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“Cherry Falls Preschool. This is Janet. How may I help you?”
“Hey, Janet. This is Caroline. I’m so sorry. I just saw that I had a few missed calls from you.”
Heath moves closer to me, sensing my anxiety, and I know he’s trying to comfort me, but I can’t bring myself to look at him right now. Not until I find out why they called.
“Hey, Caroline. Yeah, we were just calling to see if you could pick Charlotte up. She and a few of her classmates have some kind of flu.”
I can hear Charlotte crying in the background and my heart breaks. What kind of parent am I? I was in here screwing around with Heath when I should have been there for Charlotte.
“Yes, of course. I’ll be right there,” I say, already grabbing my purse and keys and pushing past Heath.
“Thanks. See you soon.”
I hang up and practically sprint toward the back door and my car.
“Caroline. What can I do?” Heath asks as I climb into my car.
“Nothing. I think we’ve done enough,” I say and I can tell that I’m close to tears.
“What? What’s going on, Caroline?”
“I can’t do this anymore. I can’t see you anymore. I’m sorry,” I say and Heath steps forward, grabbing my door before I can slam it closed.
“What? Caroline, just stop and talk to me. What is going on? You can’t just end this. I love you.”
My heart breaks clean down the middle at those words and at the pain and panic I see on his face.
Part of me wants to stay, to tell him what happened and let him help me take care of Charlotte, but I can’t.
“I have to go,” I whisper, slamming my car door and peeling out of the parking spot.
I wipe away my tears as I hurry across town to pick up Charlotte. I can’t believe that I did this. I can’t believe that I got so wrapped up in Heath that I didn’t notice Charlotte wasn’t feeling well.
It feels like I’ve let down my brother, sister-in-law, and Charlotte. I know that’s probably not reasonable, but I can’t help feeling that way. They entrusted me with their baby girl, they put me in charge of caring for her, and making sure she was safe, and I failed.
I park outside of the preschool and rush inside. My heart breaks even more when I see Charlotte crying with her face in a trash can.
“Hey, bunny. Let’s get you home,” I say and she nods against my shoulder as I scoop her up in my arms and head toward the front door.
“Feel better, Charlotte!” Janet calls and I give her a tight smile as I head out to the car.
“Let me buckle you up, bunny,” I say and she nods miserably.
She throws up twice on the way home and every time I look in the rearview mirror and see her tear-stained face, my decision to swear off men until she’s out of the house solidifies.
I feel the final piece of my heart break as I pull into our driveway.
ChapterFourteen
Heath
I watch Caroline drive away, wondering what the hell just happened.
Things were going so great, and then she got that call, and it all blew up in my face.
I know it has to do with Charlotte. That’s the only thing that would have Caroline freaking out like that and I hope the little girl is alright.
I want to go check on them, offer to buy some Kleenex or Powerade or something, but based on how Caroline and I left things, I’m not sure I would be welcome.
