“Get the fuck out of here before I really hurt you.” Michael puffs out his chest like he’s hot shit.
With one last look at me, Jason turns and walks away. I still haven’t said a word. There’s no coming back from this. That’s all it took to break something precious, and I don’t think I’ll ever recover. If only I could have a do-over for the last fifteen minutes, but what would I have done differently? I’m a horrible person.
I stomp on Michael’s foot so he lets me go, and I run to the bathroom. The one place he won’t follow me.
Eventually, Georgie steps into the bathroom. Wrapping her arms around my shoulders, she stays quiet until my tears turn into sniffles and finally stop.
“What am I going to do? I broke his heart. Hell, I broke mine too.”
Georgie grabs some toilet paper from a stall and hands it to me to wipe my face. “There’s nothing you can do. Michael told everyone in the cafeteria. I tried to talk to Jason as he grabbed his backpack, but he told me to leave him alone and stormed out the main doors. It won’t be long before the whole town knows. You knew this was possible.”
Nodding, I feel the tears starting again. Sure, I knew it, but he’s my first love, or was until I set it on fire. Nothing will ever be the same.
one
. . .
Becky
Willow Haven, Florida
Ten years later…
As I stare at the television screen in my patient’s room, the memories I kept buried for the last ten years come flooding back. How? And how did I never realize?
“Becky, dear, are you okay?” my patient, Mrs. Lee, asks.
Dragging my gaze from the TV, I focus on the fragile woman in the hospital bed. Smiling, I answer, “Yes, ma’am. Sorry, I got distracted.”
“Oh, don’t be sorry, dear. There isn’t a woman alive who could ignore that man. And when he sings, he melts my ovaries. My granddaughters introduced me to him. They have all his albums. Hmm, do they still call them that these days?
I mumble an answer, not really listening. Instead of getting her vitals, I’m transfixed by the man on the screen. What am I doing? I have a job to do. Thankfully, Mrs. Lee, is my last patientbefore I’m done with my shift. Then it’s just giving reports, and I’m off for a blessed two days.
It’s been a week from hell. I’m in desperate need of a steamy book boyfriend and a bottle of wine or two. The latest Becca Jameson book hit my e-reader earlier this week. It's killing me I haven't had time to read it yet. I can’t wait to dig into her newest book, Rook—dark, sexy, everything I need for an escape. That’s when Mrs. Lee’s remark sinks in. “Oh my gosh, Mrs. Lee, you don’t even have ovaries anymore.” Just thinking about this octogenarian saying that makes me giggle.
“Fine. But they’d melt if I did. I’m sure yours are melting right now.”
She might be right, but then again, Jason Richmond, who is now Jason Royce apparently, always had that ability.
Sighing, I turn back to my WOW—workstation on wheels—and wrap the blood pressure cuff around her arm.
I take her temperature next, then make the updates to her chart.
“Does your fancy machine tell you when I get to go home?” Mrs. Lee asks with a hopeful expression.
“I’m afraid not. But Dr. Perkins will be making his rounds soon. He’ll have a better idea. Is your daughter coming to visit today?”
“Oh yes, and she’s bringing Harley and Katie. She let them stay home from school today so they could go to the concert tonight.”
“The concert?” My brain can’t seem to keep up.
“Jason Royce’s concert. Aren’t you listening? That’s why he’s on the morning show. He’s performing tonight in Orlando. The first of two sold out shows. Honestly, dear, you’re working too hard.”
I nod. I haven’t had a day off in ten days, and I’m running on fumes. Even if I hadn’t worked so much, I still wouldn’t have known about the concert. The last musical thing I went to was in college at the University of Alabama.
“Please tell me you’ve heard his song, “A Love Lost?” It’s what made his career. It’s so sad. The perfect country music song.”
I probably had, but I wasn’t sure. True crime podcasts or reading is how I fill my downtime. Music made me remember things that hurt too much. It was better to avoid it altogether.
