Page 6 of Coming Unraveled
She pulls her head back slightly and stares at him, her eyes blinking rapidly as she searches his.
“Hey, are y’all alright?” Austin asks as Everleigh pulls away from Brooks’ hold and chastises him for calling her sweetheart.
He doesn’t get a chance to respond as she storms over to her brother, leaving him in a mix of being exhausted and excited – and in love.
Everleigh had a vivacious attitude that drew him in, even when she fought against him with everything she has. It only took the elopement of her sister and a few shots of tequila for her to confess her desire for him.
Things got a little crazy as the rest of her friends and family had filed out of that small white chapel in Las Vegas, Nevada, while she had sat in one of the small pews pouring out her heart to him. She wanted a family, she wanted to be loved, she wanted everything her siblings had found, but she couldn’t bring herself to act on it. She was scared. So, Brooks had made a promise to her, to be with her through thick and thin and to love her above all else and surprising even him she had reiterated that promise. He knew then that she was meant to be his and he made it happen. This is his love of all ages, whether she knows it or not.
No one knew the wiser that they too had eloped on that wild trip and she wasn’t about to disclose that bit of information to her family. Brooks had wanted to make things more official when they arrived home, but he had been called to his grandmother’s estate and he left with barely a goodbye. He had explained to Avery, the woman that had fronted the money for his new clinic, that he would now miss the grand opening, but as he explained the circumstances she understood.
Now if only he wasn’t so worried that his wife wouldn’t understand his abrupt departure and inability to contact her. He has her number. Her email. But he had been afraid of her lashing out at him. Yeah, he is scared of the tiny five-foot-three vixen that holds his balls in her fist.
But now that he is back on solid ground, and in his red Audi A5 swerving through the back roads leading to the small town of Carson, he is ready to face his judge.
An hour later he turns his coupe into the driveway where he rents a house from Dr. Fields, a colleague of Avery’s. The house had been previously rented by his friend and fellow physician, Logan before he got married and had a baby with Avery. They had recently renovated a home farther away from town and the timing was perfect for Brooks to snag this bungalow. He loves the layout and the finishes, and it works perfectly for him.
Walking through the door his exhaustion finally catches up. Deciding to take a much deserved nap he tosses his bags towards the laundry room and makes his way towards his bed. The Stantons, a local family that provides cleaning services, must have come by yesterday because the house smells of lemon scented wood polish and a mixture of flowers and bleach. Opening his bedroom door, the stark white bed summons him towards its cocoon and he willingly obliges. His eyes close without command, the need for slumber controlling his body. But his mind is vigorous, projecting his memories as dreams. The memories of a sensual being once she lets down her guard. A woman that has a body made for him. His woman.
The coldness of the room meshes with the darkness as he opens his eyes. Brooks must have slept a lot longer than the hour or so he had been planning. Reaching into his back pocket, he grabs his cell phone to check the time. The screen reads 4 a.m. and several windows alert him to some missed messages. A few from his ex-teammates on the Atlanta Braves and one from Avery welcoming him back to Carson. He rubs his eyes as they adjust to the brightness of his cell phone and he replies to some of the messages. Realizing that he is up for good, he decides to go to workout in the small gym he placed in the guest room and get ready for the day.
He forces his body to take on more weight than normal. Needing the push and pull of his muscles to awaken his body completely. An hour later and drenched in sweat, Brooks steps towards his kitchen counter where the Stantons had been placing his mail. He flips through the bills knowing he had paid each one electronically while he was gone before his hands grasp a large white envelope with an attorney’s emblem and address in the upper left-hand corner.
Nausea sinks deep into the pit of his stomach. There are only two things that would be coming to his home from an attorney’s office. He quickly rules out anything regarding his grandmother since her lawyer is located in Atlanta, not Asheville. Sliding his finger through the seal of the envelope he pulls out the papers and comes face to face with a nightmare. Translucent red tabs mock him as he flicks through the pages, his anger boiling deep down as he scans over the thick legal paper.
An annulment.
Mental incompetence.
Void of Marriage.
The papers glare at him, ridiculing the fact that she claims that she wasn’t in sound mind when they were married. That their marriage is false.
Who does she think she’s kidding?
Breaking him from his simmering rage, his alarm sounds on his phone and he sets the papers with his work bag before heading towards his bathroom, plans forming in his mind.
Did she think she could pull one over on him?
“Ha,” Brooks chortles into his empty space.
Everleigh just met her match.
“WELCOME BACK, DR. MCCAFFERTY.”
“Thanks, Dr. Long,” Brooks says as he opens the door to his office.
Dr. Long is a pediatric specialist that he had hired with Avery’s permission to work as his second hand. She is amazing at what she does and offered Brooks a sense of comfort at running his clinic while he was gone. If anyone is able to hold down the fort, it would be her. They were looking to hire another pediatrician once patient numbers increased so that he and Dr. Long didn’t have to balance all of them.
“Did you have a nice time?” she asks as she places a stethoscope around her neck and leans against his door jam.
Not wanting to divulge too much he simply spins in his chair and says, “It was nice to visit my grandmother.”
She shakes her head as she smiles and informs him that Millie Rae is his nurse and is ready to go over patients with him. He places his bag and offending package on his desk and closes his office, ready to see what’s in store.
By the afternoon Brooks finishes assessing the three infants, wiggling aimlessly on the crinkle paper stretched across on the examination bed. He is fond of all three of them since they were his friend’s twins and their slightly younger cousin, but most of all he had helped deliver the twins in some extraordinary circumstances. Avery had gone into early labor during her baby shower, confusing her contractions with those of Braxton Hicks. At a month and a half early, she gave birth to baby Caroline with little complications. But Caroline’s twin, Everett, was another story. He had been delivered with the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck three times and wasn’t breathing. Brooks had performed CPR successfully and gave that baby a bit of his heart that day.
It was also the day he had given Everleigh the remainder of his heart. She had watched him in astonishment as he performed the skills he had been taught in medical school. And when Everett gasped his first breath he had looked up into her eyes and found the amazement in hers mirrored back at him.
