Chapter Thirteen

Lila felt as if she had suddenly blinked and just like that, found herself going back to square one all over again. She was experiencing feelings of excitement and wariness and that in turn had created knots in her stomach.

Big ones.

But not quite big enough for her to call Everett and tell him that she’d changed her mind about having dinner with him.

Despite saying that she didn’t need any extra time to get ready because she was still dressed for work, Lila impulsively flew into her bedroom for a quick change of clothes. She didn’t want to look as if she was going to a business meeting. She wanted to look as good as she could possibly look.

Like a woman who was going out to dinner with a man who had once owned her heart.

Not that she planned on letting him own it again, she maintained as she quickly pulled the pins out of her hair. Instantly, the changed hairstyle made her appear more carefree. Her auburn hair cascaded around her face instead of being neatly pulled back, out of the way.

Her practical attire gave way to an attractive, form-flattering dress. She had just slipped on a pair of high heels that could have never, by any stretch of the imagination, been called sensible, when she heard the doorbell ring.

The sound instantly had her heart accelerating.

Showtime, she thought.

Hurrying to the front of the house, she stopped just short of the front door in order to catch her breath. She pulled herself together, doing her best to look as if she was totally nonchalant about the evening that lay ahead of her.

Everett would probably see right through her, she thought. Even so, she felt that she still had to keep up the charade.

Taking in one more deep breath and then slowly releasing it, she opened the door.

“When you say fifteen minutes, you really mean fifteen minutes,” she said as she smiled up into Everett’s handsome face.

“A man’s only as good as his word,” he responded. “You know, we don’t have to leave right away if you’re not ready yet.”

“Do I look like I’m not ready yet?” she asked.

Despite her coy bravado, Lila couldn’t help wondering what it was that Everett saw when he looked at her. Had he been hoping she’d be wearing something more appealing? Sexier?

Don’t borrow trouble, she warned herself.

Everett’s eyes slowly washed over the length of her. There was nothing but approval evident in his eyes. “You look, in a word, perfect,” he pronounced.

Lila smiled at the compliment, secretly pleased although she tried her best to appear indifferent. “Then I guess I’m ready.” Taking her purse, she walked out of the house, then paused to lock up.

Everett’s Mercedes was waiting in her driveway.

“By the way,” Everett said as he held the passenger door open for her, “I know you said we were going to a Chinese restaurant, but if I’m driving, you need to tell me the address.”

She waited for Everett to get in on his side. Once he buckled up, she gave him the address, adding, “It’s about half a mile past the Foundation. A lot of people from work like grabbing lunch at Gin Ling’s.”

Everett thought for a second. “I think I know which restaurant you mean,” he told her. He remembered seeing it when he’d driven to the Foundation. “That’s the one that’s built to look like a pagoda, right?”

“Right.”

Gin Ling’s was doing brisk business when they arrived. They had to wait a few minutes to be seated.

Thinking that Everett might grow impatient, Lila told him, “We can go somewhere else if you don’t want to wait.”

Everett made no move to take her up on the suggestion. “Do you like eating here?” he asked her.

She wouldn’t have suggested coming here if she hadn’t. That wasn’t the point. “Yes, but—”

“Then we’ll wait,” he told her, adding, “I’m not in any hurry. I like making the most of the little downtime I get.”

There was a reason why she had mentioned the idea of going to another restaurant. “I just don’t want to make you late.”

Everett looked at her as if he wasn’t quite following her. “For what? I don’t have a plane to catch,” he reminded Lila. “I’m driving back to Houston.”

“Doesn’t all that driving make you tired?” In his place, she’d find driving back and forth between Austin and Houston exhausting after a while.

However, Everett shook his head. “On the contrary. Driving relaxes me.”

Relaxing made her think about falling asleep at the wheel—not that Everett would ever admit that he was in danger of doing that. But she didn’t want to think that he ran the risk of having something happen to him because of her.

“Still,” she told him, “I don’t want you so relaxed that you just slide right out of your seat.”

“Never happen,” Everett assured her. Still, her comment made his heart lighter.

