “Then why is he here?”

  The question brought Savannah up short. Why was he here then? She pursed her lips. Because she trusted him with her niece’s life, that’s all. A plastic and reconstructive surgeon, he specialized in burn and complex wounds. If anyone could help her, it would be him. Her niece’s needs outweighed any personal problems she had with him.

  So, it wasn’t that she couldn’t trust him with Snuffy. She just would never again trust him with her heart.

  “I need his advice to help me make the right decisions when it comes to Liliana’s care.”

  “Are you sure that’s all?”

  She tried to keep her hand
s from shaking in reaction. “Of course, Mom. The only person that matters is Snuffy. Getting her well. Whatever Micah and I had is dead. But he’s good at his job.”

  “You didn’t think so when that whole fiasco with Nascha happened.”

  She couldn’t do this right now. Thinking of Micah brought up Nascha. Thinking about Nascha made her remember why she fell out of love with Micah. Thinking of that only made her angrier that she had to reach out to him despite the factshehad no desire to do that. The memory of his mocking words that shewould be the one to need him before he’d ever want to lay eyes on her again lifted its head. She hated him for it. He’d always been right whenever it came to her. When they were together, she adored that aspect of their relationship – the ability he had in understanding her. Now she despised it.

  “Mom, can we drop the subject, please? Micah’s going to help me make the best decisions for Liliana. Then he and I will go back to our lives and won’t have to see each other again.”

  Maxine drained her glass and set it on the counter. “All right, my dear. I’ll leave you to do what’s best. But I’ve only got one thing to say and you’re not going to like it.”

  Savannah straightened her shoulders. “What is it, Mom?”

  “All those dishes you pulled out of the washer are dirty.”

  ***

  Nascha Dubois came toward him with a bouquet of black sunflowers clutched in her hand. Dressed in a red glittery dress that hugged her svelte figure, her burnt sienna skin glowed with a luminous sheen. Those elongated slender limbs swayed gracefully. With every step, her black hair swished in rhythmic cadence. The eyes were dead though, dark and hollow like the pits of a skull. Her once coral-hued full lips twisted in a grotesque manner. They shouldn’t be that way. He’d injected filler in them, so why were they so thin?

  Micah asked, “What happened to your lips?”

  “I don’t have any lips. They weren’t full enough for me. I needed them to be fuller.”

  “But they were exactly the way you wanted them.”

  Those thin lips smirked and then snarled. “Not anymore.”

  The black bouquet of sunflowers wilted. Dry black petals fell to the murky mist covering theground. At the base of the bouquet, a syringe full of fluid and topped with a shiny scalpel nestled in the folds of the tissue paper.

  “Am I beautiful yet?”

  Then the woman took the instrument and turned it toward her body. “I’ll never be beautiful enough, will I?”

  She lifted the scalpel high into the air and plunged it downward. Micah jerked awake.

  He gulped in air, breathing greedily through his mouth. Sweat dotted his body like dew, his shirt was plastered to him. He splayed his hand on his chest, attempting to calm down while his heart ricocheted inside his ribcage. Long minutes later, his cardiac system returned to normal.

  He’d never been one of those who took much stock in the subconscious mind. Dreaming about Nascha bothered him because he’d never liked her. After she destroyed his world, he especially hated the fact that she occupied his slumber.

  Micah glanced over at the clock and read the time. Two-thirtyp.m. He let out a harsh sound, pushed the covers off, and got up to go to the bathroom. The hot water stung his hands but he welcomed the sensation. It rid him of the residue left from his dream. In the subconscious realm, Nascha may have a foothold, but not in the real world.

  He turned off the faucet and stared at the water spots on the nozzles. He spent so much time avoiding thoughts of Savannah that to willingly think about her hurt like a physical wound. Micah rubbed his face, trying to wipe her image from his mind.

  His cellphone rang in the bedroom and he went to answer it.

  “Hello, my sweet boy,” his mother sang in his ear.

  “Hi, Mom.” Thirty-five years old and he was still Joslyn’s ‘sweet boy’.

  “When were you going to tell me you were home?”

  He groaned. “Who told you? Tabitha?”

  “No, Donald.”

  Micah heaved a sigh. “I wish he’d keep his mouth shut.”

  “I’m glad he didn’t. There’s only one person in the world that would make you drop everything and rush home. And it’s not me.”

  “It’s not what you think, Mom.” Though he couldn’t deny Savannah still had some sick kind of hold on him, he didn’t have to dwell on it. “Her niece is in trouble.”

  “What do you mean?”

  He took a few moments to bring his mother up to speed. She moaned when she heard about Fiona and Bart’s death. “I wish I’d known. And poor Liliana! Oh, the poor dear. I’m going to pray for her.”

