Mending Hearts (6 page)

“
Alec, you have no reason to
apologize about that. Mason said he owed me for staying with Angel
during her accident, and although I don’t think he owes me
anything, I did go to him for help.” 

“
It’s a good thing you did.
Because of him she leaves tomorrow for Miami. She is going to a
45-day, 12-step recovery center.” 

“
That is great news. What
about her friend? Is he going with her?” 

I listen intently as Alec explains to me
about Bobby, his wife, and his deceased daughter. I tear up
listening about his child’s death and the way he left his wife. How
sad to think that people feel like there is no other choice but to
leave or to walk away. He also tells me that Bobby was a pro-boxer
and he and his wife are going to work on their marriage while he
detoxes from home. 

Alec showers and I search,
using Google, for Bobby Grether.
A
newspaper article comes up with a picture of Bobby after one of his
wins. I read about his boxing career and how he fought a champion
boxer and just barely lost the fight. I also read about the drunk
driver who caused the accident that claimed his daughter’s life. I
scroll through several pictures of the wreckage and I cringe. I
read another article about Bobby and his wife, Leah, both being in
comas after the accident. I see a picture of their daughter’s
funeral, and both of her parents are missing. The last article is
where they charged the older man who caused the accident with
vehicular homicide. He was a habitual drunk driver. Saddened and
heartbroken from his loss, I dream of Max. Sadly Max doesn’t visit
me in this dream. 

I have work the next day, but I call Sara to
see if I can go in late. Alec and I drop James off at Brooke’s
house, then we stop by Sam and Bridget’s to get Bobby’s things from
the car. We then take Raelynn to the hospital with us so she can
visit with her mother.

When we walk into Molly’s
room, she is up and dressed in her regular clothes. She sees
Raelynn and
Molly’s face lights up. Raelynn
runs to her and hugs her tightly.
Molly
winces. 

“
Careful, Raelynn, your
mommy’s ribs are sore,” Alec says, walking into the room after
me. 

“
Ok, daddy, I’ll be
careful.” 

Alec says, “It looks like you are getting
ready to leave.” 

“
I am within the next hour.
I spoke with the doctor, and he spoke with the treatment center in
Miami. I’m just waiting on mom and dad to get here,” Molly says as
she plays with Raelynn’s long hair. “Hi, Emma.” 

“
Hi, Molly, you’re looking
well today.”

Molly sits on the bed and Alec lifts Raelynn
up to sit beside her. “Thank you, they gave me something for my
detox symptoms. Emma, I need to thank you for helping me. I want
you to know I appreciate it so much.” 

“
I really didn’t do
anything. I just called Mason and he made the calls and set
everything up.” 

“
That may be true, but you
got Mason involved. Alec, I also want to thank you for all of your
help in the past. I know how much you tried and wanted me to get
help. I’m sorry, I was in a really bad place in my
life.” 

I watch as Alec nods to her.

“
Mommy, are you going to get
better now?” Raelynn asks, innocently.

“
Raelynn, I will be gone for
a few weeks, so I can get help, but when I come back, mommy will be
all better.” 

“
Yay!” Rae says,
excitedly.

The door slowly opens and in walks a
good-looking, blond-haired man carrying a dozen red roses. I move
over closer to stand near the wall so he can walk through.

“
Hello, I hope I’m not
interrupting anything.” 

“
Adam, please come in. How
did you know I was here?” Molly asks, smiling. 

Adam slowly walks past Alec with a nod and
says, “Alec came to the church and told me you were here. Is this a
good time? He also called and told me they moved you out of
I.C.U.” 

“
Yes, of course it is a good
time. Please, come in.” 

Molly introduces everyone, including
Raelynn, to her friend Adam McDaniel. After a few minutes Alec,
Raelynn, and I say our goodbyes. We still need to go and return
Bobby’s things to him. Raelynn hugs and kisses her mother and Molly
promises to see her as soon as she can. Raelynn promises to make
her glittery get-well cards and send them to her, every day.

