Flash Burned by Calista Fox

Author:Calista Fox
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781466884205
Publisher: St. Martin's Press

chapter 10

The beginning of February brought with it another beautiful dusting of snow on the plateaus of the canyon. And the reminder of everything I fought to forget for sanity’s sake …

I’d taken to tending the gardens with Kyle and clipping flowers for arrangements I could create for Hannah to paint. February was our pruning season, and since the weather had been mild for most of the winter, we still had gorgeous blooms. But they needed to be cut back, especially with the occasional dip in temperature that led to snow, though it never stuck for more than a day. Mostly just a few fleeting hours.

I channeled the energy not expended with yoga and Pilates into the bouquets. That was in between my still-sometimes debilitating morning sickness.

Dehydration was my current nemesis. I’d suffered three times, thus far, and it wasn’t pretty. Yet despite the complications with my pregnancy, I’d latched on to this baby like a life preserver. I read out loud to it, talked to it, played a variety of music, and generally spent an exorbitant amount of my time rubbing my belly.

I contemplated how many months after the baby was born before I could go back to wedding planning. But bridal consulting left a sour taste in my mouth, following my own devastating nuptial experience. So I considered general event planning for other resorts.

I understood I didn’t have to work—ever. And while I could take advantage of being a full-time mom, I wasn’t sure how I felt about that, either. I weighed the options and even spoke with Chelsea’s mother, Abby, about the fact that she had to work. To my surprise, she confessed that even if she had financial freedom she’d feel worthless in trying to be everything Chelsea needed, because she didn’t possess the required skill set.

That was when I decided two things. I needed a bigger worldview of parenthood, since mine was ridiculously limited. And I wanted to help Abby so that she didn’t have to work two jobs to afford living expenses and Chelsea’s care, especially since the latter seemed to be making an improvement in the child’s life.

From there spawned the idea of possibly establishing an autistic children’s foundation or even one for low-income single mothers. Though I didn’t know the first thing about setting up something like that—or managing it. So I retrieved the slip of paper with Mr. Conaway’s number jotted down and called him on Dr. Stevens’s landline, since I hadn’t replaced my cell that was but a remnant at the Lux, along with my diamond bracelet.

He met with me right away to get the ball rolling. Following that discussion, he offered a recap of my investments. His endless reports demonstrated sum totals in each account, percentages of overall capital, return on investments, and so on. As he wrapped up, he pointed out two accounts, showing zero balances.

“What are these?” I asked.

“One is for Dane’s life insurance policy; the other is the policy on 10,000 Lux. We’re still in the paperwork stage.

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