My eyes widen when I realize who it is. “Cassie.”
She gets a good look at me. “London?”
Coughing out a laugh, I do a side wave. “Hey, long time no see.”
“Hey. What’re you doing here?”
I answer with the obvious. “Just using the restroom.”
Amusement flicks in her eyes. “I kinda got that. What’re you doing in the hospital? Are you visiting a family member or friend?”
“A friend.” Cassie’s dark, wavy hair is cut in a bob that comes to her ears. It suits her. Cassie’s pretty with high cheekbones, a slightly upturned nose, and striking green eyes a shade darker than Axel’s.
She looks me up and down. “You look fantastic.”
I rub a self-conscious hand over my hair. “Thanks.” High praise considering the circumstance.
“This is trippy. I was just talking about you to my brother.”
“Really?” I squeak.
She nods and looks past me. “In fact, Seth sent me in here to find his girlfriend.” She quirks an ironic grin. “Her name’s London too.”
“Oh,” is all I can think to say.
“Is anyone else in here?”
“Just me.”
“That’s odd. I talked to one of the nurses, and she said she directed the woman who came onto the floor with Seth to this restroom.”
Suddenly, I’m blazing hot and sweating. Time to face the music. My words come tumbling out. “I’m so sorry about your dad. Also, I’m sorry I didn’t respond when you reached out on Facebook. It was totally inconsiderate of me.”
She blinks. “Huh?”
“I wasn’t trying to ignore you. Life’s just … busy.”
She makes a face. “How’d you know I was upset about—” Her eyes bug. “Wait. Are you Seth’s London? The one who rode with him from Nashville?” The disbelief on her face suggests she can hardly believe the words she just spoke.
“I am.” Tension gushes from me, leaving me weak in the knees. Regardless of what happens, it feels good to get that out.
Her jaw drops. “What? H—how?” Her hands go flying as she talks faster. “But he said he didn’t remember you.” She knits her brows. “Was he messing with me?”
“No, he doesn’t realize that I’m the same London from junior high and high school.”
“What? That’s crazy!” She shakes her head. “None of this is making any sense. How did you connect with my brother?”
I take in a quick breath before plunging in. “I work for the interior designer who’s organizing Axel’s party. I was supposed to be stringing lights on trees, but I wandered into the music room. I spotted the drum set and sat down to play. Axel … Seth came in and heard me. Long story short, he asked me to perform with him at the benefit on Christmas Eve. The two of us have been practicing, and well … we’ve gotten close.”
Her voice goes shrill. “But you didn’t think to tell him who you really are?”
“I should have, but he didn’t recognize me, which I thought was kind of funny, at first. I never expected things to evolvebetween us.” I spread my hands. “And now I’m not sure how to tell him.”
She narrows her eyes. “What’re you trying to pull?”
I can’t tell Cassie the rest of the story. She’ll go nuts. “Nothing. I just got caught up in the situation. Then when we got the call about your dad, I didn’t want Seth driving his old Corvette through the storm, so we took my rental car, and here we are.”
“Why do you have a rental car?” Suspicion trickles into her expression.
