It Takes A Village

Thanks again for your reviews, guys. I'm afraid there's more angst to come!

Chapter 14: Ground Zero

Sam couldn't face going home. He wanted to talk to Nick; wanted to know how he felt about his mother's bombshell but he was too angry to face Linda. He wasn't usually quick to temper, but he wasn't sure he could trust himself to be anything approaching civil towards his ex-wife. In fact, if he did talk to her right now he was sure some harsh home truths would slip out, and not only did he not want to give her the satisfaction, he didn't want Nick to have to witness it. Part of the reason he had brought Nick to Middleton in the first place was because he had his best interests at heart, and after a few false starts it had worked out even better than Sam had anticipated.

He wouldn't let Linda deciding to stay in Middleton ruin all the progress that he and Nick had made. His relationship with Cassie had been blown apart, he wasn't going to let it affect his relationship with his son too.

He walked for a long time, barely paying attention to where he was going. Ideally, he would have liked to go for a run but he had gone straight from work to the Bell, Book and Candle and from there to the Bistro. He was still dressed in his charcoal work suit and white shirt, hardly the right gear for running.

Finally he knew he couldn't put off going home for much longer. He took out his cell phone and called his son.

"Hey Nick," He said as soon as the call was answered. "I'm sorry I haven't been home yet."

"It's okay Dad, I hope you're having a nice time with Cassie."

Sam remembered the last time he had been in contact with his son, it had been to text him to say he was taking Cassie to dinner. That was only a few hours ago but it felt like another lifetime.

"Thanks," He replied distractedly. "Is your Mom home?"

"Yeah, we had takeout from the Bistro."

"Did she talk to you, Nick?"

"About her moving back here for good?"

"Yeah," Sam cursed. He had hoped that he and Linda could behave like adults over this. It would have been nice if she had discussed her decision to stay in Middleton with him first, so they could have told Nick together. It was things like this that had led to Sam's decision to take Nick away with him to Middleton. Somebody had to actually act like a parent. "I'm sorry we didn't sit down and tell you together. Are you feeling okay about it?"

Nick thought about his conversation with Grace, but he wasn't about to let on to his Dad about that just yet. If he and Cassie had been to dinner together, it meant that things were getting back on track.

"Sure," He said as convincingly as he could manage. "It'll be good to have her around more."

He walked for a bit longer, processing that Linda had not only dropped her bombshell on a Bistro full of customers but she had also forged ahead and told their son without consulting Sam first. He hadn't understood when they'd be married, he doubted he ever would now.

When he arrived home, most of the lights were switched off and Linda had, sensibly Sam thought, already gone up to bed. He stopped outside his son's bedroom door, there wasn't a light showing underneath it like usual. He softly pushed the door open, the hallway light bathing Nick in a warm glow. Only because Sam was a trained medical professional, could he tell that his son wasn't really sleep.

"Love you son," He said before he quietly closed the door again.

He didn't think he could concentrate to read or watch television, so Sam headed to his own bedroom. But first he stopped and looked out of the window. Cassie's light was still on.

The only bright spot in Sam's Tuesday was a visit from Tara Russell. She was glowing now that her first trimester sickness was behind her, and her stomach had begun to curve. Her blonde hair caught the morning sunlight and her eyes positively danced with happiness. Sam just felt old and tired in comparison. He hadn't slept well the previous night, and his dreams had been filled with Cassie. He didn't need one of his psychologist colleagues to decipher the dreams for him. He and Cassie had stood at opposite ends of Stephanie's Bistro, shouting and calling to each other but he couldn't hear a single word that she said. It didn't help that he still hadn't spoken to Linda yet. He knew he was acting just as immature as her, but he just didn't have the emotional capacity to deal with her yet. He was saving that delightful conversation for this evening.

"Hi Tara, what can I do for you?"

Tara smiled, resting her hands on her subtle bump. "It's just a social call actually. We're both doing fine now that I'm not vomiting my breakfast back up every morning."

"You certainly look well," Sam replied.

"I feel good; really good." She grinned now. "You might think it's kind of stupid but Brandon and I are having a gender reveal party the Saturday after next. We'd both really love it if you could come, and bring Nick along too."

Neither of them mentioned that Linda hadn't been included in the invitation. He supposed it was only fair considering she had kept the previous invitation from Tara and Brandon a secret from him.

"Oh, well I'm flattered Tara. I'm sure Nick would love an excuse to get out of the house and catch up with everyone. Thank you."

"It starts at two, we haven't quite decided on the venue yet but we'll let you know." She leaned up and kissed his cheek. "I'm so glad you said yes!"

Still beaming, Tara left and headed off to the Bell, Book and Candle. Sam could only hope that her good cheer rubbed off on Cassie. He had thought about calling her non-stop ever since she had walked out of the Bistro, but he was trying to respect her need for space. He understood that, but what he really needed was her.

Sam's morning was busy enough that it kept his mind off Cassie mostly, but she was always in his thoughts somewhere. It didn't help that most of his patients were mutual acquaintances of theirs; people who knew that for a while the two of them had had some kind of relationship. If only they knew the half of it, Sam thought to himself.

