The next chapter, p.1
The Next Chapter, page 1
The Next
Chapter
KIRSTIE INMAN
Copyright © 2016 Kirstie Inman
All rights reserved.
ASIN: B01BGYO5RW
DEDICATION
For Shawnee,
Everyone should have a wifey like you.
This wouldn’t be here without your encouragement.
Thank you.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thank you so much to all of my family, friends, and online readers for their never ending support.
A special thanks to Shawnee Dimaio for making me finish something for a change and not letting me slack off until it was ready. Thank you for all of the suggestions, spell checks, so many rewrites, and countless meltdowns at one o’clock in the morning. Thank you for always being ready to Google when I couldn’t find the will to go on. You are a Goddess with endless patience and I couldn’t have finished this book without you.
Thank you to my mom for keeping “the first book I ever wrote” for the past seventeen years and for being the first to buy my published work. I hope to continue to write, to improve as a writer, and to live up to the potential you’ve seen in me since I was five years old.
Lastly, so much love and many thanks to everyone who took the time to read my book. Every copy sold or downloaded means the world to me. It may not seem like much to some but this is a dream come true for me.
CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE
COPYRIGHT
DEDICATION
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
PROLOGUE
Caisey Groves sat at a second hand dark stained kitchen table, her head in her hands as she reviewed the copies of everything that her lawyer had sent over. John was good, efficient; he was the best, and she would be paying his bill off for the rest of her natural born life. Caisey organized the photocopies in a turquoise file folder she'd picked up at the Quick Stop convenience store on her way home from work—the divorce papers, child support and visitation agreement, legal documents changing her last name back to Groves, and a few invoice copies that she'd held on to in case she ever needed them.
Caisey had met Matt Garthe in high school, when her mom moved from New York to North Carolina and she moved back to Conflict to stay with her dad. He was her solace through the suffocation that came with living in a small town and they only grew closer after graduation. Caisey was 20 when she got pregnant with Peyton, the summer before their Junior year at Boston University. Matt proposed when they were home for a visit and a courthouse wedding followed later that week. Looking back on her life, nothing had turned out the way that she'd planned; everything was supposed to be perfect.
It didn’t take long before she gave up on finishing her degree, got a part time job as a receptionist at Weller Law Firm, and focused on raising their daughter. Peyton was just over a year old when Caisey found out she was pregnant with their son, Cayden. That was the first time she realized that her marriage to Matt was not built to last.
To his credit, Matt tried to stick around for a while, but it was clear that their little family wasn’t where he wanted to be. He wanted to be out with his buddies, living it up after Graduation, before the real world started. For Caisey, the real world had started years ago but Matt never seemed to care. She was 25 when he left; though he tried to keep in contact with the kids for a while, his heart wasn’t in it. The divorce seemed to drag out, laziness and incompetence on his part, before things turned nasty. Peyton was 6, Cayden 4, when Matt took off for good. He wanted to sign over his rights and Caisey was even willing to forfeit child support, happy to be rid of him. Unfortunately, that’s not the way that things work in Massachusetts.
Instead they reached an agreement—visitation and child support—and neither complied with it. Matt didn’t send money and she didn’t show up for his scheduled visits. So far no one had checked up on them and that was just fine by her. The downfall was the earth shattering reality explaining to a, now, 7 year old that her daddy wouldn’t be around anymore.
So for tonight she would cry over the loss of her marriage and her life, and tomorrow she would load up her children and go home. There was no shame moving back to Conflict, most people did at some point in their lives and the rest of them never left. Massachusetts was the kind of place you never left, except maybe for New York, and Caisey knew better than to think she had any chance of surviving Boston on her own.
For now her responsibilities could wait. Her children slept soundly in the living room, their tiny bodies snuggled together on an old air mattress she’d purchased at a resale shop, while Caisey worked to finish what was left of the red wine in the cardboard box she’d bought at Walmart. Tonight she would forget how far she’d fallen and tomorrow she would prepare for the next chapter in their lives.
CHAPTER ONE
Cayden argued with his sister, loudly, as Peyton plugged her ears, hollering at him to shut up because he was wrong. In the driver’s seat, Caisey was gritting her teeth and telling them both, for the hundredth time since leaving Boston, to quiet down so that she could concentrate on the road. It’s a relief that their journey was almost complete when their black SUV passed the Welcome to Conflict sign, but a confusing mixture of emotions immediately took root in her stomach as she pulled on to Main Street. Nothing had changed in the tiny town in years; the diner, the police station, the high school, they all look exactly the same as they did long before she ever left town.
