Tears burned her eyes. “This is a mistake,” she cried. Panic raced through her like wildfire when he stood. She looked up at him. “Ascott had a party for members of the staff! Angela wanted to go. I thought the two of us were going to dinner, but she took us to Ascott’s place instead. Angela was driving. I had no choice,” she pleaded.
“Right,” he grunted. “Just like you had no choice for him to kiss you.” His head swung from side to side. “I can’t trust you anymore. I’m sorry. You know your way out,” he muttered as he stood and began walking out of the room.
“You’re a coward!” she screamed. He stopped but didn’t turn around. “I was willing to risk my career—everything—for us, but you’re throwing it all away over a stupid misunderstanding. You wanna know about the kiss? Ascott attacked me, right there in front of everyone. Florina was showing us something on her phone. Ascott made like he wanted to see and leaned in. The next thing any of us knew, he had me around the waist and was forcing that kiss on me. It was the most disgusting thing that’s happened to me in a long time.” She clamped her arms over her chest. “If you can’t understand that, then you just go ahead and run away.” Her voice trembled as tears streamed down her cheeks. “I don’t need you.”
With that, he left the room.
P. J. sat on the couch in stunned silence. Ascott’s assault in the CCU had set off a nuclear bomb in her life. Hatred for him scorched through her. Ascott had destroyed the most precious part of her life, and that part was no longer the position she’d worked to achieve for over a decade at the school. It was no longer her relationship with her parents, as much as she loved them. That precious, important thing was Kyle. He’d filled the hole in her heart the way no one else could. But if Kyle wouldn’t believe her, if he wouldn’t fight for their relationship, then he was not the man she thought he was.
A fist of grief slammed into P. J.’s chest. It was over. P. J. wanted to run after him, demand that he listen to her, but he wouldn’t. Her legs wobbled as she stood. With quick steps she went to the screen door and threw it open. She stomped down the front steps and let the door slam behind her.
As she drove out of town, P. J. couldn’t stop the tears. They flooded down her face. Sobs shook her so hard that once she was out of town and surrounded by the dense pine forest, she had to pull over and cry. She pounded the steering wheel and screamed. Kyle was so pig-headed! She’d be better off without him.
No, she knew better. She wanted Kyle in her life. She wanted him forever.
Finally, when she got a handle on her emotions, she pulled back onto the road and toward the Interstate. She had to go one exit south to Daphne to retrieve her things from the hotel.
21
Kyle’s mind was on fire. Was P. J. telling the truth? When he saw her with Ascott, something inside him snapped. He’d opened up his heart again to love and look where it got him. He and Annie had been cut from the same cloth. He knew Annie as well as himself. He knew that he could trust Annie implicitly, but with P. J., there would always be doubts. If it weren’t Ascott, it would be her career. Kyle couldn’t be the cause of P. J. losing everything she’d worked so hard to achieve. Maybe he and P. J. were doomed from the beginning. P. J. was hurt, but she’d recover. She’d go on to find a guy who was on the same social stratum she was, and they’d float off into the sunset.
He looked up from his desk as his mother entered the bedroom. She shuffled over and sat down on the edge of the bed. “Are you gonna be okay?”
He brought his lips together in tight lines. “Yeah. I’ll get through this.”
Her eyes lasered into his. “Can I be straight with you?”
“Of course.”
“You’re making a big mistake.” His jaw went slack as she continued. “You’re a grown man, and I wasn’t going to break into the middle of your conversation, but Priscilla was right. You are being a coward.”
Her words stung like bees. “I thought you went to Coralee’s house.”
“She wasn’t home, so I came back in through the kitchen.” She lifted her chin. “I pretty much heard everything y’all said. You’re tossing away something beautiful and amazing, and you don’t even know the whole story. Sure, you saw Priscilla kissing another guy, but she told you what happened.”
He held up a hand. “I’ve been stewing over this for days, Mom, and—”
“That’s the problem,” she said, cutting him off. “You’ve been mulling over this in your mind and made it into something more than it is.” Her voice softened. “In the process, you’ve shattered the most wonderful thing that’s ever happened to you since” she paused “since Annie.” She held her breath as if she didn’t know whether to bring up her next point. Then she went on. “What would Annie want you to do?”
