Healing Hearts: A Second Chance Romance. Book1 of The Willowbrook Series

Chapter 4

Sage

"She's here, oh look she's finally arrived." My mom is screeching, any louder and she'll be notifying the neighborhood. Honestly, anyone would think I've never been home since I left for Michigan. Perhaps I haven't been home as often as I should have. The usual Christmas, Thanksgiving, my parents birthdays and the odd visit here and there. That's at least four times a year.

Well I guess mom's would like you around all the time if they could. Dads too. There she is standing on her wrap around porch waving even though I'm only a few paces away from her. She looks amazing in a pinstriped fitted dress with a white collar and heels.

My mother is always dressed like something out of a 1950's movie set. Glamorous is her middle name, it comes from all the years she worked in an office for a very sophisticated, rich man. Her ex-boss owns half of Willowbrook and is now the mayor. Mom doesn't work anymore, she took early retirement and enjoys ladies lunches with her good friends, sits on various committees and does an awful lot of work at the hospice as an administrator volunteering.

Her auburn hair is perfectly styled in a very sharp bob and her green eyes are like emeralds. There is no doubt about it, my mother could easily have been a model in her day. She's petite in every way and when dad comes to stand next to her, he literally dwarfs her with his six foot, two inch frame. He places an arm around my mom's waist and kisses her on the head. It's adorable. They are adorable. Again, my heart pangs – this is how I saw myself being with Miles when we grew older and into our early sixties.

Mom wriggles free and comes dashing down the three steps from the wrap around and with open arms almost crushes me to her bosom. Suffocating, a little, but you can't help love my mother. She's always been there for dad, Ali and myself. She is the backbone of our family and even though she worked long hours as a private assistant for Christopher the now mayor, mom never let anything slip in the house.

Dad has his own business, he's an architect and a damn good one. He's won all sorts of prizes and awards. Though he is in his sixties there is no stopping this man.

"Welcome home, darling." Mom says as she unfolds me from her embrace and links her left arm into my right arm. "Just drop your bag, dad will come and get it." She whooshes my holdall onto the floor from my hand and starts marching me into the house.

We go up the steps and then cross the threshold into my parents warm and welcoming home with its ash wood flooring throughout the downstairs, a large open space where there sits an open fireplace in the lounge area, two Tiffany blue sofas facing each other and floor to ceiling windows. The magnificent beams look like they've recently been oiled and I can smell something delicious in the kitchen.

"I've made pancakes, your favourite." Mom leads me straight to the kitchen area where a long island with a beech wood top divides the space between the two areas. Dad is following behind with my bag. I unhook myself from my mother and turn.

"Hey pop." He pulls me to him and gives me a huge teddy bear hug. Every girl needs a dad hug every now and again, today I definitely do.

"Hey sweetheart. It's good to see you. Come on let's get a coffee inside you and you can tell us all about it properly." Coffee, now that sounds like a mighty fine idea. I drove the last two hours straight through not stopping for anything. The aroma of roasted coffee beans meet my nostrils and I literally can feel myself salivating. Did I forget to mention, I'm a caffeine junkie? Something Miles never understood. He would berate me about it all the time, being a green tea lover himself. Never could stand that stuff. Yuck.

Mom busies herself filling mugs up with coffee then turns to the hob to make the pancakes. There is maple syrup, a bowl of fresh blueberries and a bowl of strawberries on the island along with my favourite filler, Nutella chocolate spread. My stomach growls, yep it's hungry alright.

"I don't really feel like talking about it much to be honest." I say as I perch myself on one of the high stools at the island and rest my chin in my hands. The coffee arrives right in front of me, I take a sip. Jeez that's damn hot.

"That's okay, lovely. Take your time. We don't need all the details. We're just so happy you're home, back here with us." Mom looks like she's having all her Christmases at once, her favourite time of the year. Her eyes are lit up and even though she knows I'm hurting inside, her happiness is evident that her eldest daughter is back home in the fold.

"Is Ali at work?" I ask glancing around. There are canvas family pictures on every wall, some in black and white of the two of us when we were children, at our graduations, our proms. It's a history of our lives. There is definitely a cosy vibe in our parent's home. The colour scheme is relaxing with white washed walls and soft furnishings in my mom's all-time favourite, Tiffany blue.

"Yes, she said she'd pop in after work to catch up with you, unless you want to head over to her office and have lunch with her. Ali wasn't entirely sure what time you'd be here. She said that your messaging was a bit, shall we say non-existent."

"Yeah, sorry about that. I haven't felt much like communicating." I finish my coffee and start tucking into the pancakes, after of course I've lavished them with enough chocolate spread to keep me sweet for weeks. Oh, being a doctor and giving out advice then not taking it yourself could be call hypocritical. I can live with that.

"That's understandable, love. Head over to see her if you can." Dad says. "Right ladies, I have work to do, it won't get done on its own." He excuses himself from the island and heads across the living area space, through a set of double doors to where his office is. I love dad's office, it's close to a library, like me, he is an avid reader.

"I'll think about it. Maybe I'll just head to my room after breakfast, Mom and start looking for a new job."

"Right you are love. Of course. But in all honesty, Sage darling you really should take some time for yourself. Going through a break up after so many years and losing your job, both in the same week is a lot to take on board. Don't rush into anything just yet. Promise me."

Well I can't make my mom a promise. All I know is that my savings will only go so far and I am definitely, no matter how much I love my parents – not staying at home for the rest of my life. So, basically I need a job and a good paying job. I'll start with looking at the closest city hospitals and that way I can also make sure I don't end up staying in Willowbrook. It's beautiful don't get me wrong, we're right by the mountains and the forest, we have everything we need but it's just a bit too tight knit for me.

I need to get to the closest big city with a hospital that needs a doctor of my caliber stat.