Caisey grew up spending summers here, with her dad Lincoln, and being back brought comfort—above all else—knowing that that she would have her father’s help. She wouldn’t need to worry about her children anymore, they would be safe and happy here. Along with that relief though, came panic and claustrophobia. Since she was old enough to know there were bigger things in the world, Caisey had ached to leave her hometown and its 3,500 residents behind. She’d dreaded her summers with Lincoln and then, when she’d moved in with him permanently, she’d counted her days to graduation—when she could finally leave. Now she was back, where it all began, and that took a small toll on her heart.
Lincoln's Jeep Wrangler was parked on the curb outside their home, leaving the small driveway open so that she could pull up close to the front door. It was a habit he’d picked up when she started driving in high school and it was a gesture she appreciated even more now. The moment the car was in park, Cayden ceased his tantrum and began pulling against his seatbelt, eager to finally be loose. "Mommy," Peyton's sweet voice called for attention as Caisey climbed out of the vehicle, walking around to her door first to help her out of her booster seat. "How come Papa's truck is here? Why isn’t he at work?"
Caisey has to smile at her child's curiosity, stopping to tie the lace on her sneakers before she unfastens her seat belt. "Papa took the day off today sweetie, he was just so excited to see you," Peyton’s answering smile is blinding, her beautiful doe eyes glowing with excitement. Caisey could hear her father's heavy footsteps on the front porch as her daughter hopped out of the car, running past her and into his open arms before Caisey could turn to greet him.
"Momma," Cayden whined, pulling her attention back to him. Caisey closed Peyton's door, some of her patience coming back now that they had finally arrived, before walking around the vehicle to unhook Cayden. His shoes had barely touched the concrete before he ran to his grandpa and sister. Caisey grabbed their overnight bags from the back, deciding the rest of their luggage could wait until tomorrow, and headed up the walkway to join her family.
"Welcome home, Caise," Lincoln greeted her, giving an awkward one armed hug as she met him in the front yard. The children left them behind as they ran up the front steps and into the house, undoubtedly eager to tear up all the new and exciting things. "You look good," he assessed her in the loose fitted, travel clothes she wore. Caisey hadn’t bothered putting much effort into her appearance that morning, not that she generally did, opting for an old and faded pair of blue jeans with a long sleeved grey shirt that she’d probably had since she was pregnant with Cayden.
She accepted his lie with a shy smile and shrugged, "thanks Dad, you do too." Lincoln had recently started dating Cheryl Klos, a widow from Dover, and the care of a woman for the first time in years looked good on him. He wasn’t a particularly tall man, taller than her but still only about average in height, and he’d always been ra
Not unlike the town, the house hadn't changed in as many years as Caisey could remember. Except, she noted, for the vase of wildflowers decorating the coffee table—that was new. A feminine touch, she wondered, helping the kids shed their jackets and shoes. Lincoln joined them in the living room after putting their bags in Caisey’s old room and Peyton began prattling on about the movers that had come to pack everything yesterday. Caisey ran her fingers through Cayden's thick, dark curls as he listened intently to her dad explain that all of their things had been delivered and were now being stored in his shed out back. Peyton, ever the skeptical child, insisted on being shown and Lincoln was happy to oblige; Cayden, of course, ran along beside them with the never ending need to feel included.
When Caisey heard the old back door slam shut behind them, she realized that she was alone in a house for the first time since she’d had Peyton. The familiar silence of her childhood home pressed in on her, welcoming her with the warmth and overwhelming embrace of an old friend. Today everything was exciting and familiar, but it was only the beginning of August and Peyton would be starting 2nd Grade on Monday. Cayden had been in a pre-K program back in Boston, which had been perfect for her work hours, but now he would be starting Kindergarten and the thought made her sad. They were resilient kids, they’d make friends, but the thought of throwing them in without the friends or familiarity of their home made her anxious to think about.
Caisey took to busying herself while her children were MIA, rather than letting herself begin to worry about things she couldn’t control. She picked up their discarded outerwear and organized it by the front door where she'd left her own shoes. After, she headed into the kitchen and rummaged through the fridge for something edible; there were slim pickings but she came out with a stack of various cold cuts and a few different toppings they could use to make sandwiches. Caisey liked to stay busy and decided immediately that she’d resume kitchen duty, which had been her responsibility in high school, to ensure nobody starved or had to live off cold cut sandwiches. The window over the kitchen sink looked out to the backyard and she watched her gleeful children as her father chased them around in circles. With a smile on her lips, she prepared a modest lunch for the four of them before starting on some light housework that Lincoln had been neglecting.
After they ate, Lincoln headed into the living room to watch his baseball game—another thing that hadn’t changed since high school—and the kids ventured back into the backyard to explore. While Lincoln watched, Caisey gazed absently around the room at all of the old school pictures that he'd kept throughout the years. Framed, above the fireplace, Lincoln had hung the one and only family photo that she’d splurged on when the kids were little. It was one without Matt, which amused her, and the same one she carried in her wallet. Sometimes it amazed her, how little her children looked like their father and how much they resembled Caisey when she was younger.