We pass Sam and Bridget in the hallway
nearest to the elevators. 

“
You’re already leaving?”
Bridget asks as she hugs Raelynn. 

“
We both have work, and I
need to get these items to Bobby before he leaves,” Alec explains.
“Molly has company, so we didn’t want to stay.” 

“
Oh, I wonder who would be
visiting her?” Sam asks.

“
It’s someone from Addicts
Anonymous. She has been attending some classes they have at the
church,” Alec says. “I’m sorry, but we need to go. I’ll talk to you
guys soon.”

We get in the elevator and
Alec pushes the button for the 7
^th
floor. 

“
Ok, see you guys soon,” Sam
says as they walk away.

We return the clothes and stuffed rabbit to
Bobby and his wife, but we stay only briefly. Alec takes me to work
before he drops off Raelynn at Brooke’s before he goes to
work. 

The next two weeks go by in
a blur. My birthday is next week and Alec is planning something,
but I have no idea what. Molly is still in rehab and doing well.
She still isn’t allowed phone calls or visitors, but I know Mason
and Alec use their M.D. status to call and get updates on her.
Raelynn and James make glittery get-well cards, and Alec and I mail
them daily. I used to put the art supplies away every day, but now
I just leave them in the corner of the room. I know we’ll be using
them again tomorrow. The glitter is now embedded into the carpeting
in every room. It is also in the laundry room and outside on the
porch. I’m thinking of
starting a business
in which people get revenge on their enemies/exes anonymously by
paying me to send glittery cards to them. That is certainly sweet
revenge. Written in glitter on each card will be the words “REVENGE
IS A DISH SERVED COLD AND GLITTERY.” 

Alec and I close on our new house, but we
haven’t talked about what we’ll do with my house. I don’t see a
need to keep it, so we’ll need to sell or lease it.

Angel invited everyone over to help paint
the nursery. Sara, Brea, and I thought now would be a good time to
throw her a baby shower. We invited Mason’s mom, dad, and sister,
and Angel’s aunt and uncle and her elderly neighbors, Josephine and
Carl. Since the party is being held at the guest of honor’s house
and it is a surprise, we couldn’t decorate for the party early.

We designated each person to bring something
and thankfully everything fell in place. Mason and Angel were both
surprised. We played a game with scrambled nursery rhymes where you
had to unscramble the letters to name the nursery rhyme. Josephine
won that game; it was hard.

We also played a game where you cut a piece
of string that you think would fit perfectly around Angel’s belly.
This game didn’t have a winner because Angel refused to be measured
to see which string came closer. The fact that the guys played this
game and intentionally cut strings way too long didn’t help. We
laugh and it was funny. 

We had food before Mason and Angel opened
their gifts. They received two of everything — it was a bit
overwhelming. There were two infant swings, two car seats, two
bouncy seats, and matching boy and girl clothes.

The guys painted the nursery while the girls
sorted through everything and cleaned up. It was an ingenious idea.
I guess the day turned out to be a big party with some painting
getting done. We all had a really great time, and I was amazed at
all the wonderful gifts they got. It was also nice that they didn’t
have to load up the gifts and take them to their home since they
were already home.

After taekwondo Alec says, “I met with Mason
today at lunch.” 

“
Is everything all right
with Angel and the twins?” 

“
She’s fine, but her doctor
wants her to stop working and take it easy. As you know, because of
the twins, she is at high risk of going into pre-term labor.” He
watches me and says, “But that isn’t the reason I met with
him.” 

“
I’m
listening.” 

“
He wants me to go ahead and
quit my job so I can start working with him.” 

“
That’s exciting,” I say,
smiling. 

“
And a little frightening.
I’ll be leaving my only job I have had as a doctor to work with
Mason at his private practice.” 

I ask, “Are you afraid of
failing?” 

Alec cracks his knuckles as he often does
when he is stressed. “I don’t have the clientele built up like he
does and it is his business.” 

