Collin (Forever #4)

“I don’t know. The last time we talked, she...well, you know what she said.”

“Do you still have feelings for her?”

“You want the truth? No. I don’t. In fact, when I’m with Amelia, I feel things that I never felt before.”

“Ah, I know that feeling.” He smiled.

“I know you do, Dad. Mom is your soul mate and the one and only and when you met her, she completely changed your life...blah blah blah.”

“Collin!” my mom exclaimed as she entered the kitchen.

“Sorry, Mom. Dad, I’m sorry, but I’ve heard it a million times and I love you both very much, but—”

“But what, son?” my dad asked quietly.

“I don’t know,” I said as I got up from the chair. “I’m going to drive myself into the office today.”

“Why? Ralph is downstairs,” he said.

“Yeah, no thanks, Dad. I’ll just drive myself. Love you, Mom,” I said as I kissed her on the cheek.

The more I thought about Hailey calling me, the more curious I became. I climbed into the Range Rover and hit her number on my phone. If I was going to be with Amelia, this thing with Hailey was going to have to be put to rest.

“Hey, Collin. I’ve been trying to call you.”

“Yeah, I saw. What do you want, Hailey?”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong. Why do you keep calling me?”

“I just wanted to see what you’ve been up to. I thought maybe we could Skype one night.”

I didn’t know where the hell all this was coming from, but she sounded different.

“I’m sorry, Hailey, but don’t you have a boyfriend? I don’t think he’d appreciate you skyping with your ex.”

“Things didn’t work out between us.”

That was quick, I thought to myself.

“Sorry to hear that.”

“Anyway, I’m going to be flying back to New York in a couple of weeks and I may be staying there permanently.”

Shit. What the hell happened in Italy that’s making her want to come back to New York? I didn’t want to know.

“That’s nice. I’m sure your mom and dad will be very happy to see you.”

“What about you?” she asked.

“What? Hailey, are you there? Hello?” Click.

There was no way I was answering that question, so I did what I had to in order to cut her off. As I walked up to my office, I sent Amelia a text message. She was the one I needed to be thinking about, not Hailey.

“Good morning, beautiful. I know you start your clinicals today, but I was hoping I could pick you up from the hospital and we could grab some dinner together.”

“Good morning. I would really like that. I get off at seven.”

“Great! I’ll pick you up in front. Have a good day.”

“Thanks, Collin. Have a good day yourself.”

Just reading her words made me smile. Everything about her made me smile. Even when I thought about her, I smiled. I worked my ass off all day and held an important meeting that even impressed my dad. I stayed at the office until it was time to pick up Amelia so I could get some much needed work done.

Chapter 20

I pulled up to the hospital entrance just as Amelia was walking out the doors. She climbed in and smiled at me.

“Hi.”

“Hi.” I smiled back. “How was your first day of clinicals?”

“It was interesting and harder than I thought it would be.”

I reached over, grabbed her hand, and brought it up to my lips. “You’re going to make an amazing nurse. Don’t ever forget that.”

She giggled, leaned over, and put her head on my shoulder.

“Are you okay?” I asked as I pulled away from the hospital.

“I’m fine. I’m just happy today is over with and I get to see you.”

I smiled as my lips touched her forehead. I was just as happy to see her. We both were in the mood for pizza, so we drove to Pizzapopolous. When we walked in, I saw Julia and Jake sitting at a table. Julia looked up and smiled.

“Hey!” she said as she got up from her chair.

“Hey, sis. It looks like we wanted the same thing for dinner. Hi, Jake.”

“Hey, Collin, Amelia. It’s good to see you.” He smiled.

“Sit down and join us,” Julia said.

I looked at Amelia and she smiled. “Okay, we will,” I said as I pulled out the chair for Amelia.

We had a great dinner with Julia and Jake. They left before we did because Julia was tired and feeling uncomfortable. I got up from my seat and kissed her goodbye.

“I’ll see both of you at the office tomorrow.” I smiled.

I sat back down and grabbed Amelia’s hand. “That was nice, having dinner with my sister and brother-in-law.”

“Yeah, it was. I really like them. In fact, I really like your whole family. Everyone is so nice.”

“They’re okay.” I smiled. “Have you heard anything about the house yet?” I asked.

“No,” she said as she looked down at the table. “The realtor called me today and said that three people looked at it, but said it was out of their price range.”

“Out of their price range? It’s the fucking Hamptons. What do they expect?”

“I don’t know. I wish I could keep it. Even though we only lived in it a very short time, it was a place that was special to my parents.”

“What about your house here in New York that you grew up in?” I asked.

She looked at me in confusion. “We didn’t have a house in New York. I grew up in Palisades Park, New Jersey. I thought I told you that.” She laughed.

“No. But I guess it never came up because we always talked about the Hamptons and NYU. I just assumed you grew up in New York.”

As we sat and talked, my phone buzzed. I pulled it from my pocket. There was a text message from my mom.

“Hi, sweetheart. The whole family is going to the beach house this weekend to celebrate Jake’s birthday. So, don’t make plans and bring Amelia. We’d love to have her.”

I looked up at Amelia and smiled. “My mom said that the whole family is going to the beach house this weekend and she wants you to come. We’re celebrating Jake’s birthday. What do you say?”

She hesitated for a moment and then said okay. “It’ll be fun.” She smiled.

“You bet it will be! It’s always fun when I’m around.” I winked.