“Yesterday the photographers and reporters outside made it extremely difficult for some of the patients to get in for their appointments. We were fielding so many calls, patients couldn’t call in and the few that did manage to get through canceled because they didn’t want to deal with it.”
“But that’s going to happen whether I’m here or not.”
“Not if I’m able to put out a notice that you aren’t working at the clinic,” Joyce said.
Rowan gasped. “Are you firing me?”
Joyce reached out a hand, covering one of Rowan’s. “No! Of course not. I just think it would be better if you took the time off that you were already planning to take. Maybe a few extra days until this whole thing can die down and they get distracted by the next piece of celebrity gossip.”
“What if it doesn’t die down?”
“We’ll cross that bridge if we get to it.”
That wasn’t exactly encouraging, but what choice did she have? “Okay.”
“Rowan, this isn’t forever. I’m not firing you, but I do have to think about what’s best for the practice and for the patients. Maybe this will give you some time to figure things out as well.”
“Sure.” In a daze, she stood and turned to leave the office.
“Do you need anything?”
Rowan shook her head. “Nope. I’m good.” Since she couldn’t have the one thing she needed—a distraction from her life—there wasn’t anything else she needed.
“Call if you do, all right?”
She nodded and left the office, leaving without saying anything to Rosie or Sierra. It wasn’t fair to them, but she couldn’t handle any more looks of pity and or uncomfortable offers of help.
Bracing for the onslaught of questions, she walked as calmly as she could to her car, head down and silent. Now she understood why celebrities always wore huge sunglasses when they were out in public. She ignored the questions and got in her car, locking the doors. Checking her rearview, she backed out of the space—if they didn’t want to get hit, they’d jump out of the way.
A few rushed to their cars to follow her and she made no effort to speed off. Let them follow her because she planned on driving aimlessly for as long as possible.
She couldn’t go to work. Soon she might not even be able to go home, or leave home if they found out where she lived. None of this would have happened if Luke had just let the past be in the past. Who the hell did he think he was, waltzing back into her life as if she hadn’t moved on? As if she hadn’t been minutes away from marrying someone else? Was she a freaking toy that he had to have because someone else wanted her? Was that what this whole thing was about? He was jealous because she had finally,finallymoved on and tried to be happy.
How dare he? And he probably wasn’t dealing with half the crap she was because he probably lived in some big house with lots of security and a fence. She didn’t even live in a gated complex.
The longer she drove, the angrier she became until she pulled into the parking lot of a liquor store because she was out of ice cream and vodka calories didn’t count, damn it.
She stormed into the store and found the vodka aisle, grabbing a bottle of Grey Goose and a bottle of soda water. Setting the bottles down with a thud, she drummed her fingers on the counter.
“Hey, aren’t you—?”
“Yes,” she snapped. “I’m the woman who got left at the altar when Luke Stone interrupted my wedding. No, we didn’t get married. No, I’m not pregnant. No, I don’t know where he is.”
The guy blushed and looked down at the bottles. “Uh, I was going to ask if you worked at Hill Family Dentistry because I think you’re my dentist.”
Rowan blanched and covered her face with her hands. “I’m so sorry.” She dropped her hands and looked at him. “Richard, right?”
He nodded. “Yeah.”
“I’m really sorry. It’s been a rough couple of days. I just assumed…” She shook her head. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. Half the people who come in here come in because they’re having a bad day. Out of curiosity…who’s Luke Stone?”
“You—Really?”
Richard put the bottles in paper sleeves, then in a larger bag together. “Never heard of him.”
“He’s a country singer,” she said.