“
He wants a partnership,
right?” I ask. 

“
He does. He wants me to
meet with his dad, Donovan, and him so we can talk about dividing
everything down the middle. He is also willing to share his
patients with me, since he has so many.”

“
What’s the matter? It
sounds too good to be true.” 

“
Exactly, it does sound way
too good to be true,” he says. 

“
Mason is your friend. I
don’t think you have anything to worry about.” 

“
I don’t think so either,
but it is such a big step.” 

Alec

I meet Mason, Donovan, and Mason’s dad,
Bruce, at Donovan’s law firm. Mason had everything split down the
middle as he said he would. We will split the cost to run the
medical practice and the income earned from the patients. On paper,
this looks like it will be a very lucrative partnership.

I stand up from the table and smile as I
shake Bruce’s and then Donovan’s hands. Mason walks up to me with a
smile to match my own. He cups my shoulder, leans into me for an
embrace, and says, “Congratulations, I am looking forward to our
new partnership.” 

“
Thank you. I am, too. Thank
you for choosing me to partner up with.” 

“
Alec, you were my only
choice. I’m excited to see what we can do together,” Mason says,
cupping my shoulder.

I go to work and turn in my already typed
out letter of resignation. I informed them ahead of time that I’ll
be turning it in. I also gave a three-week notice. I wanted them to
have plenty of time to find my replacement.

I call Emma and tell her about the meeting
and ask her would she mind if I let Angel pick out the furniture
for my office. Since Angel is mostly on bed rest, I thought this
might help her pass the boredom. She decorated Mason’s office, the
patients’ rooms, and the double waiting rooms. I guess she
decorated the entire building and she has exquisite
taste. 

Emma and I make plans to have dinner tonight
to celebrate. We changed our schedule at taekwondo to Tuesdays and
Thursdays. Tuesdays and Fridays worked out perfectly for Raelynn
and me, but since I met Emma, we tend to do more things on Fridays
together and as a family.

Before Emma gets off work, I take the kids
to Sam and Bridget’s for the night. They used to keep Raelynn and
now they also keep James. They are Molly’s parents, but that
doesn’t matter. The more people who love James and Raelynn, the
better off they are as children and adults. Fortunately for me,
Emma also sees it that way. Sam and Bridget are good people, and
they are great parents and grandparents.

When I get home, Emma is in the bathroom. I
hear water running and I know she is taking a bubble bath. I smell
lavender and vanilla coming from the bathroom. I knock on the
bathroom door to let her know I’m home. Sitting down outside on the
front step, I have a beer before I get ready. Emma takes longer
than I do to get ready, so I have time to have a beer or three.

I wave to Brooke and the boys as I watch
them drive off in their car. Brice’s truck is home, and I wonder
why he isn’t with them. Soon Brice walks over and joins me on the
front step.

“
I need another, care to
join me?” I ask, holding up my now empty bottle. 

“
I would love
one.” 

I brush off my pants and walk into the house
and pull out two bottles of beer from the refrigerator. I walk down
the hall and listen for the hairdryer. When I hear the water still
running, I know Emma is still in the bath. I know I have time for
this one with Brice.

“
Here ya go,” I say, handing
Brice his beer. “Is everything all right?” I ask, sitting down next
to him. 

“
It’s fine, business is
booming and it’s getting hard to keep up.” 

“
That’s a good thing, right?
More business means more money.” 

“
It’s a great thing. It also
means more work. I wasn’t prepared to have to expand my business so
soon. Our house isn’t big enough for an expanding
business.” 

“
I’m not sure what kind of
place you’re looking for, but we’ll be moving out of here within a
month. We want to be moved out of here and settled in our new house
before school starts. You should talk to Emma about renting or
buying this place if you’re looking for office space. It’s right
next door and a perfect location.” 

“
That might work.
Brooke
won’t have to travel across town.
Dude, this might just work. Plus the extra storage in the garage is
perfect.”