Page 40 of Chasing the Horizon

Don’t think like that. Please.

Victor was beginning to pang with loss for the manuscript he’d burned. What if that was the last living record of his daughter’s thoughts, opinions, and memories?

What if he’d burned them all up?

Another few hours later, Victor, Esme, Rebecca, Bethany, and Alex’s parents were led into the labor and delivery ward to meet their grandson. Alex and the baby were in a room all to themselves. Alex had his shirt off, and the baby lay against his chest, sleeping soundly. Victor thought the baby looked like the tiniest baby he’d ever seen, even smaller than any of his own children had been at birth. The nurses had shown Alex how to feed him and how to care for him during the harrowing first hours of his life. Obviously, nursing was out of the question.

“They sleep like crazy when they’re first born,” Esme assured Alex softly, reaching out to take the baby in her arms.

With Esme holding their grandson like that, Victor thought he might break down.

He’d seen her holding a baby boy so much like that only when Joel was born. It ripped him back through time. But Esme gazed down at this new baby with so much heart and love. Therewas no denying it. No matter what happened, the Suttons would be there for this little boy.

They had to be strong.

Chapter Sixteen

December 2024

Six Months Before The Accident

It was the evening after Catherine’s baby shower, and all of the Suttons were out on the town at a Broadway show. Valerie felt as though she floated, the weight of that afternoon off her shoulders, and a sudden and beautiful hope in her chest. Out of the kindness of her father’s heart, he’d gone out of his way to help Catherine. Esme, too, had been there for the ride, shedding the horrible pretend friends from the baby shower and making Catherine eat a slice of cake.

Now, Valerie and Alex stood in line behind her parents, murmuring softly about what had transpired earlier that day. Esme and Victor were bubbly, having had a glass of champagne before they’d arrived, and Victor extended his hand so that Esme could twirl from his finger, giggling.

“Look at them,” Valerie whispered to Alex. “They’re so in love, aren’t they?”

Alex nodded and pressed a kiss to her cheek.

They were cocooned in love.

Once inside the grand hall, the Suttons were shown seats halfway up the first balcony section, where they settled in and chatted happily, exchanging snacks before the lights dimmed. The Sutton children had a successful day at the arcade, bowling alley, and skating rink. Bethany’s youngest, Phoebe, was showing off her little stuffed animal, grinning proudly and telling Victor that she’d won it herself. More than that, her brother hadn’t been able to win the stuffed animal he’d wanted, which made her victory sweeter.

The Broadway show they’d selected was fun for the whole family.The Lion Kinghad plenty of singing and dancing and costume changes. Sometimes Valerie caught herself looking at the faces of her nieces and nephews, wondering what they were thinking and trying to imagine her own child, years from now, taking in their first Broadway show. Would they think it was just as magical as they did?

When the show was over, Victor announced dinner at a restaurant not far from the hotel, and they got into cabs that took them straight to the door. Valerie and Alex shared a cab with Bethany, and they happily chatted, talking about the show and Valerie’s “insane” afternoon.

“You should have seen Dad in action,” Valerie said. “I always knew he was this ‘world-renowned psychiatrist’ or whatever, but I never really knew he could make something like that happen.”

“Dad said something to me about it,” Bethany offered, tilting her head. “He said something about wanting to keep helping her. But I imagine she has her own therapist? Maybe Dad could reach out to them and make sure they know what happened today?”

Valerie thought it stood to reason that her father would be frightened about what happened next in Catherine’s story. It touched her to know he was thinking about the next steps.

“He’s a doctor to the core,” Valerie said. “I guess you know what that’s like?”

Bethany grimaced. “Unfortunately, yes. But it’s something I have to turn off. You know, after you finish a surgery, you can’t think about them two weeks, four weeks, or ten weeks later, not unless something went wrong. You have to find a way to let go.”

“I would have assumed Dad was good at letting go,” Valerie admitted.

They sat with that thought for a second, realizing they were both considering the same thing—that he’d let his family go.

The restaurant was a steakhouse with home-cut fries and gorgeous mounds of buttery mashed potatoes and brussels sprouts and desserts like lava cake and cheesecake and towering milkshakes. Victor sat a few seats away from Valerie, beaming at his family. Tomorrow, they’d be at the radio station, being interviewed about their nearly half-finished manuscript. Tomorrow, as father and daughter, they’d face the public and reckon with who they were now rather than who they’d always been.

But to Valerie’s surprise, Victor got up before he finished his lava cake and whispered something into Esme’s ear. Esme’s face fell with surprise. She got up and followed him.

Valerie’s heart began to pound. What was going on?

Alex was still eating dessert and hadn’t noticed.

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