“Abel, maybe we can make a compromise,” Julie offered, putting the movie down and selecting another one equally as sappy.
“This horrible movie is going to be a compromise,” he whispered in her ear as he swiped his library card.
Julie loved when Abel whispered in her ear. It sent shivers down her spine and reminded her of the gifted, skilled, highly trained and motivated endurance runner. She’d learn to enjoy the intervals of love they often took on lazy days to enjoy their intimate moments. When she didn’t have the energy to keep pace with him, his subtle art of persistence always paid off in the end, with Julie managing to stay the course while going the distance with her handsome, silver fox.
“You are going to love this movie just as much as you love me,” she said, giving him a light squeeze.
“I don’t think that is possible,” he said, kissing her on the temple.
Abel and Julie checked out a movie for Saturday night viewing, plus a few books to read before they headed home. These days, regardless of the weather, she loved getting out with her husband, and taking a weekly walk through Endurance.
- Fin -
Intervals of Love
Olivia Gaines
Chapter One – The Warm Up
The old mail truck squeaked, rattled, and backfired coming up the small incline as it turned onto Dodger Lane, stopping incrementally to drop off bills and more bad news. Willie Barnes, the local postal carrier was proud of the old truck that somehow managed to still crank day after day, year after year as the old driver made his rounds. Chadwick Winter knew his routine as well as the frequent stops he made to pick up coffee, a donut and to shoot the fat off the old duck while he made his rounds. Willie seemed to have impeccable timing, knowing exactly how many minutes to be at each location since it never failed that at 8:15 each day, he stopped in front of the Winter home to leave the daily mail. Even on Mondays, Willie was always on time. Today, was the day Chadwick wished he’d been late.
“Morning Dr. Winter,” Willie said, parking the old rattrap to walk up the drive, “I have a certified letter for you today.”
Coffee in hand, he stood on the front porch waiting for the package that he knew was coming today. There was no need to hide from the ugliness Willie was delivering. The package brought forth the delivery of the close of one life and hopefully the start of a new one.
“Morning Mr. Barnes,” Chadwick replied, accepting the package and signing the slip of paper.
“Certified letters are usually bad news, but it is such a glorious day to be alive, I hope you take what’s in it as a sign of rebirth,” Willie told him.
Great. Just what I need. A philosophizing mailman.
“From your mouth to God’s ears, Willie.”
“Have a good day,” Willie said whistling as he walked away.
That was Chadwick’s life in a nutshell. People walked up, handed him a warm pile a poop and walked away whistling as if they hadn’t simply ruined his life. Here Chadwick, take this shit and be happy. I’m not happy.
Envelope in hand, he entered his three-bedroom home to start a pot of oatmeal for his two-year-old James, who would be awake soon and terrorizing the world. The child had loads of energy and only stopped whirling when he exhausted the dervish and passed out in the middle of the floor with his pull-up stuck in the air. He didn’t care if he was a pediatrician – the terrible twos were a marketing term. James was a mini bioterrorist. A whirling dervish of energy that passed out nasty kisses laced with viruses and other spores of which his father seemingly had failed to build up an immunity.
“Daddy!” The child called from the other room just as Chadwick set the water to boil. Adding two cups of oats to the buttery water, a tablespoon of brown sugar and a dash of salt, the morning gruel would be ready by the time he changed and washed James’ face.
“Coming son,” he called back, heading down the hall to his room.
Chadwick opened the curtain allowing the rays of sunshine as the adorable little boy stood in his bed, holding onto the wooden rails as if he’d been imprisoned for the night and the warden was coming to set him free. His little feet danced in anticipation at seeing his father as hands rose to be lifted from his cage so he could hit the floor and get moving.
“Good morning James,” Chadwick said, lifting the child from the infant bed, “today is going to be an amazing day.”
“Hi Daddy,” the infant said. His language skills were developing slowly but Chadwick wasn’t worried. The new daycare that James attended was one of the best in Endurance. Heck, there were only three in town, but in his estimation, Toddle Time was the better of the three. All of the children who attended the school were also his patients and right on track in learning and development. He felt blessed that the owner reached out to him holding a spot for James.
In his pocket were a handful of Cheerios that he placed in James’ potty as he placed the child’s feet on the floor, pulling down his night time diaper. He’d trained the boy to sink the cereal with well-aimed shots of urine. The game was the easiest method he knew to teach a boy to use the toilet. James did not disappoint as he clapped happily at accomplishing the morning task, reaching for his father with pee-pee hands to be washed.
“Great job little man,” Chadwick said, placing an affectionate kiss on the top of his head. “It’s time for oatmeal.”
“Yay, and yoosh,” James said.
“Yes, you can have some juice as well,” he said, drying his hands and carrying him to his high chair. Seated, wearing a bib, the child had a ravenous appetite that when he wasn’t tearing up everything in sight, he was shoveling something in his little pie hole.
Chadwick spooned in a hearty serving of oatmeal into the bowl, warning James that it was hot, as he made a slice of toast with strawberry jam. He handed him the toast first as the oatmeal cooled. His bowl, he set to the side as he opened the package in which he’d been dreading. It was from Turner & Hobbs, Attorneys at Law.