It had always been a joke between them, after Peyton was born, that she resembled Caisey so much that he couldn't possibly be her real father. Unfortunately, when Cayden turned out the same way it became a never ending argument between them and a leverage point in his fight against paying child support. She rolled her eyes remembering how brilliant she’d once imagined him to be; hindsight. At the time, she had pitied herself and her children, but now she found it to be a small blessing—the absence of a reminder of him in their beautiful features.
Lincoln muted the television and Caisey focused her gaze on him, pulled from her musings while he seemed to be mulling something over in his own head. "Caisey, do you remember Dr. and Mrs. Carson? I believe their daughter Melanie went to school with you." Caisey nodded, remembering the strange, pixie type girl who'd graduated a year ahead of her at Conflict High School. "Well their nephew, Bentley, just moved here from Seattle a few months ago and opened a practice near the new daycare I told you about."
Caisey waited, again, for Lincoln to elaborate, but he didn’t. "Oookay, that’s nice—” she trailed off awkwardly.
"Well, with their business picking up, Bentley's looking for another receptionist to help out around the office during the week," he explained, rubbing his palms on his pant legs nervously. "I ran into Jennifer, Mrs. Carson, at the grocery store last week and she said they would love to have you. Now, before you say anything, Bentley's sister-in-law runs the daycare and it's just next door and it’s free to employees. They even offer a kindergarten class, so Cayden wouldn’t have to enroll at the elementary school yet and they could keep him longer hours than the school might."
Lincoln finished his rant and Caisey grinned at him, amused by his nervousness; clearly he’d thought this out. "Dad, that's really great and I appreciate the help, but I can't just show up for a job because the doctor's aunt says it's okay." Clearly she’d been away from the small town life for too long, she was actually rationalizing like a normal person. The truth was, in a town like Conflict, you could just show up to work because the doctor’s aunt says it’s okay.
"If it would make you feel better, take a couple of days to settle in and then you can stop by the office. Bentley Carson is a really nice guy, Caisey; I think you'd really like him." She scoffed at his words, crossing her arms defensively across her chest.
"Is this an interview or a set up," she asked and Lincoln looked shell shocked by her response. "Thank you for the offer Dad, but I just got out of a marriage. I'm not looking to get into another one. I've got my kids to worry about." Caisey didn’t wait for a response, leaving Lincoln alone in the living room as she headed out back to check on the kids.
CHAPTER TWO
Most of the next two days Caisey spent around the house, trying to help the kids adjust to their new surroundings. It's not that they’d never visited before, but never for any length of time with any hint of permanence. While Cayden seemed to be quite content with his new backyard and having dinner with his papa, Peyton was a typical 7 year old with an attitude problem who hated change. Previously, Caisey would have never described her daughter as a diva, but that really was the perfect word for her attitude since arriving in Conflict.
It was Thursday and Lincoln's day off. The weather was nice for this time of year and Lincoln had jumped at the opportunity to show off his grandkids. They were gone fishing over at Hale Reservation, where Lincoln’s buddies spent most of their days, which was conveniently close to Dover. Caisey suspected that his impromptu visit had less to do with his best friend, Brian Pierce, and more to do with introducing the kids to Cheryl.
Most of the morning was spent doing laundry and other small chores around the house, enjoying the unfamiliar solitude. Unfortunately, the silence was only enjoyable for so long; by that afternoon Caisey was going a stir crazy with no little people to look after. It was shortly after one o'clock when she hopped in the shower and got dressed for the day, taking the time to dry and straighten her auburn waves into long, straight strands. She applied a small amount of mascara and a thin line of eyeliner, with a natural shade of lipstick. Caisey enjoyed the way make up made her feel, but most days she didn’t bother messing with it. Some morning she would put it on before work but by lunch time it was smudged or had mostly disappeared.
In her bedroom across the hall, Caisey dug out a pair of dark knee high leather boots that zipped up snugly over her straight legged jeans. They’d been a birthday gift from her mother a few years ago but she didn’t wear them very often; mostly because she had nowhere to wear them to. The only reason they were even in the closet instead of being packed away was because they were one of only a few pairs of shoes she owned and having them around made her feel like she had options. The cream colored blouse she wore was gift as well and she enjoyed the soft feel of satin against her skin. Kathy, her mother, may not be very good at the whole communicating with her daughter thing but her taste in clothes was on point. Caisey appraised her appearance in the full length mirror hanging on the back of the door and grabbed a jacket, just in case, before leaving the house.
