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“Ellie, I’m so sorry.I had no idea.Hell, I’ve been mad at her for days for not calling Wyatt.”I ran my hand through my hair.Jesus, could I have fucked this up anymore?
Eleanor swiped at her eye.“She’s in the hospital.They are holding her until tomorrow.I got her into an inpatient program.But she won’t be able to call Wyatt for a while.”
I pulled my ex-wife into my arms.We had been best friends most of our lives, married for a year, but hadn’t spoken any more than was necessary since the day she moved out.The distance between us since our breakup last spring was another of my regrets.I wanted her to go be with the man she loved, a man who wasn’t me, but I never wanted to lose my friend.
She curled into my chest, putting her arms around me.“I’m the worst sister, Mace.She was in so much pain and I just made her keep going.Serge told me she needed more, and I just… I didn’t see.”
Rubbing a hand up and down her back, I responded, “I literally just saw her the other day.I should’ve known when she showed up at dad’s that things were fucking bleak.”
She lifted her head.“She showed up at the Navel Observatory?”
“Sergio didn’t tell you?We had a disastrous dinner.The nanny accused Catherine of being a drug addict that shouldn’t see Wyatt.Catherine left in a flash.I haven’t heard from her since we picked her up.”
Eleanor flinched.“Wait, Sergio mentioned Cee being upset that Wyatt didn’t want her.”
Candace cannot find out that dinner led to this outcome.
Eleanor’s boyfriend, Silas, walked into the room.I stepped back from her, hands in the air.
“I get it.It’s been a mind-fuck,” Silas said, handing her a cup of coffee and pulling her into his side.A silent reminder that she was his now.
“So, she’s going for inpatient treatment?How long?”I asked.
“A week at least, maybe more.The psychiatrist that evaluated her said they’d know better once she gets there.But she’ll need intensive outpatient therapy.I wanted to keep her close to Wyatt, so she can see him when she’s feeling better.I got her in a facility here, but she’ll need somewhere to go when she’s released.”She looked at me expectantly.
“You want her to stay with me?”I asked.
“Is that too much?I mean, she may refuse, but I just think it would be good for her to be back to something normal.”
I nodded, my stomach feeling sick.“She hates the nanny,” I said.
“Shit.Right.Well, maybe I can get mom to stay down here with her?”she thought out loud.
“Let’s just see how it all goes.Wyatt would love to have his mom around all the time.He misses her.”
“We shouldn’t have separated them,” Eleanor said quietly.
She wasn’t wrong.
Chapter14
Mason
When I got back home, I went straight for the shower.I needed to wash this information off me.I felt like shit.
I took much longer in the shower than usual.After, I sat in a towel on the edge of my bed trying to wrap my head around everything.There was a quiet knock on my door.“Come in,” I said, knowing it had to be Candace; Wyatt would’ve plowed right in.
“Hey, um, oh.Shit,” she said, turning to face the hallway.“Sorry.”
I remembered I was only wearing a towel around my waist.“What is it, Candace?”I asked, wearily.
“Sorry.Wyatt is asking for you.He wants to be tucked in.”She avoided eye contact with me, her eyes firmly staring at the floor.
I looked at the clock beside my bed and, sure enough, it was already Wyatt’s bedtime.“Right.Yeah.Hey, did uh, did Sergio call him tonight?”
“Yeah.He was…off.Didn’t have that golden retriever energy.”
I nodded, understanding fully.I went across the small hallway to tuck in Wyatt, not sure how I was going to explain that his mother wouldn’t be calling for a while.But when I got there, Wyatt was close to sleep.I kissed his forehead and ran my hand over his chubby cheek.This kid almost lost his mother.Catherine must have been much more depressed than I thought if she would leave this sweet kid.He was her life.
