Page 5 of A Family Affair: The Plan
He moved out three days later, quit his job the week after, and spent the next year trying to find his way back to himself.
And here he was, in the hometown where he’d grown up, working for his father—notwithbecause that would imply equals—still trying to figure out his life. What a mess. He’d been renting a room at the Heart Sent because the farmhouse he’d purchased was under renovation, and there was no way he was moving back in with his parents. That would just be sad and too pathetic. No thirty-six-year-old wanted to do that, especially with a father who’d told him he was making a bad choice from the very beginning, starting with the move to Chicago and the gig at the wellness pet center.
Dyeing a dog’s hair? Massages and spa treatments?Edgar Harrington hadn’t tried to hide his disbelief or his annoyance.This isn’t about veterinary medicine or caring for a pet. This is straight-up pandering to the rich who want to treat their animals like spoiled children.
Sam hadn’t wanted to see it that way, not when it fit into his future with Celeste. Just because it was unconventional did not make it ridiculous or irrelevant.I look at it as an opportunity to educate and show pet owners that their animals are more than just accessories.But the words had sounded weak even as he spoke them, and not one-hundred percent true.
Keep telling yourself that and see where you are five years from now. That woman has changed you, Sam, and not for the better.
His father had been right about that…which was another reason he wasn’t heading back to the house where he grew up. The fixer-upper he’d purchased five months ago needed work and while Sam could do a lot of it himself, he didn’t have months to get it done. Enter Pete Finnegan, a solid builder who kept his mouth shut and didn’t gossip. If only more people in this town were like that. But like most small towns, the residents of Magdalena shared stories, some true, some fabricated, some stretched so far, they could reach to the next town. As long as Sam wasn’t part of those stories, he didn’t mind. But since he’d returned two months ago, he’d been at the center of conversation and lots of speculation.
What happened to him?
He used to be so friendly and kind. Now he barely talks.
Unless he’s looking at an animal. I brought Sergio in the other day and the man’s face lit up like one-hundred birthday candles.
Sure does love his animals.
Hmm. Why doesn’t he have any?
Right. Why doesn’t he have a dog or a cat…even a fish?
Maybe he lost them in the d-i-v-o-r-c-e.
Sad.
Shouldn’t have picked a socialite for a wife.
I heard she slept with her diamonds on…rings, bracelet, heart-shaped necklace.
Can you imagine?
I’ll bet Edgar and Joyce have a few thoughts about her.
You mean like ‘good riddance’?Chuckle, chuckle.
Poor Sam, taken in by looks and a sultry smile.
He’s still a looker, even if he doesn’t smile much.
Find him the right woman and I bet he’ll smile again.
Maybe so…but good looks and a smile don’t feed a family. I bet he lost his money in the divorce.
You think that’s why he bought Jerome Eldridge’s old place?
Ah…bet that’s all he could afford.
Bet that won’t stop the women from chasing after him. Not a looker like that, even if he can’t pay the bills and doesn’t smile very much.
I’m sure he makes up for it in ‘other’ areas.Titter. Titter.
No doubt about that one. No doubt at all.
Sam had heard it all and wished he hadn’t. They wanted to think he didn’t have money? Sure, let them go ahead and think that. He’d bankrolled a ton with the pet wellness gig and Celeste only wanted out. Of course, she didn’t want him claiming any of her “money” as a marital asset,andshe’d wanted the dogs. They’d been her dogs anyway, Bruno and Trixie, brother and sister Havapoos who’d shared Sam and Celeste’s king-sized bed, their meals, even interrupted their “intimate” time in bed. His ex-wife had never seen a problem with that, called them her children. Sam should have realized she preferred the four-legged versions over the two-legged ones. But, of course, he hadn’t wanted to see it because he’d been so caught up by her beauty and sophistication that he’d never asked the hard questions likeHow many children do you want? Where do you see us in five years? Ten? Twenty? What’s really important to you?And,Where do I fit in?
He’d made assumptions, big, bold, completely inaccurate. How had a guy with an IQ like his who’d never struggled with relationships, the future,ora strategy to achieve a goal, fallen so far? Maybe the question should have been how had he gotten here in the first place? At what point had he sacrificed his values and beliefs and adopted someone else’s?Whenhad he lost himself?