  “You do that, Mom,” he replied, trying to keep his voice even. Prayer. It hadn’t done much for him when he begged on his hands and knees for God not to take away the one woman who had been his world, his light. Hadn’t done much good then and he figured it wouldn’t do much now.

  That pain in his chest throbbed and he forced himself to focus back on the conversation.

  “… Maxine and I thought it best to keep our distance when you two broke up. Not because we wanted to, of course. But—”

  “I understand, Mom.” Micah didn’t appreciate till then how he and Savannah’s break up had affected his parents. They had loved her and had anticipated the day when she’d become part of the family.

  Nascha’s lovely face flashed in his mind and newly-resurrected scorn curled his lip. That woman had a lot to pay for. Too bad she was on the other side of the grave.

  “Are you going to consult on the case with her niece?”

  He sat on the bed and stared at his feet. “I’m not sure what I’m going to do exactly. Savannah and I went over the doctor’s report together so we could understand her treatment. Once we observe her for a couple more days, we’ll have a better chance of determining the best course of action.”

  “I know you’re not here for a social call, but…” His mother let her voice trail off deliberately.

  Micah gave a helpless laugh. “I’ll see what I can do to come see you guys while I’m here.”

  “Your father and I were wondering when we were going to see you. It’s been well over a year. And phone calls and text messages don’t always do it.”

  Micah winced. “Mom, I’m sorry. I’ve just been busy. You and Dad decided to move up north when he retired. I can’t always make the trips up there.”

  “We understand, sweet boy, but we still miss you.”

  Micah gave a reluctant amused sigh. Joselyn was the nicest kind of manipulator who used honey to draw in her victims. “I miss you, too, Mom. I’ll see what I can do, okay?”

  “Very good.” A satisfied sound came through on the phone. Micah visualized his mother looking as innocent as a puppy.

  “How’s Dad doing?”

  “Your father is out with a couple of men on a nature hike. Four feet of snow and he’d rather trudge through that than be inside. He’ll be back tonight.”

  Ten minutes later he ended the call while a picture of his father surrounded by a vast area of wooded land in the middle of nowhere flashed in his mind. Other dormant memories sparked to life. Many were the times they’d all travel to Huron National Forest for camping trips, snowmobile trails, canoeing, and other outdoor fun.

  “Being out here in the open land like this,” Cameron once said, “it’s as close to being with God without heaven. Out here, all your problems fade away.”

  Micah fell back on the bed and gazed at the ceiling, remembering his father’s words. A week after Savannah had left him, he’d taken a trip there on the campgrounds. He had walked for miles through the forest. Dead leaves crunched under his feet, reminding him of the cracks in his heart. Micah had stood there in the midst of that great open land. A harsh autumn wind had chafed his cheeks in the middle of God’s country, and he’d felt utterly alone. His problems hadn’t faded away, and his mind refused to be soothed.

  He decided then to take Greg Bolton up on his offer and went into partnership with him. If he
stayed in Tawas, surrounded by the remnants of his broken dreams, it would be too much to bear.

  The pain in his chest pricked again and he winced. Quickly he got up and headed into the shower. Scrubbing with vigor, he got himself together. He had to stop thinking about her. She only contacted him for one reason, and that was to assist with the care of Liliana. He would do so gladly. He owed it to Fiona and Bart to do whatever he could to make their daughter’s life normal again.

  Under the spray of water, Micah closed his eyes. Against his willor maybe because some part of him longed to, his mind brought up Savannah’s image. She had a delicate bone structure with a stubborn, pointed chin. Her narrow nose had lightly flared nostrils above her Cupid’s bow full lips. High cheekbones framed her face, with sooty, real eyelashes fanning in an arc above them.

  Her eyes still captivated him. Their exotic two-tone color had ensnared him from the start that long-ago day. He recalled the bright smile reflecting her inner glow. How often had he come to visit her and that smile warmed his insides like the rays of the sun? He had looked forward to their wedding day, reveling in the knowledge he’d live in joy for the rest of his life.

  Abruptly he opened his eyes again and shut off the water. Savannah had no qualms about the loss of their relationship and neither should he.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Savannah experienced the familiar tug in her heart that alerted her to Micah’s presence before he came into sight. Despite the fact she had no business feeling a hint of anticipation at seeing him again, she had difficulty banking down the sensation. Yesterday, they opened up a can of worms and argued like children. She had no wish to do the same thing today. He’d made it clear he was here to help her with Liliana. That was all.

  Her heart sped up just a little bit, though. He walked toward her, his snow-laden wool coat draped on his shoulders. A few snowflakes settled in his thick, blond hair and he brushed them away with a nonchalant hand. From her time as a model, most of the men she’d worked with on shoots sported the unrealistic view of masculinity. Muscular physiques, washboard abs, and manicured looks in one form or another.