“What’s my late wife got to do with this?” he grumbled. Forget that he, too, had thought about Annie a few minutes ago.
“She’d want you to be happy. She’d want you to find someone, have a great life, have some babies. She’d want you to hold onto your relationship with Priscilla.”
He rubbed his neck. “It’s not just the kissing part. It’s also P. J.’s career. I can’t get in the way of that.”
“Baloney!”
His eyes bulged. “Huh?”
“You heard me,” she grumbled. “Priscilla came here today to tell you she loves you. She’s willing to risk everything for you.” She gritted her jaw, causing the loose skin under her neck to jiggle. “The question is—are you worth the risk?”
He let out a humorless laugh. His thoughts were a jumble. He wanted to believe that P. J. loved him as he loved her. But he didn’t want to hurt her career.
His mother seemed to be reading his thoughts. “You’re scared. That’s what this is really about.”
He jerked, giving her a hard look. “That’s ridiculous.”
“Is it?” she shot back. “You lost Annie and you’re scared of losing Priscilla. That’s why you’re walking away. To keep from getting hurt.”
Her words cut away at him, rattling his insides. Was his mother right? Was he scared? Yes, he supposed he was. His eyes grew moist. “I can’t go through that hurt again,” he murmured.
She nodded in understanding. “I get it. I really do.” Her voice trembled. “When your dad died, I was a wreck.” Tears brimmed in her eyes. “But I wouldn’t trade anything for the love we shared.” She gave him a tender look. “You and Priscilla have something great together. Don’t be a jug head and mess it all up.”
“But Mom, I—”
“The closest thing to Annie is Andi. She’s at the Magnolia. Will you go over there and get her take on it?” Her voice rose. “Please?”
It was more of a command than a question. He nodded his head. “Fine, but I know what Andi will say. You saw how she reacted when she saw P. J. Andi will tell me to forget the whole thing.”
She cut her eyes at him. “We’ll see.”
“Fine,” he grunted, “I’ll go and talk to her.”
As he walked across the park toward the Magnolia, Kyle hung his head. His steps were slow and plodding. It was just after ten in the morning, so they’d be there doing lunch prep. When he entered the restaurant, he found Harper behind the reception booth.
“Hey, Kyle,” she said in a voice as cheerful as the morning sunshine. “You hanging in there?”
He shook his head glumly. “You heard what happened in Birmingham?”
She gave him a look of pity. “Your mom stopped by yesterday and talked to Andi. I happened to overhear bits of the conversation.”
So, his mom had already talked to Andi. Interesting. “Nothing travels faster through the grapevine than bad news, I suppose,” he said darkly.
“Oh, don’t be too hard on your mom. She was just worried about you.”
He grunted. “Is Andi here?”
“Yeah.” She jutted her thumb. “She’s in the back bringing out some tablecloths that the laundry just delivered. Do you want me to get her?”
“Than
ks.”
Harper turned and went toward the kitchen. A few minutes later, Andi came into the dining room.
Compassion flicked over her features when she saw Kyle. “Hey, bro. You don’t look so great.” She motioned to an empty booth.
When they sat down, she reached for his hand and squeezed it. “Your mom told me what happened about P. J. I’m sorry.”
“P. J. was just here.”
Her eyes widened. “She was? What did she say?”
Kyle didn’t really want to go into everything, but that was why he’d come—to talk to Andi. Actually, he was here because he told his mom he’d come.
“Kyle, you’re like a brother to me. Tell me what happened.”
He huffed out a breath. “P. J. came over to the house maybe twenty or thirty minutes ago. We sat down in the living room and talked. She didn’t know that I saw her and Ascott kissing in the nurses’ station.” Fresh anger kindled inside him as the image of P. J. in Ascott’s arms flashed through his mind.
“Okay, so from what you’re telling me and from what your mom said, you saw P. J. give another doctor a kiss.”
