Page 43 of Sweet Escape at Bayside
Rowan stretched his long legs out and said, “She’s just like my Carlo. Feisty, stubborn. Every time I got too close, Carlo pulled away. That’s why we never got married. We’d been together for two years when she got pregnant with Jojo. The second I mentioned marriage”—he shook his head—“she was like a pup that had seen the wrong end of a newspaper too many times. Her parents had an awful marriage, and she wanted no part of that union. I’d bet my life we would have had a great marriage, but what’s a piece of paper? Right?”
“I made that mistake, too. I proposed to Vi. It was one of the reasons she took off.”
Rowan smiled and said, “Everyone says guys are afraid of commitment, and look at us. Two dudes who fell in love with probably the only two women around who aren’t pining for a ring on their finger. But Carlo and Vi? They have something else in common—two of the biggest hearts I’ve ever known. Since the day Vi and I met, she’s been like an aunt to Jojo. She’s come over when Jojo was having fits and I had no idea what to do, and she’s picked her up from school when I had the flu. She’s so easy with her, like she totally gets her in ways that sometimes confound me.”
They sat in silence, each lost in their own thoughts for a few minutes, and then Rowan said, “From the second Jojo was born, she was mine and Carlo’s world. Nothing in this world matters more than that trusting little girl, but I think I’m messing up pretty badly.”
“She seems happy,” Andre said.
“Most of the time. But she gets real panicky, and when that anxiety sets in, it’s like she gets lost in it. I’ve talked to her doctors and therapists. Vi works with her, and that seems to help, but how do you help a little girl past anxiety and frustration that no one can explain?”
“I’m a pediatrician, and when I was practicing in the States I encountered that often with children, much more so than overseas. Anxiety can come from many directions and oftentimes from several at once. It sounds like you’ve had her evaluated by licensed professionals?”
Rowan nodded. “They said it might have to do with losing her mom and that lots of kids get anxious when they go to school. The docs don’t think it’s unusual, and they say she’ll probably outgrow it.”
“When did you first notice her anxieties?”
“About the third week of preschool, when she was four. She started pitching fits, not wanting to go. I talked to the teachers, and they said it was normal, but it didn’t feel normal. Still, I’m a first-time father, so I tried taking their advice, letting her cry when I left. But that was too hard on both of us. She’s my baby, and she relies on me to take care of her. After a few weeks of constant struggles, I took her out of that school. But kindergarten was the same way, except her anxiety started the first week. She’s six now, and shealreadyhates school. Can you imagine how rebellious she’ll be as a teenager?”
“The two might not go hand in hand. How’d she do with hitting milestones? Did she have any trouble remembering nursery rhymes? Her alphabet?”
“Nursery rhymes?” He scoffed. “She hates them. Even at three and four she mixed them up. That’s why she has such a great imagination. She’s been making stuff up for years.”
Down the beach, Joni and Violet were running in and out of ankle-deep water. Andre hated to second-guess other physicians, but his gut told him Joni’s doctors were seeing a different picture than he was. “I may be way off base, but has she been evaluated for dyslexia? Preschool is young to diagnose issues related to dyslexia, but depending on the teaching methods and expectations, it can cause anxiety. It should at least be considered.”
“I assume so. The doctors don’t really tell me what they’ve ruled out. They ask a lot of questions about when Carlo died and our lifestyle. Sometimes it feels like they’re too focused on those things or they just think I’m an overly worried father. Of course she’ll always miss having her mother around, and maybe I am worrying too much. Or maybe I messed her up by taking her out of preschool or by letting her pitch a fit when she’s frustrated. But sometimes there’s no calming her down. Kids should come with guidelines, because the only thing I can think to do is distract her, hold her, make sure she knows she’s loved even if she hates school.”
“Love goes a long way,” he said, thinking of how much Violet would have given for a mother who had seen the trials and tribulations she’d gone through and put her daughter’s happiness above all else. “My buddy is the chief of pediatrics at Hyannis Hospital. He knows the best doctors and specialists in the area. Why don’t I make a few calls and hook you up with him? I obviously haven’t evaluated Joni, but it doesn’t sound like you’re overreacting. David’s a father and an excellent physician. He won’t let you slip through the cracks.”
The look of relief on Rowan’s face was palpable. “That’d be great. Thank you.” Rowan clapped a hand on his shoulder and said, “I’m not giving up on my beautiful girl.”
Andre watched Joni and Violet heading toward them hand in hand and thought,I’m not giving up on mine, either.
Chapter Twelve
“HEY, HOT MAMA.” Emery breezed into the office of the inn Monday afternoon wearing a bikini top and sweatpants and flopped into a chair across the desk from Violet. She crossed her legs, smacking her chewing gum, and tapped her finger on the arm of the chair. “I’m still buzzing from that orgasmic breakfast you and your man whipped up.”
After joining Emery for couples yoga, Andre claimed he wanted to teach Violet how to make eggs Benedict and cranberry muffins. He’d taken full advantage of every second her hands were busy and had made her so hot and bothered by the time their friends arrived, she’d dragged him back to the cottage for a quickie before he started his part-time work at the clinic.
Violet looked up from the bills she was paying and said, “And you thought it was a good idea that I witness your post-orgasmic bliss?” She’d spent the morning responding to inquiries, handling inventory, and working through reservation schedules. When she’d first come to the inn, she had been completely opposed to anything even resembling a schedule. Now she had schedules for the inn, the gallery, the hospital…
Emery blew a bubble, then sucked it back into her mouth and said, “It’s cold in here.”
“It’s September and you’re wearing a bikini top.”
“Last-ditch effort to work on my tan, but it was too chilly.” She smiled and said, “Now that the others aren’t around, you can give me the real scoop on you and Dr. McHottie.”
“Not happening.” Violet went back to paying the bills.
“Oh, come on!” She smacked her hand on the arm of the chair. “This morning you two lookedhotdoing couples yoga. You were so in sync it was like you’d been doing yoga together foryears. That doesn’t come from a week of good sex.”
We are hot.Violet smiled inwardly. Emery was right. It didn’t come from a week of good sex. It came from three months of using couples yoga as a means to try to calm their passion until Violet had been ready to finally make love with Andre.
“Vi-o-let!” Emery hopped to her feet and leaned all the way across the desk, placing her elbows on the schedule Violet had prepared. She propped her chin in her hands and said, “Talk to me. That’s what friends do.”
Violet stared at her, thinking about what Andre had said about shutting out her friends from certain parts of her life. Okay, maybe she could give Emery something…But what? Definitely not anything about their sex life. The gossip girls would have a field day if they knew she sometimes totally disappeared into him, turning into a pile of mushy, romantic emotions. Or if they realized she and Andre had found a darker side of themselves when he’d loved her in the shower yesterday morning.
“Why are youblushing?”