She was clearly worried about him, he thought, and that felt particularly encouraging. Because that meant that there were still feelings there. Feelings he intended to stoke and encourage.

“Don’t worry,” he said. “I like staying in one piece as much as the next man. If I ever feel too tired to drive back, I’ll rent a motel room and sleep until I feel up to driving. And, don’t forget, there’s always Schuyler,” he reminded her.

A hostess came to show them to their table. Lila fell into place behind the woman with Everett following right behind her.

“Sorry, I was just remembering how stubborn you could be,” Lila told him as they were being shown to a cozy booth.

“Not stubborn,” Everett corrected, waiting for her to slide in before taking his own seat opposite her. “Determined.”

Lila smiled. “Right. Determined,” she repeated, humoring him.

“So how was going back to work?” Everett asked her after their server had brought them a pot of tea and then departed after taking each of their orders.

“Wonderfully hectic as always,” she told him.

But Everett was more interested in the state of her health. “You didn’t have any relapses or feel any ill effects from the flu?”

“No. I didn’t expect that there would be,” she told him honestly, smiling at Everett. “I always knew that you would be a fantastic doctor.”

Everett maintained a straight face as he nodded. “I haven’t mastered walking on water yet,” he deadpanned, “but I’m working on it.”

About to bring the small cup of tea to her lips, Lila stopped just short of completing the action, staring at him.

Everett laughed. “Well, you were making it sound as if I’d done something extraordinary,” he told her. “I just took it a step further.”

“You went out of your way for a patient—which was what I was,” she reminded him. “Not every doctor would have stayed with a patient for almost a week because there was no one to take care of her.”

“Not just any patient,” Everett pointed out, “but a patient I was once nearly engaged to.”

“And that near-engagement ended badly,” she reminded him. Before he could say anything in response, she went on to tell him, “You had every right in the world to call the paramedics, then have them take me to the hospital while you walked away.”

He inclined his head like a man conceding a point. “Okay. You got me. I’m a magnificent doctor—who was hoping for a second chance at dinner,” he added as if that had been his sole motive behind seeing to it that she got well. “In order to do that, I had to make sure that you stayed alive. The best way to do that was to see to it myself.” He shrugged. “I don’t delegate very well.”

She paused to sample the egg roll appetizer that had been brought to the table and then laughed.

“When did you get so good at twisting around words to make them back you up?” she wanted to know.

“It comes with the medical degree,” Everett responded.

“No, it doesn’t,” Lila countered. She felt herself verging on impatience at the way he was so dismissive of his own abilities.

“Okay, then let’s just say it’s an inherent talent. A gift,” he emphasized. “Born out of necessity,” he added. “Satisfied?” He studied her across the table.

“No,” Lila answered honestly. “But I guess that it’ll have to do for now.”

She was rewarded with a smile that seemed to come from deep inside of Everett. She could feel her heart flutter in response.

They talked for another hour, long after the main course and the fortune cookies had come and gone and the pot of tea had been refilled.

“I think we’d better get going. It looks like our server wants the table.” She looked toward the reception area and saw why. “There’s a line going all out the door now.”

Everett found himself reluctant to leave. “I’m sure I can find a way to make it up to him if you want to stay a little longer. Would you like a few more appetizers?” he asked.

Lila laughed. “If I so much as look at another one, I’ll explode.”

“Okay, that’s a no,” he acknowledged. “So I guess you’re ready to go?”

Lila nodded. “I’ve got another day at work tomorrow and you, you’ve got a long drive ahead of you,” she reminded him. “I can call a cab for myself if you’d like to get started on that drive home,” Lila offered, watching Everett’s expression for any indication that he did want to leave.

Everett regarded her thoughtfully. “If I didn’t know any better, I would venture to say that you were trying to get rid of me.”

“No,” Lila denied, saying the word with feeling. “I’m not.”

He grinned at her. “Good, because it’s not working. I’m going to be taking you home. The few extra minutes that it’ll take me isn’t going to make a difference as far as my trip is concerned,” he assured her. Raising his hand, he signaled to the server.

True to his word, Everett left an extra large tip on the table for the man. Large enough to prompt their server to call after them as they left, saying, “Please come again!”

