by Jenna Harte
As he pulled into a parking space, he spotted her crossing the street from the hospital to the outpatient building. She was talking on the phone and not noticing the car barreling down the road. That was Sydney, always multitasking and not paying attention. Of course, the one time he’d visited her in New York, he’d discovered people there crossed the street whenever and however they wanted and, as far as he could tell, no one ever got hit. In Charlotte Tavern, even walking in the crosswalk with the light there was a chance of getting hit by a car.
“You know, Jenny is the sweetest person on earth. She only thinks good things about people, so she didn’t catch on about Sydney being the one that left you at the altar,” Kevin said. “But I, being a great detective, knew it immediately.”
“She didn’t leave me at the altar.”
“You were engaged and then she dumped you. That’s the definition of leaving you at the altar.”
Mitch scowled, hoping Kevin saw annoyance and not the pain Sydney had left him with.
“I wonder what she’s doing here.”
“I don’t know, and I don’t care.” Mitch repeated the words he’d said to Lexie the day before. He even almost believed them. The truth was, he was curious what had brought her to Charlotte Tavern. He didn’t want to be conceited enough to think she’d come for him and yet, rural, central Virginia wasn’t on the radar of anyone outside of Virginia. She had to be here because he was here, but why after all these years?
Her beauty made his heart thud hard in his chest as he watched her make her way across the street, her long, shapely legs taking the few steps to the front door of the building. A memory of those legs wrapping around him flashed in his mind. He swore under his breath and pushed the image away, determined to not let her get under his skin again, even if his libido had other ideas.
“You lie like a rug.” Kevin laughed. “You’re dying to know what she’s doing here. So go ask.”
Mitch exited the car, taking his irritation out by slamming the door.
Kevin grinned at him over the hood. “I’m heading in to get some sugar.”
“Yeah, you do that. I’m going to stay out here so I don’t lose my lunch.”
By the time Kevin entered the hospital and Mitch was able to return his attention to Sydney, she was already in the outpatient building.
“Just as well.”
“Hey, Mitch.” He turned to see Lexie exiting the hospital.
“Hey. You here for a client?” He strode over to her.
It had taken Lexie awhile to find her career in nursing, but since becoming a hospice nurse after caring for her husband’s grandfather, she never looked back.
“No. I was visiting Jenny.”
There was something in the wide-eyed innocence on her face that made him think she wasn’t being completely honest.
“Oh, God, you didn’t come here to harass Sydney, did you?”
“Would you care if I did?”
“Yes.”
“So you still like her?”
“No.” Mitch crossed his arms over his chest.
“Then why do you care if I harass her or not?”
“Because it’s not your business.”
“Funny. That’s what she said to me.” Her words and ensuing grin taunted him.
Mitch ran his fingers through his hair. “Leave it be, Lex.”
“Why? How come you’re not curious about why she’s here?”
“Because I’m not.”
“Liar.”
He blew out an annoyed breath. “If we ignore her, she’ll go away.”
“Coward.”
“Great day, Lexie. Sometimes…” He turned away, not wanting to make a scene in public.
“You should come over tonight.”
“I was at your place last night.”
“Come tonight. Around seven.”
He studied Lexie, red flags waving in his head at the twinkle in her eye. “You invited her to your place? After what she did, you’re bringing her into your home like she was long-lost kin?”
Her eyes shone with pity, which only ratcheted up his anger. “You should find out why she’s here.”
“Why? Why after all this time does it matter? For all we know, she’s married with six kids.”
Lexie’s expression looked a little too triumphant. “That would bother you, wouldn’t it? Because, even after leaving you at the altar, you still like her.”
“She didn’t leave me at… ” He let out an expletive. “Of the two of us, you were the one left at the altar.” He and Sydney hadn’t even set a date when their relationship imploded. Lexie had been two weeks from walking down the aisle when her fiancé impregnated his mistress. Everyone, including Lexie, agreed she’d been lucky in not marrying him.
Mitch was lucky, too, that his wedding had fallen through. After all, Sydney was too much under the control of her rich parents, who hadn’t thought much of him.
“Now you’re just being mean.” Lexie huffed. Then her eyes softened. “What if she’s dying? I work with terminally ill people every day. They all spend their last days making amends, resolving regrets, healing old wounds with people they loved.”
Mitch swallowed hard. Dying? “Did she tell you that?” The idea that Sydney could be dying nearly buckled his knees.
“No. She said to mind my own business. But why else would she pack up and move to rural Virginia to see you?”
He looked back toward Sydney’s office building. He’d lived a long time with the hurt and anger she’d heaped on him when she left. But his heart faltered a few beats at the thought of her dying.
“So. You’ll be there?”
His head nodded even before he consciously agreed.
“Good. Don’t forget to bring your manners.”
Chapter Four
Sydney managed to get through patient notes, even though her attention was elsewhere. She’d had ten years to figure out what she was going to say to Mitch. She’d spent so many nights imagining it. But now that she was going to have a chance, coherent thought eluded her. At quarter to seven, her time was up. Maybe it would come to her on the drive over to Lexie’s house.
