Filed to story: Sedona Preston and Logan Hayes Book PDF Free
“She’s not here, buddy.”
“Where is she?”
I considered lying to him about where his mum had gone, but Nick would notice eventually that Sedona’s things were gone. Better to frame this the right way from the start.
“Mom is upset about us taking you to Disneyland with Aunt Katherine, she did not like it and was pretty upset because she felt we chose not to spend time with her,” I explained, keeping my voice casual. “She’s being a bit jealous and silly, so she decided to go stay somewhere else for a little while.”
“She ran away?” Nick’s eyes widened. “Like a little kid?”
“Sort of like that, yes. She’s having some big feelings right now that she is having problems processing and instead of talking about them like an adult and working out on a compromise that would benefit everyone, she decided to leave.”
“That’s dumb.” Nick climbed onto the bed, making himself comfortable on the bed as he continued speaking.
“Aunt Katherine says jealousy is ugly.”
“Aunt Katherine is very wise.”
“Is Mom going to come back?”
“Of course she is. She just needs some time to realize she’s being silly. In a few days, she’ll come home and apologize, and everything will go back to normal.”
“Can Aunt Katherine come over while Mom’s gone? She promised to teach me tennis.”
Something in my chest twisted uncomfortably. “Sure, buddy. I’m sure Aunt Katherine would love that.”
“Cool.” Nick yawned widely. “I’m going back to bed. Tell Mom she’s being dumb when she calls.”
He shuffled back to his room, and I was left alone in the bedroom that suddenly felt too big, too empty.
I looked around at Sedona’s empty side of the closet, at the note crumpled in my hand, at the baby teeth box she’d left behind. A small voice in the back of my mind whispered that maybe Grandma Brooke was right, that maybe I’d missed something important, that maybe Sedona really was gone for good. Ands I was stuck in denial because the idea that Sedona might finally be fed enough to leave me was something that wasn’t possible.
But I pushed the thought away. I knew Sedona. I knew how she operated. This was just another attention-seeking gesture, just another way of trying to control me through guilt and manipulation.
She’d be back. She always came back
I just needed to wait her out.
I threw the crumpled note in the trash, turned off the lights, and went to bed, refusing to acknowledge the small, persistent feeling that something was very, very wrong.
Logan’s POV
Two days. Sedona had been gone for two full days without so much as a text message or phone call. No demands, no ultimatums, no crying voicemails begging me to understand her point of view for once in my life. Just silence.
It was driving me insane.
I’d expected her to crack by now, to send some passive-aggressive message about how I’d hurt her feelings or how much she missed Nick. Instead, nothing. Complete radio silence, as if she’d simply vanished from the face of the earth.
I stared at my phone, my thumb hovering over her contact. This was ridiculous. If she wanted to play games, fine, but I wasn’t going to let her drag this out indefinitely. We had a child together, responsibilities. She couldn’t just disappear because she was having a tantrum about Katherine.
I typed out a message: “How long are you planning to keep this up? This is getting childish, Sedona. We need to talk.”
I hit send and waited, watching the screen for the “delivered” notification, the “read” receipt that would tell me she’d seen it.
Nothing. The message just sat there, delivered but unread, as if she couldn’t even be bothered to look at her phone.
The irritation that had been sitting inside me for days, just bubbling underneath me, seemed to grow more intense. Who did she think she was? I was Logan Hayes. People didn’t ignore me. People didn’t walk away from me.
My phone buzzed, and I grabbed it eagerly, expecting to finally see Sedona’s name on the screen.
Instead, it was Katherine.
“Hey! I have a follow-up appointment at Northwestern Memorial this afternoon for my wrist. Would you be able to come with me? I’m a bit nervous about what the doctor might say, and it would really help to have a friendly face there.”
I hesitated for only a moment. Sedona was clearly too busy with whatever game she was playing to communicate like an adult. Katherine, on the other hand, was actually asking for my help, actually appreciating my presence, and communicating, something Sedona was clearly incapable of doing.
“Of course,” I typed back. “What time?”
“2 PM? I can meet you there.”
“I’ll be there.”
I was about to put my phone down when Nick appeared in my office doorway, clutching his tablet. “Dad, can we go to Aunt Katherine’s house today? She said she’d show me her trophy room.”
“Not today, buddy. Aunt Katherine has a doctor’s appointment.”
Nick’s face fell. “Can we go with her? Please? I promise I’ll be good.”
I should have said no. A hospital visit wasn’t appropriate for a six-year-old. But Nick looked so hopeful, and after Sedona’s abandonment, I found myself wanting to give him whatever he asked for.
“Alright. But you have to promise to be quiet and well-behaved.”
“I promise!” Nick bounced excitedly. “I’ll get my shoes!”
Northwestern Memorial Hospital was busy that afternoon, full of the usual chaos of a major medical center. Katherine met us in the lobby, looking beautiful despite the brace on her wrist. She’d dressed well for the appointment wearing a soft blue dress that brought out her eyes, her hair pulled back in an ponytail.
“Thank you so much for coming,” she said, giving me a warm smile before turning to Nick. “And you brought my favorite little man! How sweet.”
Nick beamed up at her, and I felt a surge of satisfaction. See, Sedona? This is what a positive female role model looks like. Someone who builds Nick up instead of constantly restricting him.
“The appointment should only take about thirty minutes,” Katherine continued. “They just want to check the healing progress and maybe adjust my treatment plan.”
We made our way to the orthopedic clinic on the third floor, and Katherine checked in with the receptionist. The waiting area was fairly empty-just an elderly man reading a newspaper and a young woman scrolling through her phone.
“I’m going to grab some coffee,” I told Katherine. “Want anything?”
