"She's getting so big!" Liz said as she grabbed me and hugged me tightly. "I can't believe she's two now."
"I know, it's crazy, isn't it?" I said, as I held tight to my friend.
The past few years hadn't been easy for Liz. Losing her place in the nursing program had been a blow that she'd had a hard time recovering from, and while she'd come out of rehab strong and determined, she'd relapsed twice and now was living in a group recovery home where she found that the order and rules helped her manage her addiction. I knew she was going to have a lifelong struggle ahead of her, but I wasn't about to abandon her.
Cassidy's first birthday seemed to have been a turning point for her since she'd been sober ever since. I crossed my fingers and hoped that Liz would be able to maintain her sobriety and that someday she'd be able to have a family of her own. Maybe someday our girls would become lifelong friends like their mothers were.
Leo showed up a short time later with more ice than we knew what to do with and a surprise for Cassidy. When he led his gift in on a leash, I looked at Cam, but he grinned and shrugged letting me know he'd approved this. I rolled my eyes and chuckled as I raised a fist at my secret-loving husband, but I also knew that he'd thought about this long and hard because Tesla was starting to show signs of senility and we knew she wasn't going to be with us forever.
Cam had worked with Leo at the office for several years after we got married as he started his new business, a home renovation company called CAC Designs. He and Danny Newsome worked together flipping houses and doing renovations for folks who had more money than they knew what to do with. Cam had used our initials as the acronym for the company, but when Cassidy had come along he'd started to claim that it was Cam Alex Cassidy Designs. I asked him what he was going to do when the family expanded, and he told me that he'd have to start another business venture to accommodate the new child. I'd rolled my eyes and laughed knowing that there was no stopping him if he decided to do it.
As the house began to fill with all the people we loved, we were reminded of how far we'd come and how arduous the road had been. As I looked around at all the different people we'd brought together through our love, I realized that we'd done our very best to shape a life that didn't deny the past, but, instead, embraced the future with love and hope.
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BILLIONAIRE IN REHAB
By Claire Adams
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2017 Claire Adams
BILLIONAIRE IN REHAB PART I
Chapter One
Cassidy
“This is our dining area. You should come out here for all your meals,” Ronald March was saying as he brought the new guy around the facility.
I had seen enough tours of our swanky Aspen drug and alcohol rehabilitation center that I could probably have given the tour myself if I had to. Mr. March was dressed in a custom-tailored suit and looked more like a celebrity stylist than the manager of a drug rehab center. But then again, our drug rehab center wasn’t exactly like the ones you would see on television.
My heart flipped as I looked at the man Mr. March was giving a tour to. My initial thought was that he must be famous. His deeply-tanned skin was covered with a scruffy beard, and he was wearing a winter beanie hat that probably cost more than I earned in a week.
A guy like that showing up at our treatment center wasn’t all that unusual. We were a high-end facility that cost a lot of money. But what caught me about this guy was his general level of casualness. He seemed comfortable in our facility, more like he was on a tour of a candy factory than a drug and alcohol treatment facility. I had to wonder if he was even the patient or perhaps instead he was the agent to someone famous. That wouldn’t be unusual.
But no, Mr. March had said “you” when he talked about where to eat, so the man must be a new patient. Secretly, I was happy to have such a handsome guy around; it was fun to have a little eye candy when we were busy working such long shifts.
The whole room paused and watched as the two men made their way through the dining area. It was an open area with several tables, each seating two or four people. Most of the patients were already out of the rooms and waiting for their meals; watching a new patient get his orientation was something to keep them busy with while they waited.
People paid thousands of dollars to hide away at Paradise Peak. Many of our clients were famous actors, musicians, and children of the rich. So, I wasn’t exactly surprised at my physical reaction to seeing the man. Hot guys were just as susceptible to addition as ugly guys were.
But there was something different about this one, something in his eyes that seemed genuinely lost. At Paradise Peak, people had the opportunity to work on mental health issues, drug issues, and alcohol issues – and many people had them all. Some celebrities even came to spend a week and just get away from all the people trying to control their lives.
“Hi, Brad, are you ready for some delicious stuffed chicken?” I asked as I brought a tray over to one of my patients for the day.
“What’s it stuffed with?”
“I don’t know.” I laughed.
“I don’t eat things if I don’t know what they are stuffed with. Come back when you know what’s in it.”
Brad seemed like he had Asperger’s syndrome or some form of autism that had never officially been diagnosed. Although, his behavior could have been from being spoiled all his life just as easily as it could have been an official disorder.