Page 104 of The Potter

“Have you interviewed other employees yet?”

“No, Ms. Belle was Astor’s employee.”

“But Serena was yours. Are you overworking yourself, Vance?”

“No. I’m just…” I rake my hands through my hair. Fuck it. “I’m lost.”

Damn, that felt good to say. “For a year I lived with the stress of Logan’s death and Calista’s lawsuit. And then Halle threw herself into the mix. Now, all of those people are out of my life, and I don’t know what to do with the emptiness.”

“Have you talked to Calista since the settlement?”

I shake my head. “I doubt she ever wants to speak to me again.”

“How do you know if you haven’t spoken to her?”

Seriously, this guy gets paid to say the dumbest shit. “Would you want to talk to me if I killed your wife, Dr. Johnson?”

He leans forward. “I think I would like the opportunity to decide if I wanted to forgive you or not.”

There’s that word again, forgive.

Is it possible Calista could forgive me? I know things will never be the same between us, but…

“I think you owe yourself the chance to make amends with Calista, Dr. Potter.”

“And what if she doesn’t forgive me?”

“Then you’ll have to forgive yourself. Either way, Vance, you have to move on. Forgiving yourself is the first step.”

“I thought I had when I performed Halle’s surgery,” I admit.

“Being able to overcome the trauma and memory of the last time you were in the operating room is one thing, Vance. Forgiveness is another.” Dr. Johnson lets out a long sigh. “Something is still keeping you in the past—from allowing you to move forward. And I think you know what that is.”

Forgiveness.

Fucking forgiveness.

My watch beeps, and I’m quick to spring up. “Time’s up. I’ll see you next week.”

Unlike me, Dr. Johnson is slow to stand, leveling me with a serious look before extending his hand for me to shake. “Move forward, Vance. Logan would want you to be happy.”

Would Logan really want me to move forward and be happy? Would I, if the roles were reversed?

I think so.

I would find no joy in seeing my friend suffer. As a surgeon, Logan understood the risks we take every time we enter the operating room. Something could always go wrong; we’re human after all. We make mistakes.

The last thing I wanted was for my childhood friend to lose his life by my orders.

But I can’t change the past.

I can only mold my future with the pieces I have left.

Texting a number I haven’t used in a year, I send a message I pray she answers.

Hanning’s Cemetery 6:00

I didn’t elaborate. Calista will either show or she won’t. Either way, I know what I need to do.

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