about all the cardio equipment he wants to buy for Mercy Medical Center?â
âAlways,â her friend said.
âIf he was a pediatric cardiologist I might be able to help you out. But heâs a big-people doctor.â
âYes, he is. And likes to brag that he fixes broken hearts.â
âHe does.â
âAnd heâs good at it,â Avery admitted grudgingly. âIf he werenât it would be a lot easier to dislike him.â
âBut you manage?â
Her friend shrugged. âHe hits on women like crash dummies hit windshields.â
âAnd thatâs a problem?â
âNot for me. I can handle him.â
Ryleigh didnât doubt that. She might look small, blonde, fragile and defenseless, but Avery was not an air-head, didnât take any crap and could handle pretty much anything.
She pulled two paper plates out of the pantry and scooped a piece of pepperoni pizza onto each one. Then she carried the food into the adjacent family room and set it on the glass-topped table sitting between the green and coral floral sofa and the fireplace with wall-mounted flat-screen TV above.
âWell, I like your new look. Itâs adorable and becoming. Fresh and new since I last saw you.â
âBarely four months ago when I visited you in Baltimore.â
âI know that tone.â Ryleigh followed her and sat on the couch. âYouâre annoyed.â
âYes, I am.â After filling two glasses with red wine, Avery sat beside her.
âWhy?â
âLet me count the ways.â Avery held up her index finger. âFirst, you moved away.â
Ryleigh finished chewing a bite of pizza, but it tasted like cardboard. She knew where this conversation was headed. âYou know why I had to leave.â
âI know you believed it would save your marriage, but I think we can all see how well that turned out.â
âSounds stupid when you say it like that, but distance seemed like a good idea at the time.â She sipped her wine, but it didnât dull the memory of how much it had hurt toleave Nick. âI know now that I was hoping he would beg me not to go. Even after Iâd started the job, I had a fantasy that heâd come after me, bring me back. It was immature and naive.â
âNope. I completely get it.â There was sympathy in her friendâs blue eyes. âI just didnât like it.â
âThatâs why I love you.â
âReally?â The annoyed tone was back. âIf that were true, youâd have said something about moving back to Las Vegas. No?â
âNo. When you visited, Iâd just applied for the job and you know how that goes. Contact followed by weeks of waiting. An interview and more waiting. Another interview, then the field is narrowed to two and youâre on pins and needles while they try to decide, even though we all know theyâre probably going to flip a coin. Heads itâs John Doe, tails itâs Ryleigh Evans.â
âI know how it works, but best friends tell each other everything.â
Ryleigh wanted to remind her that there was a big chunk of her life that Avery wouldnât talk about, but decided not to go there. There must be a damn good reason why she didnât talk about it, and the best friend bond respected that.
âAnd sometimes,â Ryleigh said, âa friend tries to spare her best friend pain. I didnât want to get your hopes up and then have it all fall apart.â
âOkay. Totally understandable. Because my hopes would have gone stratosphere high. And I remember how hard it was to let you go. I still havenât forgiven you for leaving.â
âYou just said you understood.â
âI did and I do. But thatâs different from letting you off the hook for abandoning me.â
âWell, Iâm back now.â
âYes, you are and about darn time. But why is that?â Annoyance was gone, replaced by
Rebecca Hamilton, Conner Kressley