Nor should she try. She’d been in love once, and she knew that was all she would get in this lifetime. Perhaps if she came back in another life as a bumblebee, or a dolphin, or an emperor penguin – maybe then she’d have a new soulmate. Actually, she didn’t know if any of those animals mated for life, but whatever. She’d met her soulmate, and she lost him. It was the greatest joy and the worst pain of her life. She wasn’t going to go through that again – she couldn’t go through it, obviously, since there was a one-soulmate-per-life limit.
Being a homewrecker and causing a rift between Craig and Bunny was not the way to repay the Watson’s kindness. That would be exactly the kind of unladylike behavior they’d expect from a paper mill owner’s daughter.
Kali decided that she could not control how she felt, but she could control how she behaved. This little crush on Craig would go away. All she needed to do was put some distance between them. She’d go back to Wisconsin, he’d get married, and their little bit of time spent together would fade into the past.
It was a nice time, sure – but honestly, she only knew him for a few weeks and how could she think she was in love with someone after that? He didn’t even know who he was the whole time! It was absurd. It was infatuation, a crush. She was sure of it, and she was sure of her decision to leave as soon as possible.
Kali talked to Maggie the next morning before breakfast – she thanked her profusely for the amazing visit, but said that she and Ashley really needed to get back to Wisconsin as soon as possible. Maggie tried to convince her to stay, but Kali wouldn’t budge. She was sure in her decision. Ashley too tried to argue to stay, but she told her that this was what needed to be done and she’d explain later.
She felt fine with her decision as they said goodbye. She felt fine with it when Craig pulled her in for one last hug and she took in the delicate smell of his cologne.
He insisted on driving them to the runway and she felt fine getting out of the car, stepping on the staircase to the plane, waving goodbye and taking her seat. As the plane sped through the sky, each mile added between her and Craig only made her feel more at ease.
Everything felt perfectly fine and Kali had no doubt in her decision. She knew she did the right thing, even if it made her a bit sad. She took comfort in it. Ashley didn’t ask any questions, which surprised her, but Kali decided not to push it.
They landed in Wisconsin and Steven came to pick them up. Ashley told him all of the details about their trip, almost in a single long stream of words. Kali laughed and added comments in here and there. When Steven got to Kali’s place, Ashley insisted on walking her to the door. Kali thought that was odd, but nice of her.
“Gotta make sure no one broke into your place and is waiting there for you,” she reasoned.
Kali opened her front door and once she proved it was entirely deserted, Ashley was satisfied. Or so Kali thought.
“One more thing, Kal.”
“What’s up?”
Ashley sighed. “I didn’t want to say anything. So I’m just going to say it and run back to the car.”
Kali knew what she was going to say, and she was ready with a rebuttal. “Listen, Ash, I get that you – ”
“No! Just one thing and I’m running. I know your heart shattered when Luke died. I know. But he wouldn’t want you to use his death as an excuse to run from love for the rest of your life.”
Kali opened her mouth to protest but was too shocked to think of anything. This wasn’t what she expected from Ashley.
Ashley continued. “You can’t be so afraid of getting hurt that you miss out on life. Especially when life gives you a really, really amazing chance at being happy.” She smiled and squeezed Kali’s hands. “Okay, I love you, and I’ll talk to you tomorrow, and I’m not going to let you argue with me, goodnight!”
Ashley turned and ran back to the car. She almost slipped and fell on the ice, but with some wild swinging of her arms, she recovered. Kali watched from the doorway, mouth still slightly open.
All this talk of her being afraid…that wasn’t true at all! Kali wasn’t afraid! She just – knew better than to expect more from life. She already had more than her fair share of love.
She closed the door and tried to busy herself with unpacking. No matter how busy she kept herself, she couldn’t ignore the heavy feeling in her heart. What was she supposed to do with that?
Chapter 22
Craig watched the plane take off and fade into the distance. He was going to miss Kali. He knew it was wrong to feel that way when he was engaged to another woman, but it was still true. It seemed like rain clouds blew in overhead as soon as she left. He drove home in silence.
His mum greeted him when he got back.
“What’d you think of your surprise visitors?”
He smiled. “It was lovely to see them, mum. You’re still the queen of surprises.”
She clasped her hands together. “Oh, good! They’re both such lovely people. And Kali is just as beautiful as you said she was.”
Craig felt himself flush. “Yes, well, I’ve got to get going. Bunny requested that I taste more cakes with her. Apparently the ones we picked out are no longer acceptable forms of cake.”
She looked at him for a moment before replying. “Alright sweetheart.”
He drove to pick Bunny up at her flat and they headed off. It was a struggle to find parking near the caterer, and they ended up having to walk several blocks, much to Bunny’s annoyance.
“I don’t see why you couldn’t have dropped me off first, then gone to get a spot.”
Craig shrugged. He was enjoying the walk. “It was too late – by the time I found it, if I went to drop you off and come back for it, it’d be gone.”
“Next time,” she said with a flat tone, “let it be noted that I will not walk for half an hour to get a parking spot.”
“Noted.” He looked across the street and saw a young couple smiling and holding hands. Craig wondered if he and Bunny ever held hands. Now was not the time to try.
