Rebecca Dolack answered the door in her oversize floral nightgown even though it was nearly 9:00 a.m. Ty was glad that he hadn’t decided to come over in the middle of the night and wake her up to tell her the news of her son’s passing. She deserved one last good night of sleep. For the foreseeable future, she would be dealing with all the things that came with death.
“Ty, good morning!” she said, touching her silver hair, which was mussed from sleep. “You should have told me you were coming, kiddo—I’m all a mess.” She smiled at him for a moment, but then she must have picked up on his concern and hesitation. Her smile disappeared. “What happened?”
She glanced over his shoulder at his pickup like she was looking for Moose. He hated that she would never see him walking toward either of them ever again.
“Mrs. Dolack, I’m so sorry to have to inform you that Moose passed away last night.” His voice cracked and he couldn’t help the tears that started to slip down his face.
She dropped to her knees as a wail escaped her, the sound like that of an injured animal—instinctive and so lingering that he knew it would forever haunt his dreams.
He sat down beside her, pulling her into his arms as she sobbed. He said nothing. There were no words that would make the pain she was feeling any better. Nothing could stop the agony that came from having a soul torn apart.
HOLLY HADN’T MEANT to come off like she had, but the entire situation had taken her by surprise. She had no idea why Robert showed up at her house claiming that he had been so worried about her, and he felt he needed to rush to her aid. He was constantly telling her how he didn’t need her, that she was garbage and in the way. Then the next minute, he was telling her how much he loved her and needed her.
He was all over the map, but then he’d accuse her of the same thing. Yet, the only thing she had ever done was tell him no and that she wasn’t interested in any kind of relationship. They worked together—and for all intents and purposes, she was his boss, though the way the company was structured it didn’t feel that way. Even if they hadn’t worked together, he wasn’t her type.
He was always making it a point of telling her that he had more women than he knew what to do with. From what she was led to assume, there was no amount of Viagra that could keep him satisfying them all.
Thankfully, they’d seemed to finally come to an understanding a month or so ago that he wasn’t interested in her or she in him. Unfortunately, the second she started getting interest from other men he’d shown back up in her DMs. He was such a creep.
No doubt his appearance on her doorstep had more to do with the liquor he’d been drinking than his actual feelings. He didn’t care about her; he’d told her as much. He did, however, seem to care about the administrative assistant at their physical therapy office. Maybe she had been the one behind his calling about her being missing.
Regardless of his motivations, Robert had no business at her house. They weren’t a thing and they would never be a thing. They worked together, they were civil, and that was all it needed to be.
What she really couldn’t make heads or tails of was Ty.
She hadn’t even known he had come down from the mountain. From the way he’d made it sound, he had intended on being on the scene for a while. Additionally, from the way things had ended between them, even if he had been back in town, she hadn’t expected to see him ever again. Let alone him showing up on her doorstep. If she hadn’t been so embarrassed by the situation she was dealing with, she perhaps would have taken the time to ask him why he was there.
Though he had said he was there to make sure she’d arrived home safely, she couldn’t come to terms with why he thought rolling up on her and her coworker was appropriate. The only thing she could clearly see was that he had a savior complex.
She hated to admit it especially given what had happened, but it was sexy that he wanted to come to her aid even though they weren’t, and would never be, in a relationship again. He was just a good guy, even if his actions weren’t quite in line with her expectations or assumptions. And maybe that meant the problem lay somewhere with her.
She tried to think about the situation from his perspective. Robert had been angry. He’d been intimidating and punchy, but she knew well enough that Robert was only being demonstrative, and he’d never do her any harm. He was just bigger than life sometimes.
At least, she didn’t think he’d really want to hurt her.
From Ty’s point of view, she could almost understand why he thought he needed to swoop in and save her. Unfortunately, he’d caught her off guard and she had responded poorly. At the very least, she owed him an apology.
That night had been fitful, but she had tried to find some sleep before she had to go to work the next day. Her thoughts kept moving between Robert and Ty and how she needed to deal with both of them, but she was left with more questions than answers.
She probably needed to call the Search and Rescue unit and thank them for coming to her aid. However, she wasn’t entirely sure that she was ready to speak to Ty or anyone associated with him. Not only was she embarrassed about last night and Robert, but she was also embarrassed for having ever needed their rescue in the first place. Added to that was Moose’s death and everything else, and it was clear she had created an unimaginable situation.
She felt so guilty.