She’d never met Lexie before today, which was strange, considering that at one time Sydney had been engaged to her brother. She’d met his parents on a couple of occasions, but only briefly, when they visited him on campus. In retrospect, it seemed like they should have known each other’s families before getting engaged. Of course, when they’d been together, the world melted away.
She parked her car on the street in front of Lexie’s home, took a deep breath, and headed up the walk.
“You must be Doctor Preston.” A tall, handsome man whose accent sounded closer to her own answered the door. “I’m Drake, Lexie’s husband. Come in.”
“Nice to meet you. I appreciate your having me over.” She stepped through the door.
Drake led her to a room off the foyer. “How about some wine? You look like you could use a drink.”
She could use something stiffer than wine, but it would do. “That would be lovely, thank you.”
He must have been prepared, because he wasn’t gone long.
“Lexie’s out back with Mitch, showing him her garden.”
“Garden?”
“Yes.”
He laughed, but there was affection in his amusement. He was in love with his wife. Not just a little, but a lot.
Sydney felt a tinge of envy. Had she lost her chance to have someone love her the way Drake adored Lexie?
“He’s not interested in it, but he indulges her. Everyone does. Lexie has that effect on people.”
Sydney nodded. That’s why she was there, right? “I think she hopes he’ll get over me.”
Drake smiled. “Oh, I don’t know. Lexie is big on fairy tales.”
“Because she got her own?”
He nodded. “It certainly feels like it.”
“I understand you’re expecting. Congratulations.”
She couldn’t
imagine it was possible, but his grin widened even more.
“Thank you.” He studied her another moment. “I’ll let Lexie know you’re here.”
Sydney took the moment alone to gather her scattered thoughts, but it was no use. She set the wine down, not wanting Mitch to notice just how shaky she was. She hoped Lexie didn’t use deception to get him to the house, because he wouldn’t take being blindsided.
She heard movement in the hall. Giving herself a mental pep talk, she turned and her breath caught. Mitch stood in the opening of the parlor, looking just as handsome as the first time she’d seen him when she was eighteen. And yet he wasn’t the same. Her encounter with him at the hospital had been so quick, she hadn’t been able to take a good look at him. The boyish charm and affable smile were gone, replaced by suspicion and wariness. The smooth skin of a pretty boy now showed the wear and tear that came with manhood. Looking closer, she saw marks on his jaw and neck. They made her think of pockmarks, but she immediately knew they were shrapnel scars. The beginning of their end had started when he’d decided to enlist in the military.
She clasped her hands behind her back to keep from reaching out to touch him, to soothe the scars she knew had to be on the inside as well as the outside. “I wasn’t sure you’d come.”
“Lexie would call me a coward if I didn’t.”
She knew she should be offended, but she laughed. “She seems to have you wrapped around her little finger.”
“She naturally endears people to her. Why are you here?”
So much for the calming effect of small talk. “I… ah…” All the words she’d thought to say scattered in her brain, and her reasons started to seem ridiculous and impulsive. “I needed to make changes in my life.”
“And the only place you could do that was in my small neck of the woods?”
She tried to steel herself against his anger, but his remarks made her feel foolish. “I never liked how things were left with us.”
He leaned against the doorframe, his arms crossed in front of his chest. He wouldn’t even enter the room to speak with her. That alone told her volumes. “I thought it was clear. I wasn’t good enough for you.”
“That’s not true.”
“Not good enough for your parents then.”
“That’s not true either.”
He shook his head. “Then who are you? The last time I saw Sydney Preston was at an airport, where she told me we couldn’t get married as I headed off to boot camp.”
“It wasn’t exactly like that.” She met his accusing green eyes without flinching, even though on the inside, emotions swirled in a firestorm.
He scoffed. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure it was.”
Finally, her anger kicked in. “You’re not blameless, Mitch. Don’t try to lay it all on me.”
“I wouldn’t be laying anything on you if you weren’t standing in my sister’s living room. After ten years, Syd, what did you think would happen? That I’d forget you let your parents talk you out of marrying me?”
Her hands itched to grab and shake him. “They didn’t talk me out of anything.”
He shook his head, a scowl darkening his features.
“They suggested we postpone getting married, and it made sense. You were going to boot camp and then wherever the military sent you. I was going to medical school. It made sense to wait. We wouldn’t have seen each other anyway.”
“I’d have had someone to come home to.” He winced and looked down, as if he hated revealing too much.
“And I would’ve been here waiting. You called off the wedding. Not me.”
His head jerked up. “You think because I’m some southern hick that I don’t get how rich, prominent people work? Your parents got what they wanted when you postponed the wedding. And while you were in med school and I was overseas, they would have talked you out of marrying me altogether. Why prolong the inevitable?”
“They wouldn’t do that. It wouldn’t have worked if they tried.” Her hands fisted at her sides as she defended her parents and herself. Why couldn’t he see she hadn’t wanted to break up?
“It did work, Syd. It worked when you told me you weren’t going to marry me when I got back from boot camp.”