He clenched his hands. “Yeah, one who’s been trying to come between me and P. J.” He told Andi about Ascott’s phone call and how it had prompted Kyle to take the impromptu trip to Birmingham to see P. J..
Andi looked thoughtful. “So you get a call from this Ascott, telling you to stay away from P. J. Then, you go up to Birmingham and find them kissing.”
“Yes.” He clenched his jaw.
“Did P. J. seem like she wanted the kiss?”
A brittle laugh tore through his throat. “She says she didn’t. According to her, Ascott just grabbed her and kissed her.”
“What did the kiss look like?”
He barked out a laugh. “Seriously? You want me to describe it?”
Andi didn’t skip a beat. “Yes.”
He rolled his eyes. “Ascott had her bent over backward, dipping her and she didn’t seem to be putting up much of a fight.”
“Hmm … interesting.”
He leaned forward. “What’re you getting at?”
“I can tell you from experience, when a guy has you in that position, there’s not much you can do to fight him off. So, P. J. wasn’t dipping him. He dipped her.”
“Yeah.” His eyes narrowed.
Andi held up her hands. “I can’t defend what happened, Kyle, but think about it. Is P. J. the kind of girl who would jump all over a man in front of an audience? You said this happened in the nurses’ station, right?”
He nodded.
“Were they alone?”
He thought back. “No. There must’ve been half a dozen nurses there.”
“No girl wants to put on a show like that. Well, maybe on the dance floor or something, but not in front of fellow professionals who are gonna gossip the bejeebies out of it for the next week.”
Kyle sat in silent thought.
“Tell me this, Kyle. A week ago, or two weeks ago, before all this happened, how did you feel about P. J.?”
He shrugged. “Well, you saw us together here.”
“Yes, I did, and I could tell you were crazy about her.” A sad smile touched her lips. “That’s what got me rattled. I could tell that you were moving on from Annie.”
“I was in love with P. J.,” he admitted.
Andi’s brow slid up. “Were in love?” She chuckled. “You’re still in love with her.”
He nodded slowly. “You’re right. I am in love with her.” Emotion clogged his throat as he coughed. “I hate saying that to you because it makes me feel like I’m being disloyal to your sister.”
Andi’s eyes misted. “You’re not.” She shook her head. “I’m sorry for the way I acted when I saw you with P. J.” A regretful smile tugged at her lips. “When I saw how you looked at her … well, it threw me for a loop.” Her voice hitched. “It drove home the fact that my sister’s gone.” A tear slipped down her cheek. “I know you’ve already made your peace with Annie’s cancer, but I also know it still has to hurt to lose a spouse, more than I or anyone else could ever understand. You remember how happy and joyful Annie was. Do you seriously think she’d want you to be sad over her for the next seventy years?”
“No, of course not,” he grumbled.
“So don’t feel one bit guilty about having feelings for someone new.” She gave him a buoyant smile. “Don’t be afraid to love again.”
He grunted in surprise; shocked how similar Andi’s words were to his mom’s.
Andi’s voice took an upward lilt. “As for P. J., you’ve got it all wrong. I don’t think she did a single thing wrong. You walked in on someone taking advantage of her. You know what, Kyle?” She held up a finger. “And I say this out of the greatest affection because I love you like a brother. You’re a fool. You believe your eyes and not your heart. You saw what you saw, and instead of thinking it through and listening to P. J.’s explanation, you jumped to a really harsh conclusion. You didn’t even give her a chance. Quit being such an idiot. She’s never lied to you before. Why would she start now? It’s obvious that P. J.’s crazy about you.”
Tears trickled down Kyle’s cheeks.
“Here,” she said gently, grabbing a napkin from a nearby holder and handing it to him. As he took it, she looked him in the eye. “Sounds like it’s time for you to man up and go after her.”
He crumpled the napkin in his hands, forgetting his tears as he sat up in his seat. He felt like the clouds had just parted and sunlight illuminated his mind . “You’re absolutely right.”
