When she sat down, however, a serious expression appeared on her face.
“Oh no,” I said. “What’s going on?”
“I was thinking I’d tell you after breakfast, but I think you have a right to know now.”
“What is it?”
She glanced over my shoulder. I turned and knew right away what she was looking at – my phone. “Did he…”
She nodded. “He called a couple of times. I didn’t answer or anything, of course, but he wants to talk.”
My gut tensed.
“What are you thinking?” she asked. “Are you still going with what you decided last night?”
It took only a moment or two to consider it. “I am. Whatever he wants, I don’t care. As far as I’m concerned, he made his decision last night.”
“Then…do you want to call him now? Because something tells me he’s not going to stop until he at least talks to you. And as mad as you are, some closure could be good for you both.”
I took a slow sip of my coffee, preparing myself for what was to come. “Here goes nothing.” I stepped over to my phone and saw that he’d called a couple of times. No texts – that wasn’t his style.
Phone in hand, I dialed his number. I shook my other hand, working the nerves out of my system.
“Annie.”
The moment I heard his voice, I knew it was going to be harder than I’d anticipated. I had to do it and be done, not think twice.
“We need to talk.”
“We do need to talk,” I said. “Mainly, I need to talk to you. I don’t care what happened last night, I don’t care what made you decide not talking to me, blowing me off, was an acceptable thing to do. But it was your last chance. Things were already rough between us, and that was the final straw. I’m done, Duncan. You and I, we’re over.”
“Annie,” he finally said. “Let me explain.”
“I’m not interested in hearing your explanation. You screwed me over, you treated my feelings like they were nothing. And I might’ve been able to give you a second chance, but a third one isn’t happening. We’re done. Don’t ever talk to me again.”
“But—”
Like I’d told him, I wasn’t interested in hearing it. I hung up the phone and tossed it onto the couch.
“Wow,” Gia said with a low whistle. “That was…wow.”
I took in a deep breath and exhaled.
“You really just did that,” she said.
I glanced at the phone. Its screen was blank – no text, no call. Whatever had happened, Duncan wasn’t trying to make his case.
“I really just did that.”
“And…how do you feel?”
“I don’t know. I really don’t.”
I stepped over to the window and looked out. White Pines was covered in snow, and the world was still and calm.
Whatever was going to happen, I needed to be ready.
And for a brief moment, I doubted I was.
Duncan
Nine months later…
I still wasn’t used to being back home. It’d been almost a week, but it felt so strange. It’d been nearly a year since I’d left for Africa to tour with Doctors Without Borders. I’d signed in the wake of what had happened with Annie.
I was in my office, a split-screen video conference call in front of me.
“Dr. Pitt,” Dr. Williams said, a slight smile on his face. “First order of business is to welcome you back to the States.”
The rest of the conference call, dozens of faces, expressed their agreement with this sentiment.
“Thank you all,” I said. “And I want to apologize once more if I’d left you all in a lurch.”
“No apologies needed,” said Dr. Alana Shaw. “When you left, you gave us all very clear plans for the year ahead. And we’re pleased to report that Pitt Medical Group is shaping up to have its best year yet.”
I glanced out the window of my office, the leaves of the trees gorgeous shades of yellow and orange. “Let’s hear it,” I said. “I read every little bit of information you all sent me while I was away, but I want to hear it all from your mouths. Dr. Williams?”
He nodded, ready to go into it. “We’ve opened dozens of locations in the area, one in every single major population center in Colorado, a few in Kansas, Wyoming, and New Mexico. And each one is doing killer numbers. I know we didn’t get into this business to cut a profit, but the services we’ve been providing have been of such top-notch quality that we’ve had no problems keeping our appointment books full.”
Dr. Sean Price spoke up. “We’re not making many friends in the medical industry,” he said. “But at the rate we’re going, we don’t need to be. If we keep growing at this rate, we’ll soon be the name for medical care Colorado. Hell, in the entire United States.”
“And there’s more,” Dr. Shaw added. “Our rates are low enough that we’re able to provide care for even the lowest-income patients. They’re flocking to us, and this is resulting in hospitals doing some major soul searching, going through their books and figuring out how they can change their own policies to match our prices.”
I nodded, processing the information. “Then it sounds like I left the business in good hands.”
“But we’re eager to see what you’ve got in store for the next year,” Dr. Price said. “Hell, everyone’s watching and waiting, seeing what Pitt Medical is going to do next.”
I smirked. “Then we’ll make sure to keep them all on their toes. I don’t want to take up too much of your time. I’ll be checking in with each and every one of you over the next few weeks to make sure we’re all on the same page. Until then.”
I ended the call, dropping back into my office chair and propping up my feet on the desk. But I didn’t have a chance to do a damn thing before another call lit up my phone. This one wasn’t business at all – it was Andrew.
My gut tensed. I hadn’t talked to him since I’d come back, only sending out a mass text to him and the rest of my immediate family that I’d returned. We’d never smoothed the Annie situation over; the wound had been left to fester and rot.
And now he was calling me.
“Hey,” I said, sitting up in my chair and bringing the phone to my ear. “What’s up?”
“Surprised you picked up,” he said.
“You really that surprised? You think I’d give my own brother the silent treatment?”
“I don’t know. You leaving was sort of giving the entire state the silent treatment,” he said, chuckling quietly. “Part of me wasn’t sure if you’d ever come back.”
“Nah – you’re not getting rid of me that easily.”
“Listen,” he said after several beats of silence. “I was in the area meeting with a client who doesn’t live too far from you.”
“Is that right?”
“That’s right. And…I was thinking it might be a good chance to come by and see you.”
I wondered whether or not the excuse was true. Had Andrew come up with a reason to drop by my place? Didn’t matter.