Suddenly he heard a shriek. He quickly spun his head to look at Bunny, thinking there was something wrong. Instead he saw a big, bounding dog being dragged away from her.
“My apologies,” the owner said.
Her jaw was tight. She didn’t look at him again, but instead muttered to Craig, “That filthy animal almost got its paws all over my coat.”
Craig froze. He remembered this. This wasn’t the first time he saw a dog jump like that…
First, his memory of being knocked over by Kali’s family dog ran through his mind. His brain was trying to show him all of the jumping dog memories, as if they were important.
In a flash, he had another one – walking with Bunny on a dark Madison street. Yet another jumping dog – this one succeeded on leaping onto her coat. It replayed in his mind like a scene from a movie:
“Ugh!” she’d muttered in disgust. “He’s gone and covered my coat in mud!”
“It’ll be alright,” Craig responded. “We’ll wash it off when we get there.”
“I don’t want to arrive filthy,” she said. “Go back to the hotel and bring a towel. Now!”
Craig didn’t argue. He turned around at once to fetch a towel for her.
That was when it happened. That’s when he slipped and fell on the ice. He remembered the exact moment leading up to falling – he remembered his annoyance with Bunny, he remembered the bitter cold in the air.
And Bunny? He closed his eyes, trying to remember what happened after his fall. Was she there? Did she look for him? He didn’t get far from her, perhaps a block, before he fell. The hotel wasn’t far. Surely she saw the ambulance rush past, surely she wondered…
Bunny’s voice snapped him back into the present.
“Craig, what are you doing?” she asked, annoyed. She was several yards ahead of him, apparently she hadn’t noticed that he stopped walking.
His voice was low. “I never said ‘Don’t wait up,’ did I?”
She looked
around, confused. “I only took a few steps, Craig. We’re going to be late.”
He shook his head. “In Wisconsin. The night I went missing – you said that I told you not to wait up for me. But that’s not true.”
She took a few hurried steps towards him. “Of course it is, you must’ve forgotten.”
He pulled away from her. “I remember. How could you have left me there? After you sent me to get a towel?”
Bunny sighed. “Come now, Craig, what are you going on about?”
“I could have been dead!” he said, voice rising. “And you just left me there!”
“Yes, but you aren’t dead, are you? You’re completely fine! The ambulance picked you right up and whisked you away to your dear little nurse. Is that what you wanted from me? To dress like a custodian and fuss over you until you were back to health?”
“So you saw the ambulance?” He waited for her to respond. She didn’t, so he kept talking. “No, I didn’t want you to be my nurse, but I didn’t expect you to leave the country.”
She crossed her arms. “Are we going to make it to this cake tasting or not?”
“Not,” he said, turning and walking away from her. “Call yourself a car when you’re done,” he called out behind him. He knew it was rude to leave her there, but it was still not as bad as when she left him.
He went back to the car and drove to his flat. Once there, he didn’t know what to do with himself. He tried turning on the TV, but there was nothing interesting to watch. He thought about texting one of his friends – he started to remember them as well, but he wasn’t sure what he talked to them about before. From what he remembered, they didn’t seem like people you called up just to chat with. Ski or take a two week yacht trip? Sure. But talk about a fight you had with your significant other? Not really.
Craig turned off the TV and sat with his face in his hands. He didn’t have a genuine friend in the entire country. He did nothing during the day because he had no job or work to keep his mind occupied. And his fiancée was a woman who apparently saw nothing wrong with leaving him with a head injury in a strange city. This was the life he built for himself. No wonder he didn’t want to remember it.
Frustrated, he decided to go for a drive through the countryside. He’d always enjoyed doing that with his dad when he was a kid. He swapped cars to something sportier – his Ferrari. Luckily he’d finally remembered where the keys were. Ashley was right, they were in a secret compartment. It was a good thing she hadn’t found it, though, because the keypad would’ve been rather demoralizing for her.
He took off in his car and put on some music. He drove for two hours until he got a call from his mum asking if he’d like to come by for dinner. He told her that he would, but it might be a while before he could get back.
“Still can’t decide on cakes?” she asked with a laugh.
“Something like that,” he replied.
The drive helped him feel marginally better. He had one missed call from Bunny – just one. She was too proud to ever beg or plead. She knew that when he was ready, he’d come and talk to her. It quite annoyed him, actually, because he felt that she had a lot to apologize for.
While driving, he tried to remember why he was with her. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t remember many nice things about her. He knew that her family was also extremely wealthy and that combining their properties would make them financially unstoppable. But that was no reason to get married, was it?
Being rich made him a bit of a target – he learned that the hard way in his younger years with women who were clearly after his wealth. Bunny at least had money of her own, so she wasn’t after him for that. It wasn’t really clear what she was after. A nice wedding, that was a start. She was beautiful, of course, and elegant. There was nothing wrong with her, not on paper at least, though her personality was colder than he liked.
Finally he settled on the fact that she was likely the best that he could do. It wasn’t like he was some great guy. Why should he deserve to be with someone thoughtful and kind when he himself was selfish and lazy?
