Five Fun Facts - Sandy Sullivan

1. Jamie's story actually came to mind as I was writing Justin's story. At first there were only going to be three in this series.

 

2.  The name's of the two main character's came from a friend of mine, Cathy Gehret. 

 

3.  Wyatt owns a Harley.

 

4.  Samantha has her daddy's eyes.

 

5.  I've been told Jamie has a wickedly, sharp tongue.
 

Blurb:

 

Jamie walked away from her love for Wyatt for the sake of his career as a physician even though she carried his child. When she runs into him at the local emergency room, she can’t believe her eyes, but her heart knows she never stopped loving him. Can she let him back into her life for the sake of their daughter?

Wyatt knew he would return to Laramie when he finally finished school. He never stopped loving Jamie, but she pushed him away and insisted she didn’t love him. He wasn’t sure he could forgive her for shutting him out of their daughter’s life. When they come face-to-face again, he can’t walk away, not from Jamie nor from his daughter.

Will they be able to get past the disappointments and tears to rekindle their love or will old hurts kill the feelings that still linger in their hearts?

Excerpt

A sigh rushed from between her lips and she leaned her head back on the couch cushion. “She’ll be fine, Chase. I have to take her to an orthopedic doctor in the next couple of days to put a permanent cast on, but for now, she’s fine. Quit worrying.” Leveling him with an exasperated look, she said, “Damn! You act like her father.”

“Well, someone has to, since Wyatt skipped town.”

“I can take care of my daughter just fine, thank you.”

“Yeah, that’s why you’re living with Mom and Dad.”

She stood up angrily and shouted, “Fuck you, Chase! I may not have a place of my own yet, but I still can take care of Samantha when I need to.”

He rose to his feet too and stopped in front of her, grasping her shoulders in his hands. “I’m not saying you can’t. All I’m saying is that she should have a father figure and I feel like that responsibility lies with me since her real dad didn’t have the balls to stick around.”

“Mom?” The adults turned only to find Samantha standing on the stairs, rubbing her eyes.

“I’m sorry, baby. Did we wake you?”

“No, not really. My arm is starting to hurt again.”

“Let me get you some of the medicine the doctor said you could have, okay?”

Samantha nodded and Jamie disappeared into the kitchen to retrieve the medication Wyatt has prescribed for her pain. When she returned, she found her daughter sitting on the couch next to her uncle and her heart stopped when she heard Samantha’s words.

“The doctor at the hospital said he knew you, Uncle Chase, or did a long time ago. And Mom knew him, too. She even hugged him when he first came into my room.”

“Really? What was his name, Sammy?”

“Wyatt.”

Chase’s gaze ricocheted up to hers and she felt the color drain out of her cheeks as her hands began to shake.

“Wyatt?” His blue eyes narrowed into agitated slits and her knees went weak.

“Yep. He’s cool. He took really good care of me and even sat down and held my hand while they gave me medicine.”

“Care to explain, sis?”

“Um…no.”

“Jamie Marie?” he growled.

“Don’t give me that shit, Chase. I’m not discussing this in front of Samantha.”

“Fine.” He stood and grabbed her arm around her bicep as he physically escorted her through the kitchen and out the back. “Wyatt?”

“Don’t start, brother.”

“He’s here?” He raked his fingers through his hair before he started to pace. “That son of a bitch is here! In Laramie?”

“Yes, he is.”

“He’s a doctor? At the fucking emergency room?”

“Evidently.”

He stopped in front of her and grabbed her arm in another fierce grip. “Did you know he was here?”

“Of course I didn’t, not until he walked into her room.” Her voice rose in agitation.

Damn him!

“I’ll kill him!” Chase growled as he headed for the house.

He stopped when Jamie said, “Leave him alone. He’s not the one at fault here.”

“What the hell are you talking about? He walked away when you told him you were pregnant with Samantha. He didn’t care enough to stay here and raise his child and take care of his responsibilities.” He snapped his fingers with an almost maniacal smile lifting his lips. “Wait! I know. I’m going to call Justin and Cole and all three of us will kill him together.”

“Damn it, listen to me. Leave him alone. This isn’t his fault.”

“Why? He needs to take care of his responsibility – his daughter.”

“He didn’t leave because he wanted to. He left because I told him to.” There. It’s out.The heavy burden she carried with her for nine years finally reared its ugly head.

“What the hell are you saying? You told him to leave?”

She sighed heavily and sank down onto the patio chair. “Yes. I told him to leave. I was seventeen and scared. He was twenty years old, trying to get through college and when I found out about my pregnancy, I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t ask him to drop out of school to take care of me and the baby. It wasn’t fair to him.”

Chase sat down next to her and took her hand in his. “What about you? It wasn’t fair for you to have to raise her by yourself.”

“No, I guess it wasn’t, but I had you, Justin, Cole and Mom and Dad to help me. I knew I could count on my family.”

“So he took the easy way out and left town.”

“I guess you could say that, yes. He didn’t want to. I told him I wouldn’t see him anymore. I forced him to leave.”

 “God, what a mess this is,” he said with a heavy sigh.

“This isn’t your fight anymore. It’s mine and mine alone. I chose the path I took and now that he is back in town, I have to face the choice I made. It changed both our lives and Samantha’s. This is my mess to clean up.”

“Not alone. You are never alone and you know that.”

Tears burned the back of her eyelids when she touched his face. “I love you, Chase, but I have to take care of this myself. I’m not sure how I’m going to fix this, but I will – somehow I will.”