Page 44 of Broken Vows

When I step inside, I inhale a sharp breath. “Mom?” I can see the five or six stitches covering the bright red area of her left temple.

“Nope.” My mom flickers open her eyes. “You don’t need to fuss. I told them not to call you, but they said they had to because I hit my head. I told them it was no big deal and that maybe it was a gift to knock some sense into me.”

She’s trying to be strong, but the tiredness in her voice tells me otherwise. I slide a chair next to the bed and grab her thin, pale hands. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, honey. It’s these damn dizzy spells. But they’re going to fix me up and send me on my way.” She pats my hand. “How did you make it here so fast? This is clear across town for you.”

I entertain the idea of not telling her. I’ll say I was with a client who happens to be a doctor here, and pray when he comes inside, he doesn’t identify himself. But my mom’s not an idiot. She’ll figure it out soon enough.

“My client works here, and we had a meeting nearby. He’s going to check you out now, and I’ll make a follow-up appointment for you with him. He said he’s not going to bill you,” I say with a heavy swallow. “It’s, ah, Dr. Astor.”

Her head snaps at me. “The professor?”

I brace myself because the name Theo Astor has haunted us for years. Heat floods my cheeks and I shake my head. “No… Dr. Theo Astor.”

My mom’s eyes widen as the reality lands of the person I just mentioned. I’m pretty sure if she had more energy she’d leap from the bed. But instead, she crosses her arms. “Those dirty fucking Astors—”

“Mom, stop.” How do I explain this? That I know this man—who we’ve hated for years—well enough to know that he’s surely unfaithful to his fiancée, that he’s hiding something, that he ruined my life in Boston, and yet I implicitly trust him enough to care for the most important person to me in the world? “He’s a doctor. And he promised me that he’d take care of you.”

“Absolutely not.” Angry red stripes fan her neck. “Take me home right this second. There ain’t no way in hell after what he did to you I’ll let that man touch me.”

A few months ago, I would’ve agreed. Now everything feels off-balance and it doesn’t make any sense. I’m fighting it all the time, but I can’t deny the pull I feel towards him. Who in their right mind actively starts to feel something for the engaged man who once ruined their life?

Or at least I thought he’d ruined my life.

But the tiniest piece of me wonders if maybe I miscalculated something back then if he doesn’t even remember who I am.

“Listen to me,” I plead, laying a gentle hand on her arm. “Seven years have passed and I’m not in college anymore. I still don’t exactly know how I came to be expelled, but it’s a long time ago. And maybe… maybe I misunderstood something back then.” I hesitate, then say it anyway. “What happened at the school… I don’t think he did it.”

The words land with the weight of a fallen skyscraper, crushing my chest. I’m lying to her because she needs to allow Theo to exam her. But the thought worms its way in anyway. What if there’s more to what happened than what I remember? I was so angry back then—frantic, desperate, grasping at anything that might save my scholarship. In that state, I decided Theo had stolen my university badge, hacked into his father’s computer, and accessed my student account—all because of a smile. With no clear motive.

Is it possible I got this wrong? Maybe there was a crime ring or something, and I was an easy target to blame because I didn’t have the resources to fight back. What if I wrongly accused him, just like I was wrongly accused? A gross, tacky sickness weaves through my stomach. And if that’s the case, then I have no justification whatsoever to ruin his wedding.

As I hold my mom’s hand, I explain that I’ve been working with Theo for months and how wonderful his bride, Annabelle, is.

My heart sinks with those words.

“And he’s going to see me after hours? For free?” she asks, arching her eyebrow.

I swallow a lodged boulder in my throat. “He’s… a really good client.”

“Gemma.”

The use of my birth name snaps me to attention. Before I can respond, a tap sounds at the door, and a white-coat, stethoscope-slinging Theo comes in, and my heart skips. “Hi Lexie,” he says with a perfectly professional nod. But that’s the only recognition he gives me as he focuses entirely on my mother.

Please, please be good.

“Hi, Mrs. Welch, I’m Dr. Astor,” he says as he takes a seat on the spinning chair.

My mom purses her lips. “I know who you are.”

And… we’re off to an amazing start.

“Excellent, then we can just skip past the introductions,” Theo says without even so much as a bristle at the hostile tone. “Would you like your daughter to leave the room so we can talk in private?”

Mom sighs and releases the fierce, rod-like tension in her back. “No, she can stay.”

“If you change your mind at any time, we can ask her to leave.” Instead of facing the computer, or glancing at notes, he looks only at her. “I spoke to the doctor on duty and got up to speed, but I’d like to know what’s been happening these last several months that have led up to this.”