Lila and Everett exchanged looks and grinned at one another just before they walked out of the increasingly crowded restaurant.

“I had a really nice time tonight,” she told Everett once she was at her door.

Everett nodded, doing his best to look solemn as he reviewed their evening.

“Well, you made it all the way back home without passing out, so the way I see it, it was a successful evening,” he said dryly.

Lila shook her head. “You’re not going to let me live that down, are you?” she asked.

“In time, maybe,” he conceded.

Key in hand, Lila stopped just short of putting it into the lock. She knew she was stalling, but she couldn’t help herself.

“Does that mean you want to do this again?” she asked Everett.

“Absolutely,” Everett answered with certainly. He paused for a moment, debating whether or not to say what was on his mind or quit while he was ahead. After a beat, he made up his mind to continue. “Lila, I just want you to know that I intend to rebuild what we once had,” he told her. He saw the wary look that came over her face even though he could tell she was trying to appear unaffected by his words. “I didn’t say that to scare you, Lila. I want to be fair about this. I’m not going to go behind your back, or spring something on you. This is all going to be aboveboard and honest. I just really want to make the most of this second chance.”

“Second chance?” Lila repeated.

The fact that she wasn’t immediately dismissing what he’d just said told Everett that at least to some extent, she felt the same way he did. This was their second chance. Or more accurately, his second chance.

“I think that Fate threw us together like this for a reason, Lila, and I’m not about to ignore that,” he told her.

He could see that she still looked wary.

“Don’t worry,” he reassured her quickly. “I don’t plan on throwing a sack over your head and running off with you to some isolated cabin in order to wear you down until you see things my way. I told you that I’m patient and that’s not just when it comes to getting a table in a restaurant. I will go as slow as you want me to go, but I have a feeling that in the end, you’ll agree with me that we were meant to be together.”

As he talked, standing so close to Lila, he was overwhelmed by an urge to kiss her. But he instinctively knew that doing so at this moment would spook her and he couldn’t afford the setback that would create. Kissing Lila might satisfy the need he had just to feel her lips against his, but it very well might cost him in the end. He’d be winning the battle but losing the war, so to speak.

So, difficult as it was, he was determined to hold himself in check and wait.

He had no other choice. He had told Lila the truth. Patience was at the very core of his psychological makeup. He intended to wait as long as he had to in order to win Lila back.

“Are you sure that you’re up to driving all that distance?” Lila asked him, breaking into his thoughts.

The fact that she worried about him touched Everett again. It proved to him that he was right. In the long run, they were going to wind up together. Fate wouldn’t be that cruel to him, to bring her back into his life like this only to ultimately have him lose her a second time. He just had to stay strong and keep his wits about him.

“I’m fine,” he told her. “And I’m going to be back sometime next week for a day. I’ll see you then,” he promised. “Now go inside and lock the door so I can get going.”

Lila was about to point out that she got inside her house on her own every night without supervision, or having anything happen to her, but she let it go. She didn’t want to ruin the evening. Everett was being protective and there was something to be said for that, she told herself. Besides, being this close to him was practically setting her on fire, which she could not afford.

So she unlocked her door under his watchful eye and then went in, closing the door behind her.

“Now lock it,” he told her after a beat, raising his voice to be heard.

“Yes, sir,” Lila called back, humoring him. She turned the lock. “It’s locked,” she announced.

“Good night, Lila.”

“Good night, Everett.”

And then, after a couple of beats, she heard Everett’s car starting up. He was leaving.

Why did that have such a mournful sound to her, she asked herself. After all, she wanted him to leave. Everett might be confident about their future together, but she wasn’t.

He’d also been confident about their future when they were younger. Very confident. And look how that had ultimately turned out, she reminded herself. That big, wonderful future he had been so sure stretched out before them had shriveled up and died before it had ever had a chance to actually take root and thrive.

And history, she reminded herself as she went into her bedroom to change out of her dress, had a terrible habit of repeating itself.

Lila closed her eyes and shivered. She couldn’t bear to go though that kind of heartbreak a second time.

She wasn’t strong enough.