Page 3 of The Choices I've Made
I stretched my hand out toward hers. “Jake Jameson.”
Her small hand felt warm and silky in my large palm. I lingered, running my thumb over hers before letting go.
“Jake? Is it short for anything?” she asked, clearly flustered by the intimate gesture.
“No, ma’am,” I replied. “My mother—God rest her soul—wasn’t fond of formality. So, I’m just Jake. Plain and simple.”
“I doubt there’s anything plain or simple about you, Dr. Jameson.”
My jaw twitched as I tried to keep the dazzling smile plastered across my face.
I took the compliment, nodding as I gave myself a moment to regain my composure. Mentioning my mother had been an accident.
One I rarely made.
Just the mere mention of her had a thousand memories swimming back to the surface. I quickly stuffed them back down.
“So, you’re headed back to North Carolina then?” I asked in an attempt to keep the conversation rolling. Now that I knew her proclivity for nailing doctors, I might not be ready to join the Mile-High Club with her, but she was entertaining nonetheless.
“My best friend’s wedding,” she answered. “We always knew she’d be the first one down the aisle.”
I couldn’t help but notice the twinge of jealousy in her voice.
“And why’s that?” I asked as the flight attendant came around and took drink orders.
Makayla ordered a glass of wine while I stuck with a Bloody Mary.
“She’s been with her boyfriend for ages. High school sweethearts. Can you believe it? We’re twenty-four, and those two have already been together for ten years.”
I cleared my throat, regretting my choice to relocate now.
Rather than an easy distraction like I’d hoped, this girl had managed to once again leave me speechless as the years seemed to melt away before my eyes.
“We’re the lucky ones, Jake. How many people find each other at fourteen?”
It felt like yesterday whenshehad said those words to me. I could still hear the sound of the waves lapping at our feet as we’d curled up on the beach just before sunset.
We had been the lucky ones.
Or at least, we could have been.
But I’d chosen a different life. One that didn’t include her.
“And what about you?” she asked. “Visiting family back home?”
I nodded. “Yeah. Something like that.”
“That sounds nice. I’m sure they’ll be thrilled to see you.”
“I’m sure,” I answered passively, eager for that Bloody Mary that was soon to come my way.
We continued to make small talk as the final passengers boarded the plane, and then we took off for Raleigh, but my heart wasn’t in it anymore.
It was miles away.
Years away.
Because, soon, all those bottled-up memories would filter back to the surface…and I wasn’t sure I was prepared for the consequences.