Nothing she was doing was right. She never wanted to be that girl. She was thirty years old and creating more problems than ever before in her life. Her grandfather used to say that “when you found yourself in a hole, sometimes the best thing to do was stop digging.” This time, not only did she need to stop digging, but she needed someone to take away the excavator she seemed to be doing it with.
The clinic was busy this morning and so far, Robert hadn’t shown up for work. According to Penny Reynolds, the assistant, she had yet to hear from him. Penny had said nothing about what had transpired between him and Holly last night, so she had to assume that Penny knew nothing about it.
She wasn’t about to expose their ridiculous melodrama and cause more issues.
Besides, if Penny had been going out with him then she had to have known what kind of guy he was. He never made it a secret that he was a womanizer, even going so far as to hit on women in front of her and Penny. So far, he hadn’t done it to a patient, as that would have been Holly’s line in the sand. She had made that known to him, as well. What he did in his private life was his business and had been up until the point he had tried to include her. Last night definitely changed some dynamics, and they would need to face things head-on.
It was really no wonder he wasn’t in a rush to get to work this morning.
After seeing her third patient of the day, an eighty-seven-year-old man with severe sciatica, Penny called her from the front desk. “There’s a delivery up here for you,” Penny said.
“I’ll be there in a second,” she said, resenting the fact that she would once again have to be close to Penny today after everything that had happened. It wasn’t in her nature to walk on eggshells.
Robert was going to pay for this.
Maybe she could find a way to get Dr. Skinner to agree with her to fire him, or something. She couldn’t stand being around him and her ability to withstand him was waning by the day.
On the other hand, if he hadn’t acted yesterday, she wouldn’t have been alive today. In a way, she owed him her life.
She made her way to the front of the clinic. There were two other, newer physical therapists working today. One was in the pool near the back, and she could hear the murmur of his voice and the splashing of water as he worked with his patient. The small therapy pool gave the place a chlorine smell, but she liked it. The aroma made her feel like they were doing more than most in their field and that they weren’t afraid to do what it took to make sure their patients had the highest levels of care.
She really was proud of her business...that was, as long as she didn’t delve too deeply into the personal lives of the other owners and staff.
She sighed as she neared the front desk.
Personal lives were personal; she just had to leave everything there.
“Hi, Penny,” she said, forcing a smile. “You have something for me?”
Penny smiled widely, her perfect white teeth sparkling in the lights, and she nearly bounced in her chair. Though they weren’t that many years apart, she seemed so much younger. “Look.” Penny pointed at a large bouquet of red roses and white lilies.
The scent of the lilies wafted over her. She loved lilies. “Did you see who brought them?” she asked, her thoughts moving to Robert. He was probably sending her flowers to the office to apologize for his behavior and to soften her for when he showed up at work—eventually.
“The Peaks Floral shop just delivered them,” Penny said. “But there’s a card, right there. Hurry. Open it. I’m dying to see who they are from.” She clenched her hands together and held them to her chest like a kid waiting to open their Christmas presents.
Holly was half surprised that Penny didn’t just stand up and hop from foot to foot in her excitement.
It was silly, but she didn’t want to open the card in front of the woman who was clearly more excited about the flowers than she was. She appreciated them, but in every bouquet or unexpected gift, there was always some kind of hidden cost. If these were from Robert, the price would be forgiveness—and she wasn’t entirely sure she was ready to pay.
Maybe she was just jaded.
She’d have to watch out for that in herself. Jadedness led to bitterness. To her, there was nothing worse than a bitter person; they were toxic as their resentments and anger had a way of spreading to those around them like slow-moving cancer.
“Aren’t you excited?” Penny asked, obviously noticing Holly’s demeanor.
“Who wouldn’t be excited for flowers?” she answered, pasting a smile on her face and trying to be nice. She walked over and sniffed the lilies, taking pleasure in them for a moment before solving the mystery of the sender and then having to unravel their intended meaning.
She plucked the white envelope from the card stand and slipped the card out. All it said was, “I’m sorry.” There was no signature, and it looked as though it was in a woman’s handwriting—which she had to assume was the florist who had taken the order.
She sighed.
“Oh...” Penny said. “Is it a juicy note? You going to let me read it?”
She was surprised Penny hadn’t already. If she had, she was faking it well.
“Someone is apologizing.” She forced a smile and turned away, leaving the beautiful flowers on Penny’s desk. The last thing she wanted to do was spend the rest of the day in torment whenever she spotted them. Whoever had sent them was going to be in more trouble for not signing the card than if they had sent nothing.
If they were from Robert, she’d once again need to tell him that he held no place in her private life. If they were from Ty...well, she’d need to tell him the same thing—and then follow it up with her own apology.