As if James knew what was inside the envelope, he remained quiet, observing his father while munching on his toast. The white sheets slid out of the package as Chadwick read over the words declaring his divorce final, and Bria Cayes out of his and James’ lives. It was good riddance as far as he was concerned. Any woman who would leave her infant child wasn’t a woman that he wanted nor needed in his life. James sure as hell didn’t deserve her for a mother.
“Wuv you, Daddy,” James said as if he knew the words would bring his father comfort.
“I love you more, James,” he said, handing him the bowl of oats, “make sure you blow before you put it in your mouth.”
He nodded his head as he scooped up a spoonful of oatmeal, blowing more saliva than anything on the spoon, ladling a load of mush into the small pie hole.
My divorce is final. I am free of her.
“THIS JUST ISN’T WORKING for me Chad, for us,” Bria Cayes said one cold December morning. “I hate this town, these people and the smell of sweat from damp bodies running around trying to make their hearts burst out of their chests. I have to get out of here.”
“Bria, I can’t just move my practice,” he implored to her holding her hands, “It took me years to build up this sort of clientele. I have a rapport with the parents, the community, and the children.”
“Seems to me you would be more concerned about the rapport you have with me,” she said handing him the infant.
“I am Bria, but leaving isn’t going to solve what is wrong with you, or us for that matter. If we move, we are only taking the problems with us,” he said. “We need to seek some counseling to help us.”
“You mean me,” she spat at him. “This is not just post-partum depression, Chad. It is something deeper.”
“Understood,” he told her, placing James over his shoulder to burp the baby, “however, we have to address the elephant in the room before we can give it more peanuts.”
“Screw you and the elephant. I don’t want to live here anymore,” she said. “I also don’t
think I want to be married any longer or be a mom.”
“What?”
“You heard me,” she said, picking up her purse and keys. “This is not my life. I long for the big city, fancy parties and a social life. Bake sales is not a social life.”
“I’m truly sorry you feel that way, but my life is here,” he said.
“You can stay here,” she told him, heading out the front door.
He couldn’t believe she left. Bria Cayes Winter walked out the front door on that cold December morning and didn’t return for two weeks. After the first three days, he stopped worrying. When five days passed he called his mother to come lend a hand. When the five days morphed into two weeks, his mother, who had been ridiculously quiet during the whole ordeal spoke up.
“In another week you can file for divorce on the grounds of abandonment, seeking sole custody of James,” Jasmine Winter told him.
“Mom, I think she just needs some time to deal with the postpartum,” he told her.
“Bullpies,” Jasmine said to her son, “the heffah needs some therapy and an unselfish pill. How could she leave this adorable little boy alone without his Momma?”
“She also left me,” Chadwick said softly.
“Yep, which is why you should file for divorce and move on with your life,” Jasmine offered. “Pack up her things, put them in a box in the closet, and prepare to move on. When she returns, you can have all her things ready to go. You have no room in your life for a woman who walks out on her child.”
“I’m going to give her some time,” Chadwick said, “it is only fair.”
“Fair is moving on and finding this baby a new Mama,” Jasmine said. “The one he has is broken. Right now he doesn’t understand. By the time he is three, he is going to want to know why all the other kids are being picked up from school by their Mommies and he isn’t.”
”Mom, I also need some time to process all of this,” he said softly.
“There is nothing to process. Your crazy wife left you and this baby so she can post pictures of herself on Instagram with plastic people living shallow lives,” Jasmine countered.
“She isn’t shallow,” Chadwick said.
“That saucer has more depth than that woman,” she said, lifting her tea cup to better show off the delicate saucer. “Bria snatched you up in college so she could say she was married to a Doctor. This town paid half of the tuition for you to go to medical school and you owe it a debt.”
“I know my commitment to Endurance,” he said to his mother. “I have no intention of leaving. This is my home as well as where I want to raise James.”
“Good, we need to get to planning,” Jasmine said, picking up her phone to call her better half. “Cole and I will set the wheels in motion for the attorney, get the paperwork started. Your father has been expecting this day for a while.”
“Mom, she is coming back,” Chadwick said.
“Yes, she is,” she said as the phone begin to ring on the other end, “She is coming back for her crap, that I am going to box up today. Hell, I may even box it up and ship it to her parent’s house.”
“Mom, come on, really?”
“Really! You need to show this woman you are not some pushover to be trifled with and if she wants to be free, let’s give her a hand,” Jasmine said, turning her attention to the phone speaking to Chadwick’s father, Cole Winter. “Hey Baby, it’s me. No, she didn’t come back. Call the attorney and I am packing up her stuff and shipping it to her folks in Sacramento. It is the best thing for them both. Yes, I love you too. I will be home soon.”
Jasmine’s next call was to Miriam Welsh at Toddle Time Day Care. James was six months old and ready for childcare and his father to get back to work. He needed to work to get his mind off Bria.
“Get James dressed and over to Toddle Time. I am going over to Ma Hildie’s for some boxes. Hopefully, I can get my hands on the ones that had broccoli in them so when I ship her underwear, they arrive smelling like sour broccoli bits.”
