“Sure, let’s talk in the treatment room while I finish cleaning up.” She turned and walked down the hallway into her room. “What can I do for you?”
* * *
Drew followed her in and shut the door. He walked over to the opposite side of the room, leaned against the filing cabinet, watched her. “I didn’t really get a chance to talk to you the other night. With the whole family there it was kind of impossible and anything I did say would have been overheard.” He gripped his hands together and chose his words. “I understand this is hard for you and I don’t have the whole story, but I wanted to let you know that I’ve moved past what happened between us.” He held his hand up when she opened her mouth to speak.
“I don’t really want to get into it any more than you do, Drew. The past is the past.”
“That’s not what I meant. We don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to. But we have to work together, and it would be better for all concerned if we can be friends rather than having to side step around each other because we feel uncomfortable.” He shrugged his shoulders. “What do you say? Pals again?”
“You’re sure this is what you want, Drew?” A frown settled between her eyebrows and his fingers itched to wipe it smooth.
“Of course I do. We were teenagers, April. As adults I think we can leave it all behind us. So, friends?”
Her lips twitched before she sighed and shrugged her shoulders as if it didn’t really matter. “Sure. It would make life a lot easier. Friends.”
His stomach rolled. It had been too easy to get her to agree to forget what she did to him. It was what he’d asked for so why did it feel as though she’d gutted him all over again? He was a beggar for punishment, that was what his father always said. Always pushing the boundaries even if it meant pushing people away looking for the validation that wasn’t there.
“That’s great then. I’m glad you took the job. I remember how meticulous you always were with everything you did. We’re very lucky to have you and I apologize for the other day. It was a shock to see you here.” He stood upright, rubbed his hands together. “Well, back to it. I have patients to see.” Drew strode to the door and left her standing there gaping at him. He hurried back to his office, quietly shut the door, and slumped into his chair.
Not quite what he was expecting. He’d obviously got it wrong the other night when he thought she cared for him still. Oh man, it’s time to grow up and get over it. Shame he didn’t know how to deal with it. He’d been trying to do that ever since that final phone call from her.
No matter how many women he dated, none of them made him feel the way April had. None of them made his heart flutter or his pulse race, his mouth go dry. Surely it was only a matter of time before he met someone who would put her in the shadows. Someone who he could imagine himself spending the rest of his life with. Someone who would make the dreams of April go away.
Chapter 6
It was amazing how quickly her children had adjusted to life in Hope Harbor. They loved school, had made friends easily in their first week, and were both out on play dates giving April time to herself after a busy day at work. She sat on the front porch looking over the ocean with a cup of steaming coffee to keep the chill at bay and let her mind drift.
Movement from the edge of her vision had her putting down her glass, ready to jump up. She still hated being caught unaware.
“Hi, April. Hope you don’t mind me dropping in on you?” Atticus ambled up the cobbled pathway and paused on the top step.
“Of course not. Come have a seat.” She cleared her throat. “I was hoping to catch up with you soon anyway.”
“What’s on your mind, darlin’?” He eased down onto a chair and leaned his elbows on his knees, his gaze intent on her face.
“When you told me to go and see Jeff about a rental, you didn’t tell me this was your place.” It sounded rather weak now she’d said it out loud. Ungrateful even.
“Does it matter? You needed a house and I had one available.”
He tilted his head and smiled and she remembered the conversation with Gail. He hadn’t changed at all. Still adorable. Not a wonder all the young girls had fallen in love with him, herself included.
“I guess not, but it kind of felt a bit weird, you know?” How to put it into words so it didn’t sound as stupid as it did was hard. She knew what she meant in her head. Pity it was coming out so garbled.
“Not to me it doesn’t. You’re family, April. Always have been. You know we look out for each other on the island.”
“I didn’t think you’d see me that way after...after…” The words stuck in her throat and tears threatened. He’d always been there for her as a child and it made her embarrassed that those feelings hadn’t gone away just because she was older.
“After life changed the cards on you? That doesn’t mean a thing, honey. So you and Drew broke up. Big deal. You married someone else and had two adorable children. It doesn’t change things for me. You’re still the same little April that needed soothing when you skinned your knee trying to keep up with the big kids. You couldn’t do
