The doctor seems surprised. “Your ex?”
“Yes.” She examines his head, running her fingers through his hair as if she’s giving him a massage.
I roll my eyes. “He’s fine. Sick in the head, but he’ll live for now.”
She strokes the doctor’s face. “Please give me a minute. I’ll meet you inside.”
He puffs out his chest. “I’m not leaving you with this crazy fuck.”
I shoot daggers at him in the dark alley.
Fern says, “He won’t hurt me. Please. I’ll see you inside.”
He takes a few steps backwards, then pauses. I don’t need a street light to know he’s glaring at me. After another pause, he walks away towards the front of the bar.
I shove my hands in my pockets and lean back against the wall, waiting for Fern to let rip. She was never shy at voicing her opinions. In fact, she thrived on it.
Once Ant, or whatever the fuck she called him, is out of sight, the handbag lands on my chest as she flings it around like she’s swinging a bat. “What the hell is wrong with you?” she yells.
I narrow my eyes. “What the hell is wrong with you? You’re not seriously dating the creepy doctor?”
“Look, you can’t go around threatening all my dates.”
“I don’t. Just this creep. I don’t want you seeing him again. He’s dangerous.”
She bursts into a laugh. “Right. A real Dr Jekyll.”
I straighten my spine, towering over her. “Fern, I’m serious. You’re not to see him again.”
She taps her finger against her lips. “Hmm. I’m sorry, I thought we were divorced. You have no right to dictate who I can date or not.”
It takes every bone in my body to not hoist her over my shoulder and take her away from here. From him. But she won’t listen to my demands. Hell, she never listened when we were together.
“Trust me, Fern. This is for your own good.”
She lets out a sigh. “I’m sorry, Shane. I know you still harbour feelings for me, and I thought about giving us another chance, but then I remembered why we divorced in the first place. It's not even that we've grown apart, there’s no spark. I just don't love you, Shane.”
I stare wide-eyed at my ex-wife, speechless, as a million things circle around my head. She couldn’t be more wrong about harbouring feelings. But there’s no way I can tell her the truth. Oh, it’s not you, it’s your little sister. Or that her new boyfriend watches her little sister strip on an adult content account.
For fuck’s sake.
“You’re a good man, and you’ll make someone very happy one day. I tried, I really did. Do you still need closure or something?” Her hand pats my chest. “I appreciate what you did for Mum and for looking out for Lilly, but we’re no good together. We’re better as friends. I’ll always be there if you need anything.”
I hold her hand over my chest and pull it away from my heart. “Fern.”
She continues talking. “I am sorry for leaving. I do care about you, just not in that way. I?—”
“Fern,” I say louder. “I know.” I flick my eyes to the stars in the heavens, hoping I can summon the strength to make this woman see sense. “Does Lilly know you’re seeing the doctor?”
“Yes, of course. I told her.”
I run a hand over my face. “His name isn’t Ant. It’s Dr Phillip Fletcher. Ask Lilly about him. I have it on good authority that he was the one who broke into her house.” I hold my breath, hoping she believes the lie. She can’t know I saw his name and address on the list Dom gave me.
Her face pales, even in the dark alleyway. The whites of her eyes bulge as she stares at me, chewing on the inside of her cheek. After a moment, she whispers, “You’re saying he’s the doctor she works with? The one who gets too familiar?”
“Yes. Has she told you about him?”
She nods, still wide-eyed, before walking off as if in a daze down the alley to the car park at the back.