He didn’t want to laugh but it was the first time he smiled in two weeks. “Ask Ma Hildie for one of the boxes the fish came in – we will put her underclothes in that one,” he said grinning.
His mother was right. James didn’t deserve a woman like Bria for a mother. He also didn’t deserve a woman who recoiled at his touch.
He took James to Toddle Time returning shortly after with the smelliest boxes he could scrounge up at Ma Hildie’s and loaded in Bria’s expensive clothing. The shoes he donated to the local consignment shop as the start of James’ college fund. With pride he took the boxes to the post office shipping them the Cayes home in Land Park. The payment for the shipping felt cathartic as he watched the boxes disappear behind the wall.
Three days later they arrived in Sacramento, according to the tracking slip in his hand. He watched the screen on the computer monitor which confirmed the boxes had arrived. Chadwick didn’t know what to expect, but a call from Ernest Cayes was the last thing on his list of possibilities after the boxes arrived.
“Chadwick, Ernest Cayes here,” the man said into the line.
“Dr. Cayes, how are you?” He replied.
“Been better son,” he said pausing, listening for a word from his son-in-law but reviving none, “the boxes arrived.”
“Glad to hear it,” Chadwick said.
“Don’t be too angry at her,” Ernest said.
“Actually, I’m not, but James doesn’t deserve a mother who walked out on him,” Chadwick replied.
“I called in hopes that you won’t see a need to punish us for her behavior,” Ernest said.
The words hit him hard in the chest. Bria’s decision didn’t just impact him and James but also her parents. He would be fair. Cole Winter had taught him to always be fair in his decisions and judgements with others, giving the benefit of the doubt and showing empathy to his patients. He’d taken over his father’s practice in Endurance when he retired and had grown the business three-fold. Chadwick had done it with time, patience and understanding of the needs of the community. In return, they embraced him and helped him through the most difficult time of his life. Empathy was all he had left since anger and a boat load of pissed-offness couldn’t be his only friend.
“Dr. Cayes, I would never deny James time with his grandparents. He is your grandson and you are always welcome in my home to spend time with him,” Chadwick said.
“Will you let us spend time with him in our home?”
“Right now, he is too young,” Chadwick said. “We are making a transition and I have to learn how to be a single father, you know, make us a life.”
“I understand,” Ernest said, emotion choking up his words. “Lana and I love him and wants what’s best.”
“Again, my door is always open to you, but call first to schedule a time,” he said clicking off the line.
That was two years ago. He had not seen Bria in over two years. She didn’t even bother to show up to court.
“Enjoy your freedom,” he muttered as he dropped the papers on the table, picking up his son to get him ready to head over to Toddle Time. His schedule too was full today.
The phone rang. The theme from the Lone Ranger began to plan and he shuddered. It was his mother’s ring tone. She’d set it in his phone the day she left him and James alone in the house to fend for themselves through the muck of Bria’s aftermath.
Reluctantly, he answered the call. “Morning Mom,” he said, making a small tub of warm soapy water to clean up his son.
“Chadwick, it is time to start dating,” she started the conversation.
“It is good to hear your voice as well,” he said.
“No seriously,” she said. “Your twenty-year reunion is later this year and you will not enter those doors as a single parent. You need to get remarried or at least engaged.”
“You need to get off my phone and go feed the Munchkins or meet with the Lollipop Guild or something,” he said to her.
“Aren’t you funny so ea
rly in the dang morning,” Jasmine said. “Seriously, though, son, it is time for you to starting getting.”
“It’s time for me to get dressed, get James to daycare and get to my office,” he replied. “Have a great day Mom, loads of love to Dad.”
He hung up on her. The sound of the music announcing her call was like an omen. She was going to pop up with a wild hair up her nose or worse with a plan she hatched up after waking up from a dream where three fairies came to her and predicted his future.
“I need a cupcake,” he mumbled as he prepared James and himself for their day.
<
Order Here
Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2TCM2no
Staying the Course
By Siera London
CHAPTER ONE
The exclamation point at the end of Ivy Summers’ streak of bad luck came three hours before midnight on a deserted stretch of California’s Interstate 80.
How’s about we do a little exchange? A ride for a ride.
Another gust of crisp wind slammed into her plastering her lightweight shirt against her chest. Battling the punishing cold was a small price compared to giving Ralph the Trucker a ride. With fingers stiff from the cold, she barely managed to hold onto her tattered backpack and gather the edges of her peeling second-hand leather jacket. The material felt smooth under her fingertips, the natural texture worn thin from wear and tear. Where was all this chill factor when the scorching June heat had melted the glob of school glue holding the heel of her combat boot in place? Though she’d been doing the stinky leg walk for miles, and her right calf ached from the uneven gait, the shoe fix took a back seat to her empty belly.
In the immediate future, she needed food, a crackling fire to drive the chill from her bones, and a quiet place to lay her head. Well, she could sleep on a theme park roller coaster at this point. When morning came, the first order of business would be a job, one that asked a short list of personal background questions and paid in long green cash. She’d stick around a few days to earn enough money to keep moving east... back to Shell Cove, Florida.
A Walk Through Endurance Page 6
