A Child's Heart (Trent & Cassie's Story) A River City Novel

by E. Ayers

  “Thanks. I think there’s a compliment in there. You’re close. I skipped fourth and seventh grades. So I graduated from high school at sixteen. It took me three years to do college because I took classes in the summer. I did my masters in three semesters. It took me almost three years to get my doctorate because I was teaching at the college. I’ll be twenty-eight next month.”

  “Four years isn’t that much of a difference. It’s not as much as I thought.”

  “Why don’t you go to college? You could do it part-time and so many classes are now available online.”

  “It’s expensive. I’ve thought that maybe…someday when Shawn is healthy…I’d try to take some classes.”

  “What’s your dream job?”

  “Architect. I design kitchen and bathroom counters. Certainly I could design the entire house. We get house design magazines at work, so we can keep up on the latest trends. I read every page.”

  “Nice to know you read something, other than dirty magazines.”

  “That’s not funny.”

  “Yes, it is.” She gave him a little squeeze.

  “Shawn, we need to turn around and walk back,” he called to his son, who was filling a pail with seashells.

  “Aw, Daddy, I don’t want to go home. Can’t we stay a little longer?”

  “We need to go home.”

  Cassie dropped her hold on Trent and offered the boy her hand. “We’ll come back when it’s warmer, after your surgery.”

  “Promise?”

  “I certainly do. I’ll teach you to surf.”

  His eyes got wide. “You know how to surf?”

  She nodded. “We’ll have so much fun. But you need to know how to swim before I can take you out into the deep water. When we get home, I’ll see if I can sign you up for swimming lessons.”

  Hearing the little hiss in Trent’s breath, she looked up at him. “You’re hurting. Did you take your pain pill this morning?”

  “I don’t like feeling groggy.”

  “I’ll call the pharmacy. Maybe there is something over the counter that you could take instead.”

  Shawn had wandered ahead and then came back. “Do you kiss and things like that?”

  It was apparent that Trent was a little shocked by his son’s question. Cassie smiled at Shawn and then at Trent.

  “Do you mean like this?” She leaned up and kissed Trent on the mouth.

  “Uck! You catch germs that way.”

  Trent chuckled.

  ***

  At quarter to eight in the morning, Cassie sat at her desk and filled out the City’s online form citing Hugh Fitzgerald for sexual harassment. At eight oh two, she pushed the send button and prepared to start her normal day. She didn’t get very far.

  Her phone rang and she picked up the receiver. “Dr. Jones. How may I help you?”

  “Cassie, it’s Jeanie in Human Resources. Ohmigod, it’s you!”

  “What do you mean it’s me?”

  “It’s been all over the news. Hughie’s been suspended as city manager, pending investigation. The police won’t release the name of his victim. The mayor’s been on the phone with me a half dozen times this weekend, and P.R. is going nuts with the press. Are you okay?”

  “I’m a little bruised, but Trent got hurt trying to rescue me.”

  “Trent?”

  She picked up a pile of mail and began to sort it. “Trent Callahan. I was getting ready to go with him and his son to the beach.”

  “Little Shawn Callahan?”

  “Yes.”

  “You’re dating Trent? Sorry, I can’t ask you that.”

  “It’s not a secret, although it’s not anyone’s business as to whom I date.”

  “You didn’t mention Trent on your form. Was he seriously hurt?”

  “Enough to need surgery.”

  “Submit an addendum. That way, he can come back to the city for compensation.”

  Cassie put down the stack of mail and scrolled through the forms on her computer screen. “I don’t see a form to use for Trent.”

  “Use the 1226A.”

  “Oh, okay.” She clicked on the form.

  “Fill it out immediately and send it to me. I’ll call the mayor and let him know that you’re the victim.”

  “Thanks.” She frowned. Just what I need. She hung up the phone, filled out the form, and sent it. Then she picked up her phone and called Trent.

  “Hi. I’ve got good news and bad news. Seems the incident with Hughie has hit the fan within the city, and the media has picked up on it. The good news is that the city might be picking up the medical expenses on your shoulder.”

  “Why don’t you meet me here for lunch? We can talk about it then.”

  “I’ll call you." Sadness washed over her. "Trent?”

  “Yes?”

  “I love you, and I’m so sorry to have tangled you in my web.”

  “I’ll get through it. See you at lunch.”

  The line went dead, and she hung up the phone only to have it ring before she could remove her hand.

  “Dr. Jones speaking. How may I help you?” Her heart sank as the mayor identified himself. “Yes, sir. No problem, I’ve no intention of going anywhere this morning.”

  She hung up the phone and laid her head on her desk. I don’t need this!

  A knock on the door was followed by Mrs. Winston entering the room. “What is going on?”

  “It’s not good.” She pulled out her little recorder and allowed Mrs. Winston to listen to the conversation.

  “You’re his victim? But I thought he went to some woman’s house?”

  “He did. Mine.”

  “Are you okay?”

  “Bruised.” She pushed up the sleeve of her shirt. “Trent’s the one who got hurt.”

  “Oh, dear. I’m sorry. I know you were looking forward to going to the beach.”