22
P. J. turned right off the country highway out of Daphne onto the Interstate entrance ramp. She’d collected her belongings from the hotel and was going back to Birmingham, defeated and rejected. Tears still brimmed in her eyes and her nose was runny. How could Kyle have been so quick to judge her? She’d told him what happened. Why couldn’t he trust her?
She’d gone only a mile from the onramp when she spotted the deputy sheriff’s car sitting on the shoulder. She checked her speedometer. She was still not up to the highway speed limit. She turned on her blinker and moved over to the center lane. Just as she passed him, his lights came on and his car leapt off of the shoulder.
P. J. glanced around, tightening her hold on the steering wheel. There were other cars in sight, but hers was the only one in the immediate vicinity. She wasn’t doing anything wrong. The deputy came up close to her bumper and gave two sharp blasts of his siren. Her heart dropped. Of all days to get pulled over! This was the icing on the leaden cake she’d just been served at Kyle’s place.
She slowed down and moved over to the shoulder to stop. The deputy parked behind her. She watched him talking on his radio. She waited … and waited. It seemed to take him a good ten minutes or more to get out of his car and roll his portly body up to her window. “Good morning, ma’am. Jim Warner, County Sheriff’s Department. May I see your driver’s license and registration, please?” Without a word she handed over the documents. He held up the license and compared the picture to her face. Her eyes were swollen from crying, but she was beyond caring how she looked right now. He tipped his hat. “Thank you. I’ll just step back to my car and verify these.”
She watched him return to his vehicle and pull up his laptop computer and start typing. After several more minutes, P. J. grew impatient. Unbidden, a sob caught in her throat. She blinked a few times then squinted to squelch the tears. Falling apart right now wouldn’t help matters. She looked back at the officer in her rearview mirror. Her breath froze when more flashing lights appeared. A state trooper pulled behind the deputy. They got out of their cars and held a conference on the side of the road. After five more minutes, the trooper slapped the deputy on the shoulder and laughed. They shook hands and the trooper sped off. “Well,” she muttered, “I’m glad someone’s getting a kick out of this.” At least the anger was crowding out some of her fear.
Deputy Warner came back to her window. “Here’s your
documentation, ma’am. Everything checks out.”
“I don’t understand,” she protested, “why did you pull me over?”
Gravel crunched behind them as another car pulled up behind the patrol car. The deputy looked up and started speaking to someone who must have gotten out of the other car. “Yep, got her right here … okay. She’s all yours.” He looked at P. J. and tipped his hat again. This time he smiled. “Have a nice day, ma’am.” He got back into his car and drove off. The car that had been behind him pulled back onto the highway. The driver was a young woman in a white shirt like restaurant waitresses wear, but P. J. couldn’t see her face through the tinted window.
P. J. sat confused for a moment. She about jumped out of her skin when there was a knock on her passenger window. Kyle? Kyle! She fumbled with the buttons on her armrest and finally got the door unlocked. He opened the door and sat down in the passenger seat. Hope, anger, and frustration all churned inside her. With pleading eyes, he looked into hers. He said nothing for a moment, so she began. “Kyle, I—”
“You didn’t—” he blurted at the same instant. They chuckled, mildly embarrassed. “You met my friend, Deputy Jim,” Kyle said.
Her hand went to her chest. “Scared me to death! I nearly wet my pants. Did you put him up to that?”
“It was Andi’s idea, but yeah. I couldn’t let you leave.”
She drew her brows together. “You seemed pretty dead-set on the idea before.”
“Yeah, well, that guy you were talking to in my living room, he was pretty much stupid. Hopefully, you can forgive him.” He leaned toward her, his chocolate eyes imploring.
P. J.’s gaze moved over his rugged features. She knew them all by heart—the shimmer in his eyes, how they lit up and turned to a golden brown when he smiled, the faint lines around his eyes. The crooked tilt of his lips when he grinned, his tousled dark hair. Cautious hope stirred in her breast. “That guy … he really hurt my feelings, you know.”
“Yeah. He got a good dressing down from a close friend who straightened him out.”
Winning the Doc's Heart Page 16