She shook her head in defeat. “I don’t think it was me they worked on, Mitch.”
His head cocked to the side. “What do you mean?”
“My parents had no problem with your status or career ambition—”
“That’s when they thought I was going to be a lawyer. The minute I enlisted, I wasn’t good enough.”
“That’s not true. You like to blame them, but the only person who had a problem with our discrepant social status and wealth was you.” Realizing the conversation was going in circles, she blew out a breath. “I’m glad to have seen you again, Mitch. I should go.”
As she stepped through the doorway, his arm snaked out and wrapped around her waist so she was hip to hip against him. She knew she should pull away, but as pathetic as it was, she wanted to feel his touch, even if it was in annoyance.
“Are you sick?”
She turned her head, looking up into his green eyes, not certain if he was asking whether she was ill or crazy.
“Are you dying and this is some attempt to resolve what happened?”
She wanted to ask him if it mattered, but it would be cruel to let him think for a second that she was ill.
“No. I’m not dying.” She considered telling him she had nearly died, which had led to her rash decision to see him, but she didn’t want his pity or guilt. She knew where he stood, and she’d told him what she needed to tell him. She could finish out her sabbatical and move on. Well, she could finish her sabbatical. “But I suppose I am seeking resolution.”
His wary green eyes studied hers for a long time, as if he was looking for something. The truth? She was telling the truth. Mostly. She held his gaze, trying to see in them something that could help her understand him. Help her reach him.
He shifted his head back slightly, even as his arm continued to band her to him. His eyes morphed from annoyed to intrigued.
“You never did anything without a plan. There’s more to your moving here than you’re telling, but I don’t feel like having this discussion in my sister’s home. So, how about we take this where we can have a drink and you can explain to me what’s going on?”
Sydney didn’t want to tell him what was going on, but she couldn’t turn down spending time with him either.
“Do you still like Moscato?”
She bit back her smile. He remembered something about her that didn’t involve their breakup after all. “Now I prefer Gewürztraminer.”
“Right. Wine with sugar.” He flashed her a grin that didn’t quite reach his eyes, and yet, she might have melted to the floor if his arm wasn’t still around her. It was both thrilling and annoying that he still had that effect on her.
“Y’all go have fun.” Lexie’s voice came from up the hall. “Unless you want to stay for a late supper.”
Mitch dropped his arm. Sydney stepped away, missing the contact.
“We ain’t eating here. I know what’s been on your table.”
“I don’t care if you carry a gun, Mitchell Cornelius McKenna, I’ll lay you flat.”
Sydney’s brows knitted as she looked down the hall toward Lexie. Cornelius? And what had been on the table?
“We should go. She really can lay me flat.”
Mitch used the drive to fortify himself against Sydney and his own memories of what they’d had. When he had touched her in Lexie’s home, his intention was simply to stop her from leaving before finding out why she was there. It had been a mistake because to feel her against him, to have her exotic, sweet scent envelop him, erased everything but the longing. Not just a sexual hunger, but an ache to have the love they’d had before. During the drive, he focused on the pain and bitterness she’d brought to his life, effectively, he hoped, squelching the yearning.
Sydney pulled her sleek,
elegant Audi to park next to his old, beat-up Chevy truck. It was a metaphor and a reminder about why they broke up. The difference in their upbringing and background wasn’t as noticeable in college, but as they neared graduation and planned for a future that included marriage, the discrepancy was glaring. Or maybe the difference was always there, but at eighteen, he hadn’t cared. The young woman sitting alone at the college party captivated him the instant he saw her.
“She’s out of your league, man.”
His roommate was right, but it didn’t stop Mitch from grabbing the two beers from his roommate’s hand and taking them to her. She wasn’t like any other Princeton student he’d met; there was a regalness about her. But she wasn’t an ice queen. In fact, she looked relieved when he handed her the beer.
“Someone did tell you this was a party, right?”
She smiled. “Yes.”
He got the sense she was shy, which made her seem standoffish to the other students. “I’m Mitch McKenna.”
“Sydney Preston.”
Her name sounded rich.
She sipped her beer and wrinkled her nose.
“Don’t like beer?”
“Not so much. I’m told it’s an acquired taste, but so far, I’ve yet to acquire it.”
She talked rich.
He took her drink. “Well, in that case, we can’t let a good beer go to waste.”
He stood and her expression fell.
“No, it’s okay.” She reached for the drink.
He downed her beer, tossed the plastic cup aside, and then held his hand out to her. “Tell me what you like, Sydney Preston, and I’ll get it for you.”
Relief shone again as she took his hand and stood. “I like Moscato.”
Mitch’d had no idea what that was, but no matter. He was smart and resourceful, which was what had gotten him into Princeton. He found an upperclassman willing to buy him Moscato, which turned out to be really sweet wine. He and Sydney spent the evening drinking her wine and talking as if they’d known each other forever. From that day on they were inseparable, planning a future that would ensure they’d be together forever, until she broke off the engagement and he’d gone to boot camp.