Page 9 of Meant to Be
“About six or so.”
“You show up at my house at seven tonight. I’ll have Mitch there.”
“I have company coming tonight.”
“Do you want to talk to him or not?” As it turned out, Lexie preferred to be blunt as well.
Sydney nodded. “Yes. I’ll be there.”
“Good. Here’s my address.” Lexie scribbled her address on a scrap of paper and handed it to Sydney. “I hope I’m doing the right thing,” she muttered under her breath.
“Why are you doing this for me?”
“It’s not for you. It’s for Mitch.”
Sydney watched Lexie walk off, surprised that Mitch’s sister was willing to arrange for her to see him. No. Not for her, but for him. Sydney wasn’t sure she’d help him. It was possible she’d make it worse for them both. A part of her longed for the relationship they’d had in college, when their love was young, pure, and passionate, but as usual, she pushed those feelings aside. She couldn’t risk hoping for more than understanding and forgiveness.
She blew out a breath and made her way to Mrs. Warner’s room. After checking that mother and baby were doing well, Sydney headed out of the hospital, crossing the street to the outpatient buildings, where she had more patients to see. As she walked, she called Julia to let her know her plans. She was relieved when Julia told her the earliest flight she could get to Charlotte Tavern, which, she grumbled, required a connection in Washington, D.C., would put her at Sydney’s around nine.
Sydney entered her office, taking a moment to collect herself before meeting her next patient. She was going to see Mitch later that night. Nerves fluttered at the thought. She was grateful Julia would be arriving. Sydney feared that by the end of the night, she’d be more broken than she already was.
Mitch pulledinto the hospital parking lot, hoping to hell he wouldn’t run into Sydney. It was bad enough that she invaded his dreams the night before, with her long, sexy hair and curvy legs. Fortunately, a cold shower that morning had washed away the lust, clearing his mind of everything except the reminder of why he couldn’t trust his heart. But his dream was a wake-up call that she still had a pull on him, which meant he needed to steer clear of her.
As he pulled into a parking space, he spotted her crossing the street from the hospital to the outpatient building. She was talking on the phone and not noticing the car barreling down the road. That was Sydney, always multitasking and not paying attention. Of course, the one time he’d visited her in New York, he’d discovered people there crossed the street whenever and however they wanted and, as far as he could tell, no one ever got hit. In Charlotte Tavern, even walking in the crosswalk with the light there was a chance of getting hit by a car.
“You know, Jenny is the sweetest person on earth. She only thinks good things about people, so she didn’t catch on about Sydney being the one that left you at the altar,” Kevin said. “But I, being a great detective, knew it immediately.”
“She didn’t leave me at the altar.”
“You were engaged and then she dumped you. That’s the definition of leaving you at the altar.”
Mitch scowled, hoping Kevin saw annoyance and not the pain Sydney had left him with.
“I wonder what she’s doing here.”
“I don’t know, and I don’t care.” Mitch repeated the words he’d said to Lexie the day before. He even almost believed them. The truth was, he was curious what had brought her to Charlotte Tavern. He didn’t want to be conceited enough to think she’d come for him and yet, rural, central Virginia wasn’t on the radar of anyone outside of Virginia. She had to be here because he was here, but why after all these years?
Her beauty made his heart thud hard in his chest as he watched her make her way across the street, her long, shapely legs taking the few steps to the front door of the building. A memory of those legs wrapping around him flashed in his mind. He swore under his breath and pushed the image away, determined to not let her get under his skin again, even if his libido had other ideas.
“You lie like a rug.” Kevin laughed. “You’re dying to know what she’s doing here. So go ask.”
Mitch exited the car, taking his irritation out by slamming the door.
Kevin grinned at him over the hood. “I’m heading in to get some sugar.”
“Yeah, you do that. I’m going to stay out here so I don’t lose my lunch.”
By the time Kevin entered the hospital and Mitch was able to return his attention to Sydney, she was already in the outpatient building.
“Just as well.”
“Hey, Mitch.” He turned to see Lexie exiting the hospital.
“Hey. You here for a client?” He strode over to her.
It had taken Lexie awhile to find her career in nursing, but since becoming a hospice nurse after caring for her husband’s grandfather, she never looked back.
“No. I was visiting Jenny.”