  “We went anyway.” She smiled at the older woman. “Shawn had a blast.”

  “When is his surgery?”

  “Next week. Trent is taking him out of playschool this week to cut down on the possibility of him picking up a cold. And he’s going to start on a round of antibiotics, which always gives him diarrhea. They don’t want anything that might delay the surgery.”

  “So sad.”

  “I’m taking a few days away from the office. I want to be there during his surgery and afterwards. I need to work on the proposal for the classroom expansion. I’ll take my laptop with me. I’ll only be a phone call away, and I’ll probably be bopping in and out of the office.”

  “Do you really think the city is going to allow you to do it?”

  "Take the days or give me the classrooms?"

  "The classrooms."

  “Why not? When I’m done, they are going to see the educational, as well as the monetary advantage for such programs.”

  “Don’t forget that we are a not-for-profit institution.”

  “But if we don’t make money, we can’t afford to bring in the big stuff. We have to keep paying for what we do.”

  Mrs. Winston left and, before Cassie could finish tallying the figures for the weekend, the mayor knocked on her door.

  Mayor Bruno Giovanni was an older man who had been with the City for over thirty years. Balding and rotund with a welcoming smile, he had the appearance of a good ol’ boy, but he wasn’t. His first concern was doing what was best for the city, and he knew every aspect of it.

  “Cassie, start at the beginning, and don’t leave any details out.”

  She sighed and told him the whole story. “And I do have a portion of the conversation in my office on Friday.”

  “What made you tape the conversation?” He crossed his arms over his big chest.

  “He’s done this too many times. I figured it was my word against his. He was livid that I had gone to you over the museum’s budget.”

  “The proper chain of command would have been to go to him first.”

  “I understand that, and I did go to him. His idea
of fixing things was to make it more personal.”

  “Personal?”

  “Dinner and spend the evening with him discussing it.”

  “Many a meeting in this city is conducted during dinner.”

  “No, sir. If you told me to meet you in your office Wednesday at five and we’d discuss my budget issues over dinner, I’d believe you. But you don’t come in here leering over me, licking your lips as if I were a prime cut of meat, and hinting that dinner and our evening together will fix my budget if I give you what you want.”

  “I should hope not.”

  “Precisely. If this were simply an annoying personal thing between us, then I wouldn’t have been filling out forms for H.R. this morning. But when my job is being held over my head because I won’t willingly submit to his boyhood fantasy, it’s not personal. It’s sexual harassment in the workplace. I think you need to hear the recording.”

  Bruno listened and shook his head through the whole thing.

  “Cassie, I’m truly sorry this has happened to you. It’s an unfortunate incident both for you and the City. I did make several inquiries about your budget, and the treasurer’s office promised me a full accounting by the end of next week, at the latest. Keep your expenditures to a minimum for the next couple of weeks until this budget situation is addressed.”

  “I’m not running this place into the red.”

  ~~15~~

  Cassie looked at her watch, then picked up the phone and called Trent. It was an hour later when she was in his office, and he pulled out a chair for her to sit.

  She looked around. It was reasonably neat, but cluttered in books and equipment. “Tiny office. It’s almost claustrophobic.”

  “There’s a lot of equipment in here.”

  She pointed to a thing behind him. “Is that a printer?”

  He nodded. “Come around here and you can see the paper that feeds it.”

  She looked at the wide roll. “So a page can be endless?”

  “Almost. Each job is custom. We’re in the middle of a doing a remodel on a hotel. Even though each counter should be the exact same size, there’re not.” He smiled. “We did every kitchen counter and bathroom in Sweet Grandview. Not only did the colors vary in each apartment, so did the measurements." He grinned. "You could say I’ve been in your apartment, and you didn’t know it.”

  “Amazing. How’s the pain?”

  “I’m coping. I called the doctor this morning, and they had already received everything from Shore Medical. I’ve got an appointment tomorrow at ten thirty, and I’ll go from there to Shawn’s appointment with the cardiologist.”

  “What about your surgery?”

  “They said they’d call me back with the date and time.”

  “I want to be there. I’ll take that day off. I’ve also made arrangements to be away from my desk so I can be with you and Shawn.”

  “I appreciate it. Coffee?” He turned to the coffeepot behind him that sat on top of a file cabinet.

  “I brought a bottle of water.”

  “It’s fresh.” He held up the glass carafe filled with coffee.

  “I’m fine.”

  He looked at what she had brought with her. “That’s your lunch? Celery and peanut butter?”

  “Beats a can of V-8, although I think the V-8 has more nutrients. Peanut butter is protein.”

  “Here take half my sandwich and share your celery.”

  “It’s a deal.”

  He slid a magazine across the desk. “Take a look at page fifty-six.”

  She opened the magazine and sucked in her breath. “It’s beautiful.”

  “It’s a huge waste of space. Everyone knows the shortest distance between two points is a straight line, and there’s not a single straight line in that place. It might look nice, but it’s not practical. It’s a nightmare. No one will ever be comfortable in that house, and they’ll never know why.”

  She looked again and realized what he was saying. “Go back to school, Trent.”

