“No offense, Harrison, but you don’t know a damn thing about me or the past.”
“Then enlighten me.” He crossed his arms over his broad chest. He was older but the man was built.
“Talia hears it first. If she decides to share, that’s her choice. Until then, you’re going to have to deal with me in your town.”
“She has a good life here. You’ll ruin it.”
“A good life? She’s alone.” Two nights in a row I’d gone to her place and found her alone. No husband. No fiancé. No boyfriend.
“She has her family.”
I shook my head. “That’s not the same.”
Having parents, brothers, sisters was not the same as having a partner in life. A confidant. A friend. My biggest regret was that the person who’d been my partner for so long was Vivienne. It should have been Talia.
“Talia has a demanding career,” Harrison said. “She’ll settle down when she’s ready.”
Excuses. We both knew he was making excuses.
“I know I hurt her.” I held up my hands, then stole Talia’s words from last week. “Sorry isn’t enough. But I’ll say it. Over and over and over. Until she knows I mean it.”
Harrison studied my face, like he was searching for a lie. But I’d lied enough for two lifetimes. All he’d find here were truths.
Without another word, he turned and walked out the door.
I waited until his car door slammed and the sound of his engine disappeared before striding into the apartment and sweeping up my keys from the counter.
The orange wall would have to wait.
Harrison’s visit had been to run me out of town. But Talia must not have told him about my stubborn streak.
I’d given her a week. Time was up.
The drive into town took ten minutes. Other than Harrison’s taillights in the distance, I didn’t see another vehicle. Another reason the gym had probably failed. It was too far off the beaten path.
I’d spent my adult life in gyms and fitness centers. The best were those that you couldn’t ignore. The ones you drove past daily on your way to buy a high-calorie latte or McDonald’s meal deal.
The road followed the curve of the Clark Fork River. The sun was shining overhead, glinting off the water and the snow-covered banks on each side. My commute to Quincy was a hell of a lot more scenic than being stuck in Vegas traffic.
Harrison reached the stop sign ahead and took a right at the intersection, heading down Main Street. I turned left, falling into a short line of cars that were all going to the opposite end of town.
Toward the hospital.
I parked in the visitors’ lot. Talia’s Jeep sat in a section reserved for staff. She’d had a similar model Jeep in Vegas, one I hadn’t been surprised to see drive up the other night when I’d been waiting at her house.
Maybe we hadn’t changed that much after all.
I hurried inside, checking the time on the clock above the receptionist’s counter. “Hi.”
“H-hi.” The young woman did a double take, her face flushing as she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.
I was a hot mess at the moment, but I wasn’t too proud to use the way this T-shirt clung to my chest and arms if that would earn me Talia’s whereabouts. “I was wondering if you could help me. I’m looking for a doctor. Talia Eden? She’s an old friend and I was just passing through town, so I wanted to surprise her and say hello.”
“Okay. Yeah. Sure.” She sat a little straighter in her chair. “I saw her come through just a few minutes ago. I think she was heading to the cafeteria for lunch.”
“You’re a sweetheart.” I pointed toward the hallway. “This way?”
“Straight down the hallway and it will be on your left. You can’t miss it.”
“Thanks.” I winked, then strode from the desk, brushing off the front of my shirt. Then I lifted an arm, taking a whiff of my armpit. “Ah, damn.”
Should have showered first. I hadn’t thought about impressing a woman in, well . . . years.
The sound of forks and chatter greeted me as I stepped into the cafeteria. To my left was an open kitchen with a grill and fryer. Beneath a heat lamp, there were a handful of paper boats filled with chicken tenders and steak fries. To my right loomed a soda machine and racks of chips. Behind the glass door of a cooler were a variety of premade sandwiches, yogurts and fruit cups.
“I’ll take one of those,” I told the cook in the kitchen, nodding to the chicken tenders.
“Ranch or ketchup?”
“Ketchup.” Talia had always been partial to ranch. “Thanks.”
I took my food, snagging a bottle of water from a drink fridge, then went to the clerk at the register. His head was covered in a blue hair net nearly the same shade as his scrubs. I dug out my wallet from a pocket, paid for my meal, then passed him for the tables in the small, adjacent dining area.
Talia was sitting alone at a table. She was in her blue scrubs with a white lab coat over the top. In one hand, she held a fry. In the other, a chicken tender.
I chuckled. Never in my life had I met a woman who ate like Talia. She inhaled her food. She chewed with fury and didn’t spend her meals chatting. When she sat down at her plate, it was to consume. Fast.
There were two chairs at her table, so I claimed the empty seat, popping open the top to the plastic cup with my ketchup inside.
Talia’s eyes widened. Her mouth stopped moving. She sat straighter, chewing a few more times before she swallowed. Then she dropped the fry and chicken strip into her own paper boat. “This has to stop.”
“It will. After you listen to me.” I dunked one of my own fries in ketchup, shoving it into my mouth.
“This is my place of work. I’m not talking to you here.”
“Then I guess you’ll have to let me inside tonight when I come over with dinner.”
Her nostrils flared and she splayed her hands on the table. “No.”
“Six o’clock?”
“Foster.”
God, I loved hearing her say my name. Even when she was pissed. “Actually, we’d better make it six thirty. I’ve got some painting to do. Might take me the rest of the afternoon.”
“I remember your hearing used to be a lot better.”
I smirked and ate another fry. “Still like pizza?”
“Grr.” She snarled and shoved to her feet so hard that the chair behind her nearly toppled over. Talia caught it, then swept up her food. “You stubborn ass. If you show up at my door, plan to freeze because I’m not letting you inside.”
“Then come to the gym.”
“Why?” Her voice was too loud. She realized it and glanced around, grimacing a bit when a table of nurses gave her a strange look. “Why do you want to talk so badly? Nothing you can say will change the past.”
“I can’t change it. But I’d like to explain.”
“Then what? Let’s say I come to dinner. Then what?”
“Then . . . if you still want me to leave Quincy, I’ll leave.”
Talia studied my face for a few long moments, a lot like how her father had earlier. Assessing. Dissecting. Searching for the lie. “You’ll leave if I ask you to leave.”
“I will leave.” If after we talked, if me living in Quincy would cause her too much pain, then I’d go.