Small-Town Sweetheart (The Spring Grove Series Book 2) Read online

  “I hate you. You know that? How can you do this to us? We are supposed to be a family!”

  “And we are.” Simon reaches for him, but Charlie smacks his father’s hands away. “Just because I don’t love your mother anymore doesn’t mean I don’t love you.”

  Hearing that really stings.

  “Well, I don’t love you! You’re leaving us. For her? She’s as dumb as a box of rocks. You’ve said that yourself.”

  “Charlie, things change—”

  “No! You couldn’t keep your dick in your pants, and you ruined everything. You’re running out on us, and we don’t want you back.” He kicks Simon’s box again, splitting open the side so the contents spill out. “You’re nothing but a piece of shit!” Charlie roars and runs back into the house, slamming the door. Louis and Elliot jump a bit, so I squeeze their hands tightly, fighting back tears. I normally would never let my son talk like that to his father, but I know whatever I’d say would fall on deaf ears. Charlie is too upset, too heartbroken. His pain is killing me, combining with my own pain to form a dangerous mix. How could I let this happen? What did I do wrong? Did I work too much? Did I not give Simon enough in bed?

  Why wasn’t I enough?

  “You can’t help me here?” Simon barks at me, breaking my train of thought.

  I look at him, meeting the angry gaze of the man I’d loved my whole adult life. But when I look at him, it is as if I don’t know him. His brown eyes don’t make my heart skip a beat or my skin break out in gooseflesh. He isn’t the dorky, computer-obsessed guy I fell for so long ago. Now he’s the man who slept with our nanny in our bed. I will never get that out of my head for the rest of my life.

  I slowly shake my head. “I stopped helping you the moment you decided you were leaving.”

  He growls something incoherent as he throws everything back into the box and then loads the mess into the truck. Kaia starts toward me, but I cut her a look, and she pauses midstride. I know I suffer from really bad resting-bitch face, but when I actually want to turn it on, my expression can be brutal.

  “I’m really sorry, Vera,” Kaia squeaks.

  I don’t say a damned thing. She worked for us for six years. She had been one of my best friends. I know that’s where I messed up. I trusted her completely. I let her into my home life more than I should have. Yeah, she was the boys’ nanny, but there was no need for her to move in with us when she broke up with her boyfriend. At least I thought she’d broken up with her boyfriend. Turns out that was part of the lie she and Simon had come up with. How did I miss the looks they shared? The intimate touches… All of it. I missed every single sign. Was it because I was naïve, or did I not care? That part has me confused. How could they have had a relationship for over a year, and I never suspected anything?

  How did I allow something happening under my own nose to ruin my family?

  To hurt my boys?

  I hold my breath and look down at Louis and Elliot. The twins are holding on to me like I am a life preserver. Did they know before I did? I knew Charlie couldn’t have…not the way he is acting. But the twins are so quiet and always keep to themselves. Had they seen something and just didn’t know how to tell me? Shaking my head, I know it doesn’t matter. All that matters is that I would never leave them. Never.

  Simon slams the truck door and looks back at us. When his gaze meets mine, I lift my chin and fight back tears. This is it. He is leaving. He is really leaving us. And he is going with her.

  “We have that appointment on Friday,” he calls.

  Our mediation.

  “Yeah, I know.”

  “Okay,” he says. He walks toward us and bends down on one knee. Reaching out, he takes the boys’ hands and laces his fingers with theirs. “When my weekends start, we’ll go to a game or something, okay?”

  Neither Elliot nor Louis says anything. They just stare at him as they cling to my hands and lean into me. They look terrified, and it guts me. When a tear slides down my cheek, I rub my face against my shoulder so I can wipe the tears without letting go of the twins. I have been through a lot of stuff in my life, but this is by far the hardest.

  “I do love you two. Honestly. I love Charlie, guys… I love you all.”

  Their silence clearly pisses Simon off. Glancing up at me, he gives me a look of distress, but I am not helping him. I can’t. No matter how much I want to fix this for the boys, I know I can’t. This is all Simon’s decision.

  “Can you talk to them?” he begs me.

  I shrug. “I’ll talk to Charlie about respecting you, but that’s it. I won’t make them talk to you.”

  “Yeah, thanks a lot,” he says slowly as he stands. He shakes his head. “They’re playing off you.”

  “They are not,” I insist, my chin inching up. “I have been more than civil through all of this. Their anger, their hurt… All of this is brought on by you.”

  “Whatever. I was always here for them, while all you did was work. And now they don’t want to—”

  “Simon,” I snap. “This all can be discussed in mediation. Until then, do not talk about me that way. You didn’t have a problem with me until you did what you did with her. Which is fine. It’s over. But don’t disrespect me, especially when I have no intention of doing that to you.”

  “Always with a stick straight up your ass,” he mutters as he turns briskly, heading for the truck. I look down so I don’t have to watch him drive away.

  Louis is watching me. I give him a weak smile, and his eyes start to fill with tears. “Will we be okay, Mom?”

  I look into his sweet brown eyes. “Of course, honey. We’re gonna be great.”

  “You promise?” Elliot chimes in.

  I nod vigorously. “Yes, babe, it’s all good. Promise.”

  “Charlie is really mad,” Elliot informs me.

  “I know.” I reassure him, “He’ll be okay. It’s just gonna take some time to adjust.”

  Louis rubs at the tears on his cheeks. “But we’ll always have each other, right?”

  I smile. “Yes, hon. Me, you, Elliot, and Charlie. Forever.”

  They both seem satisfied with that. I look back toward Simon’s truck. I close my eyes and hold my breath. I just don’t understand. I really don’t, and this is killing me. I don’t like failing. Not in the slightest, but this… This whole situation is one big fail.

  Louis leans his head on my arm, and when Elliot follows, my heart soars. But when they squeeze my hand three times, my smile disappears and the tears return.

  Three squeezes: I love you.

  Squeezing their hands back, I lead us back into the house.

  I might have lost my husband.

  But I’ll never lose my boys.

  LINCOLN

  Clapping my hands loudly, I let out my signature child-call, which sounds like equal parts owl and banshee. That refocuses four pairs of eyes on me. Grinning at their faces, I move my pointer along the dry-erase board and point at Max.

  “To win the tutu, what letter is missing from the word sentence?” I ask.

  I emphasize each letter, hoping my enunciation will help her, but Max is the most gifted of the Ellenton children. She doesn’t need any hints, and in fact, because she is so smart, I challenge her the most.

  “All the Es.”

  I throw the tutu in the air, glitter flying from it as I let out a roar of excitement. “That is correct!”

  The kids giggle, and I put the tutu around my waist. It goes great with my feather boa and my fake diamond earrings.

  “Put your crown back on!” Minnie, the youngest of the girls, hollers.

  I steady it on my head, completing my beautiful outfit.

  “It’s tea time,” Maven informs us.

  “It is. Let’s blow this popsicle stand and head to the kitchen.” I throw my pointer down, and the girls run out of the schoolroom. Except May. She is my buddy and always waits for me.

  “Lincoln, can you help me with my paragraphs? I hate that I missed that question on