Not long before he went to lunch, he had appointment with a girl from the local elementary school and her mother. They were both quite new to town and Sam had only met them briefly last autumn when he had reassured them that what they feared to be a broken bone was just a sprain. The mother was a brassy blonde in her late thirties, wearing a tight fitting black suit and a low cut blouse. The daughter was sweet, but a little precocious in Sam's opinion.

He showed them back to his consulting room and offered them seats. The mother took the seat nearest him which was unusual and her musky perfume filled his nostrils.

"Tell him what's wrong, honey," She instructed her daughter, who had suddenly gone shy.

Sam finally found out what was wrong with her, and sent them away with a prescription note to get filled at the pharmacy. They were just on their way out of the door, when the mother turned back and handed her business card to Sam.

"You can call me," She said, her heavily made-up eyes locking onto his. "Anytime."

Sam blinked and took her card from her, but the two of them were already out of the clinic doors before he was able to reply. Shrugging it off, he went to get his jacket so he could go to the Bistro to grab something for lunch. Perhaps, if he was lucky, Cassie would be there too.

Cassie was indeed at the Bistro that Tuesday lunchtime. She had thought about not showing her face in there again so soon, especially it had been ground zero of Linda's bombshell. This was her town; this was her home and Cassie wasn't going to let that stop her from getting lunch at her favourite place and catching with her friends.

Stephanie had greeted her with a sympathetic smile, but she'd been able to tell that Cassie didn't feel much like talking about what had transpired the previous evening.

"Do you want that to take out, or shall I bring it over to a table for you?" She asked once she had taken Cassie's lunch order.

Cassie considered for a second. Tara was minding the shop for her, so there was no need to hurry back. She would be back to running the shop herself once her daughter in law started her maternity leave, so perhaps she should enjoy the luxury of a full hour's lunch break while she still could.

"I'll take that seat in the window," She decided.

"Lovely, you go and sit down," Stephanie replied. "I'll bring it over to you in a sec."

Cassie took off her jacket and hung it over the back of the chair, settling down at the table and enjoying being off her feet for a little while. She smiled and waved at a few of her friends and neighbours, but everyone seemed in a hurry and in a way she was grateful.

Stephanie placed Cassie's pasta salad and peppermint tea on the table in front of her and left her to enjoy her lunch. She was worried about her friend and wished she had more time to talk with her, but it was her busiest time of the day.

Cassie tucked into her lunch, realising that despite thinking she had little appetite she was actually quite hungry. She looked up as someone approached her table, wiping her lips with her napkin.

"Hi Nathan,"

"Hi Cassie," He smiled, wondering how she had known it was him before she had even seen him approach. "Do you mind if I sit here? The Bistro is crowded today."

Cassie looked around, nearly every table was fully occupied and three young mothers were crowded onto the couches surrounding the low coffee table.

"Of course, take a seat."

"Thanks," He gratefully took the chair opposite hers and took off his jacket. "I'm not surprised it's so busy, Stephanie's food is amazing."

"It really is," Cassie replied. She hadn't wanted company really, but she and Nathan had chatted for a while the night before and she found him easy to talk to. Having someone to talk to also helped distract her from her own thoughts; she had barely been able to think of anything but Sam and their situation all morning. "I can really recommend this pasta salad."

"I ordered the salmon and broccoli tart," He replied. "Working on this book has certainly given me an appetite."

"How is the book coming along?"

"Great," Nathan enthused, leaning his elbows on the table. "I don't know what it is about Middleton, but I haven't felt so inspired in a long time."

"Middleton does have that effect," Cassie agreed.

"I think I'm going to need my room at Grey House for a while longer."

"I think that can be arranged." She smiled.

Sam wasn't sure he had ever seen the Bistro so busy at lunchtime, but then he was later than usual as his last appointment had overrun. He joined the queue at the counter, where Stephanie still looked calm and unruffled as she took orders and worked the coffee machine.

He looked around while he waited, thinking it was a good thing that he was taking his lunch back to the clinic as most of the tables were full. He suddenly spotted a familiar face at the window table, the spring sunshine reflecting off her glossy dark hair. She wasn't alone either, Sam realised. Even though it was only Nathan who he had met on several occasions and who he thought seemed like a decent guy, but it was still a sucker punch.

He watched as she threw her head back laughing at something Nathan had said, and Sam felt his heart shatter again. She had been so sad and angry when she had left the Bistro last night but now, from the outside at least, it looked like she hadn't a care in the world.

"Sam?" Stephanie's voice broke through his thought as he suddenly realised that he had made his way to the front of the queue.

"Sorry Stephanie, whatever today's special is and a latte to go, please."

Stephanie smiled at him sympathetically as she frothed the milk for his coffee. It couldn't be easy having an ex-wife like Linda, she thought, but harder still when she was moving to the same town as you. She hated watching how Linda's continued presence in Middleton was playing havoc with Sam and Cassie's relationship. She wished she knew how to help them, but it seemed like whatever they tried, an obstacle cropped up to keep them apart. Perhaps they had all meddled enough, and they had to leave it to Cassie and Sam to work things out for themselves. Stephanie wasn't quite sure she could do that though.

"Sam," She said, reaching for his hand as she passed his lunch order across to him. "Please don't let her get away without a fight."

"I won't," Sam assured her, but looking across at Cassie and Nathan in the window seat, he wondered if it might already be too late.