He spent all of his days thinking about himself and himself only. It didn’t help that he was rich – he certainly attracted the wrong sort of person – but there was nothing else attractive about him. He was a spoiled, rich brat. Bunny was exactly the sort of woman he deserved. Maybe better than he deserved really. This was the life that he made for himself.
He arrived back home in a sour mood. Dinner with his parents was nice, but he had a hard time engaging in conversation. He was still stuck in his own head. His mother made his favorite dessert, shortcake with ice cream, and grew concerned when he didn’t devour it like usual.
“Is everything alright, Craig?”
He nodded. “Yes, everything’s fine, why?”
“Did you and Bunny have some sort of fight over the cakes?”
She was too good at figuring things out. He decided it was better that his parents never know that his bride-to-be left him for dead, especially if he couldn’t find anyone better to marry, because he was the same caliber of person. “No, not really.”
“Ah, alright.”
“I wonder how Kali’s getting on,” his dad said, mouth full of ice cream.
“What do you mean?” Craig asked.
“Oh,” he shrugged, “Ashley told us she had some sort of a hearing coming up at work.”
“You’re joking,” Craig said, setting down his spoon. “With the ethics committee?”
“Yes, that’s it! In two days, I think. Seems that she was quite worried about it.”
Craig sighed. “I can’t believe that. It’s because of me. She risked her career taking me in, and now she’ll pay the price. And for what?”
“That’s one way to think of it,” his father said with a frown.
His mother jumped in. “What are you talking about, of course she had to take you in! You would’ve died!”
Craig shook his head. “It’s not how they see it. The ethics board, I guess.”
“Well then you have to set them straight,” his mother said decidedly.
He scoffed. “How? By shaking my trust fund at them? Fat lot of good it did for her to stick her neck out for me. She’s going to lose her job for someone who’s never had a job in their life. How do you like that?”
“That’s a rather fatalistic way of looking at it,” his dad observed. He was not the sort of man who liked to talk about serious things. If he did, he preferred it to be in a joking way. Craig knew that he was being a bit too dramatic at the moment to suit his dad’s normally light hearted take on things.
“You know, Craig,” his mother said, staring at him, “if you don’t like the way things are, it’s never too late to change them. Nothing is set in stone.”
He shrugged. What hope was there for him? He was the worst kind of man – the worst of the worst. He didn’t do anything unless it was to further himself. The only woman he could convince to marry him was, he was pretty sure, heartless. He didn’t have a true friend in the world. Well, he did once, but then he messed it all up with regaining the memory that he was a crap person.
She reached out and touched his arm. “I mean it, son. You’ve certainly come back…a bit different after hitting your head. Not better, not worse, but – different. It’s like you grew up overnight.”
He gave her a weak smile. “Have I moved on from being an overgrown toddler to being a moody teenager now?”
She smiled. “No, you’re moving on from having the mindset of a boy to thinking like a man. And I’m glad for it! You don’t have to be ashamed of who you were. You should be ashamed to sit around and do nothing with your new knowledge. And best of all, you can keep your old thinking from affecting you for the rest of your life. If you act fast enough.” She winked.
Craig gave her a puzzled look, but she simply stood up and kissed him on the forehead. “Why don’t you stay over here tonight? I’ll make you that oatmeal you liked so much for breakfast.”
“A
lright mum, goodnight.”
His dad sat there, finishing off his dessert. After a moment he said, “And son, do something about that Bunny of yours. She came by the house today behaving absolutely feral.”
“Really?” Craig said with interest.
“Indeed. She was screaming something and pounding on the door. Your mother refused to let her in. Said that she was afraid it was the first known case of a rabid rabbit.”
They both laughed. His father stood and gave him a pat on the shoulder. “The jet is at your service, should you need it.”
How did his dad know that even with the amusing image of Bunny going ballistic, all he could think about was flying to Madison?
Better not to ask. “Uh – thanks dad,” he responded.
Craig turned back to his shortcake. It seemed he was at a crossroads. His mother was right – he could either sit here, wallowing in self-pity, or he could do something. Anything. He could just try to be a different person – a better person.
He had a lot of work to do and there was no time for delicious desserts. Well, maybe he had just a second to spare – he took two big bites to finish it off before he went upstairs. There were calls to make.
Chapter 23
The morning of her hearing, Kali got up extra early; she didn’t mean to, but the entire night she kept waking up every hour, terrified she’d oversleep. By five in the morning, she gave up – there was no need to risk missing the hearing for an extra few minutes of sleep.
After taking a shower, she ate breakfast and stood in the kitchen, sipping on coffee. There was nothing left to do in the house. She’d been off of work for far too long and in order to keep from going crazy, she fully cleaned her townhouse from top to bottom. She fixed the lock, finally, that connected the kitchen to the basement; she cleaned all of the animals’ cages; and she dusted every picture on her wall. That was sorely overdue, actually, and she was a bit embarrassed by how much dust collected there. The one good thing that came of her being off of work was that she was able to volunteer at the food bank a lot more. They were appreciative of the help.
Nurse's Date with a Billionaire Page 14
