Page 60 of The Charming Checklist
“I don’t think so. He’s still belittling my profession, after all these years.”
“What? You’re a doctor, just like he is.”
“Please, honey. Your father is a cardiac surgeon, i.e. a demigod in our field. The heart is the most important organ in the human body. Everyone believes so. I take care of women and their vaginas.”
“Vaginas are important! And so are breasts. You take care of women and that’s important.”
“Well, tell that to your father. Honestly, it makes me want to shove vaginas in his face every chance I get.”
“Mom, please stop!”
“No, I don’t mean it that way. People always say if a man is strong, he has a great set of balls on him. But balls are weak. Now, vaginas? They can take far more than a swift kick. Try pushing out a nine-pound three-ounce baby. Then tell me how strong a set of balls are compared to a vagina.”
“Oh jeez. If that’s all it is, tell him how you feel. You can’t tell me that Daddy doesn’t respect your work. I know he does. He was so proud of you the year you were asked to speak at the medical convention.”
“Yes, well, I’ve had a great career and I’m proud of myself, so I don’t needhimto be proud of me. But look, I’m ready to retire. Your father and I have planned our retirement for decades, and now he refuses to go along with our plans. He doesn’twantto retire! And I’ll tell you why. It’s because he cares more about his own prominence in the medical community that he does about me. I have begged, I have threatened, and he won’t budge. He has many good years left in him, he says. So, I’m afraid it’s divorce court for us.” She took a breath. “That’s why I’ve been shopping so much lately. It’s hard to wrap my mind around leaving my thirty-five-year marriage.”
Ava fought the desire to clutch her chest. “Is this why you’re really here? Have you actuallylefthim?”
“No. This is kind of a...trial run, I guess you could say.” She looked out the window and her voice grew very still. “And please note, he hasn’t called, or filed a missing person’s report. I bet he hasn’t even noticed I’m gone.”
“Both of you are absentminded at times, but I’m sure he’snoticed.”
Still, Ava flashed back to the time she’d been to summer camp for two weeks. When Lucia had picked her up, she’d run inside the house, eager to see her father. And he’d asked where she’d been for the pasttwo days.
“Well...if he hasn’t noticed yet, he will,” Ava said.
“I refuse to enter into negotiations on this matter and that’s what he’ll want to do. For once, I need him to put me first. Not his patients. I’m able to balance the two just fine, so why can’t he?”
“Maybe he...he just needs a little motivation.”
“I don’t think so.” She patted Ava’s hand. “Your father never needs motivation. He knows what he wants and goes after it. We just don’t want the same things anymore. Maybe we never did. Don’t make the mistake of marrying a man who wants different things out of life than you do. Or maybe even on a different timeline. Make sure you and Max are on the same page right from the start. Otherwise, you’ll wind up bitter like me.”
Ava ruminated on that thought the entire rest of the drive home. She brooded as she set up sheets on the couch. Stewed on it as she and Mom quietly watched TV, no more talking necessary. Mom went to bed early, saying she had a migraine.
Ava picked up her phone, then put it down again. Picked it up and dialed her father.
He answered on the second ring. “This is Dr. Long.”
Ava rolled her eyes. Honestly, what good was caller ID if he never bothered to look? “Daddy, it’s me.”
“Sweetheart, how are you? How’s the BMW running?”
Ava swallowed, her throat unbearably tight. “Um, Daddy? Where’s Mom?”
“Probably upstairs. I just got in. Want to talk to her? Hang on.”
Ava ought to let him sweat. She should let him search every room of the house, call the hospital, page her, text her, then consider calling the police and filing a missing person report.
“What would you say if I told you that she’s been with me for two days?”
“I’d say you’re joking. That’s simply not possible. I just saw her this morning.”
“Think about it. Did you actuallyseeher?”
There was a long silence on the other end and Ava heard footsteps. She heard her father calling out his wife’s name as he presumably walked through the entire house.
“This is outrageous,” Daddy said a moment later. “Why would she leave without telling me? And now, she’s not even answering my text messages.”
