Both Angel and Sarah were about to walk out into the dining room together when Alex finally bit the bullet. “Sarah, can I, uh, see you for a minute about next week’s schedule?” He pointed at the monitor on his screen. “I had to move some things around, and I wanna check to make sure you’re good with what I did.”
“You need me too?” Angel asked.
“Nah, you’re good,” Alex said, spinning his chair around to face the monitor.
The moment Angel left, Alex turned to Sarah. “Can you close that door, please?”
She looked at him a bit strangely but did as he asked. When the door was closed, he spun around and dropped his head back. “This has nothing to do with the schedule. I just wanted to talk to you privately.”
Her brows pinched, reminding him a little of Valerie, and he almost groaned because everything reminded him of Valerie now. Inhaling deeply, he began. “Valerie won’t talk to me.”
“Can you blame her?” Sarah crossed her arms in front of her, shifting her weight to one side.
“Look. I know what happened looks bad, and I’ll be the first to admit it was stupid of me. I shouldn’t have kept it from her, but if I just had a chance to explain myself . . . Maybe you can talk to her—”
“Alex, I don’t want to get in the middle of this.” Sarah shook her head adamantly. “But I have to agree with Valerie. This stormy thing between the two of you has gone on long enough. I’ve seen her cry over you more times than I care to remember.”
“That’s the thing, Sarah.” He sat up. “It’s not like that anymore. I promised her things would be different.”
Her mouth dropped open. “But then you—”
“All right,” he said quickly before she could remind him what an idiot he was. “I know I f**ked up.” Her eyes went dark and hard, so he continued quickly. “But I can explain it to her. She hasn’t given me a chance.”
“My God, Alex.” Sarah shook her head. “She’s given you years.”
“But things were different a few years ago. They really have changed now!”
Her hardened demeanor went soft suddenly like the Sarah he was used to. “Honey, how many times have you said that in the past? She was really, really hurt this time, Alex. So hurt she said she needs you out of her life.”
“I know but—”
“If it was meant to be, you’ll hear from her again,” Sarah said, touching his shoulder. “She’s my cousin. You’re bound to run into her again at some point. I’d let her be for now. She really did sound like she needed time away from you. And personally, I agree. I think a little time apart would be good for the both of you. Maybe, in time, you guys can start over.”
Yeah, if she didn’t move on like she said she was. Everything Valerie had said to him in that infuriating phone call about the real men she’d be meeting now in her new career assaulted him once again. He sat back in his chair and let his head fall back, bringing both hands to his head. The last two weeks felt like a dream, a mind-numbing exasperating nightmare he couldn’t wake from. His phone beeped, and he straightened out quickly with the feeble hope that it might be Valerie.
“Was there anything else you wanted to talk to me about, Alex?”
Alex looked up at Sarah as he grabbed his phone. “No,” he said, shaking his head and forcing a smile, “but thanks.”
He glanced down at the text. It was from Joe.
“Is that her?” Strangely, even after all she’d just said, Sarah sounded hopeful.
He looked up again this time, not even attempting to smile. “Nope.”
“She needs time to heal.” Sarah headed for the door and opened it then stopped and turned back to him. “Remember if it was meant to be . . .” She shrugged with a sympathetic little smile then walked out.
Alex clicked on Joe’s text, feeling the massive ache in his heart weighing heavier by the second. No surprise Joe needed to talk to him ASAP. There were more decisions to be made.
Valerie’s crying pleas from that awful night came to him. She’d begged him to stay out of her life, and now Sarah was saying she agreed that time apart from each other might be a good thing.
As much as he hated to concede that, it seemed he had no choice. Even if he did manage to convince her to give him another chance, he wouldn’t be able to give her the time and attention she deserved right now. But he wasn’t giving up, not by a long shot. He’d just give her time to heal. Time to calm down. In the meantime, he’d get his shit together.
He sat there quietly, staring at the crutch so tightly gripped in his hand it shook. With deep slow breaths, he tried desperately to convince his aching heart this was for the best. Giving her what she was asking for was the honorable and mature thing to do. He owed her at least that much. But it wasn’t working. “Fuck!” he growled loudly.
In the next instance, the crutch flew across the room, shattering a picture frame and knocking down a few plaques on the wall with a thunderous crash.
Chapter 12
Valerie
Two Months Later
The guy sitting at the bar was looking at her again. Isabel had dubbed him Mystery Man because Valerie could swear she’d seen him before but couldn’t place him. She’d been trying not to be too obvious about looking at him, but he seemed to catch her every time. His smile was a slow-rising one with the corners of his lips lifting leisurely, and he lifted his glass at her. His eyes were warm and inviting, big and dark, just the way she liked them.