  “Keep dreaming, Cas. I live in my mother’s house that is eight hundred square feet. This is a uniform, and my name is on it, in case I forget who I am." He shook his head. "My son might not live to see his fifth birthday, and you’re telling me to go back to school and get my degree? You got a genie in a magic lantern?”

  His words stung. She munched on his sandwich and, after some consideration, she asked, “Are you happy here and is this what you want to be doing twenty years from now?”

  “They’re good to me here. I do my job and I do it well. I could almost do it in my sleep.”

  “And in twenty years?”

  “I can’t see that far ahead.” He fisted his right hand and rested his forehead on it. “Shawn is my sacrificial lamb. He’s the love of my life.” When he raised his head, there were tears streaming down his cheeks.

  Her heart ached. She went to him and gently kissed him. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to do that to you. Maybe you think I’m wrong, but I want to hold onto the hope of Shawn surviving and living a normal life.”

  He buried his wet cheeks into the side of her neck.

  She pressed her cheek to him. “If we weren’t meant to be a family, then why would God have brought us together when He did? Why not a year from now? Why would He allow me to fall in love with Shawn only to rip him away?”

  “Why was he born with a defective heart? Why my son?” he mumbled into her shoulder.

  “Why not Shawn? He’s brought together a whole community of nameless faces praying for him. People who don’t know him have dug into their wallets and given precious dollars or generous gifts so he can have this surgery.” She leaned back and gazed into his eyes. Moisture clung in tiny droplets to his golden brown lashes. “A company developed the equipment for this procedure. Look at what has occurred to bring this to fruition. This is not a setup for failure. You have to believe. Hold onto the hope.”

  “I’m not a saint. I’m a man who’s made plenty of mistakes. Why should God reward me?”

  “Why not? You’ve kept your faith in Him. That’s more than most would do in your shoes.” Her fingers brushed his cheeks.

  “It’s not that simple.”

  ***

  Trent hung up the phone. He lost count as to how many times he’d dialed the museum only to get a busy signal. He checked the time and headed for the shop. Once he had assured himself that all was well, he came back through the showroom floor with the intention of leaving.

  “Trent, would you answer a few questions for some clients?”

  He looked at his watch one more time. “Better be quick.”

  He answered their questions, then went straight for his car. His mom would leave for work in less than twenty minutes, and he had to be there for Shawn. As soon as he pulled into his driveway, his mom smiled at him, got into her car, and backed out.

  He breathed a sigh of relief. Not having Shawn in playschool was going to make these next few days very difficult. He opened the front door. “Hey, Shawn, where are you?”

  “In here." The voice came from the bedroom. "Can we play checkers?”

  “Sure. Bring it into the kitchen,” Trent called back as he ran water to wash his hands.

  “I’ve been trying to play by myself, but that’s hard.”

  Trent sniffed the coffee and made a fresh pot. “What have you and Grandmom been doing all day?”

  “Grandmom did laundry, and I was bored.”

  “I understand. I know you miss your friends, but it’s only for a few days.”

  “Pick a hand.”

  “This one.” Trent pointed to the boy's right hand.

  Shawn opened it to reveal a red checker. “I wanted to go first.”

  “Well, I don’t mind being black. Besides, I’m rusty at this game.”

  Shawn set the game up, giving his father the black checkers, and then sat on the chair with one foot on the floor, the other tucked under him. “Can I have a dog?”

  “A dog?”

  “
Yeah, I want a collie.”

  Trent watched his son slide a checker forward. “We don’t have enough yard for a collie. They’re big dogs. They need lots of room to run.”

  “I knew you were going to say that.” Shawn rolled his lower lip out.

  “Then why did you ask?”

  Shawn shrugged and moved another checker.

  “Dogs are expensive, and the bigger they are, the more expensive they are.” He pushed a checker forward with very little thought.

  “I want something that I can run and play with. I don’t want some tiny thing.”

  “Let’s get you through the surgery first.”

  Shawn jumped his father’s checker.

  “Bad move.” Trent jumped his son’s black one.

  “Why did you do that?” Shawn crossed his arms and once again pouted.

  “Because you stuck it there. It’s okay, we’re both down one checker.”

  “Are you going to marry Cassie?”

  “Do you think because we kiss that we’re going to get married?”

  “Well, you wouldn’t kiss her if you didn’t love her, right?”

  Trent stifled his desire to laugh at his son. “Right. We might. We’ve talked about it, but we haven’t made any decisions.”

  “Grandmom says Cassie wouldn’t be my mother. She’d be my step-mother.”

  Oh great! I don't need Mom interfering. “True. What else did Grandmom say about Cassie?”

  Shawn shrugged.

  “Come on, spit it out.”

  “She said God was going to punish you because you were walking down the garden path. But I told Grandmom that you weren’t in any garden, just on the beach.”

  Trent couldn’t control the chuckle that escaped his throat. “I don’t think Grandmom likes my spending so much time with Cas.” He pushed another checker forward. “Uh oh, I goofed.”

  “Yep!” Shawn jumped several checkers.

  “I don’t think you can jump backwards like that.”

  “Why not?”

  “I don’t know, but I don’t think it’s allowed, at least not with a single checker. Got to be a double.”