Chapter 3

I moved into Melinda's place for the time being.

She helped me get my things unpacked, then pulled me down to sit beside her.

"So what's the plan now? What about work? You and Dustin are at the same company."

I was quiet for a moment.

"I'll quit."

Dustin and I met in college, and after graduation we ended up at the same firm.

He was an architect. I was a structural engineer.

Everyone called us the perfect team, the couple everyone envied.

Looking back now, it just felt like a joke.

"Quitting's not a bad idea." Melinda nodded. "Better than running into each other every day, having to see his face. Do you know where you're going yet?"

"Not yet. I'll rest for a while first."

I'd been wound too tight these past few years.

Driven at work, and in love... even more so.

I kept thinking that if I was just good enough, impressive enough, Dustin would spare me another look.

Only now did I see how wrong I'd been.

He didn't look at me not because I wasn't good enough, but because I simply wasn't in his eyes at all.

For the next few days, Dustin didn't come to bother me.

I figured he thought I was just throwing a fit, that once I cooled off I'd naturally come back.

I was glad for the quiet. I finished my resignation paperwork and started browsing apartments online.

A week later, I got a call.

It was my mother.

"Janie, what's going on with you and Dustin? Vi tells me you two had a fight? And you've moved out?"

I leaned against the balcony railing, watching the traffic flow by below.

"Mom, we broke up."

"Nonsense!" Her voice shot up at once. "Everything was fine, why would you break up? What has Dustin ever done wrong by you?"

I closed my eyes.

"Mom, everything about him is wrong by me."

"What kind of way is that to talk?" She was displeased. "Dustin has been so good to you, the whole family has seen it. Did Vi upset you again? You're the older sister, can't you give in to her a little? She's not well, you know that."

Here we go again.

My whole life, whenever Viola and I had a falling-out, I was always the one in the wrong.

Because I was the older sister.

Because she wasn't well.

"Mom, I'm the one you actually gave birth to." I couldn't stop myself.

The other end went silent.

It was a long moment before she sighed.

"Janie, I know you feel wronged. But Vi... she's different. Three years ago, after the accident, the doctors said she might never wake up. It was Dustin who stayed by her the whole time, talking to her, who brought her back. He did this family a great kindness. You can't treat him this way."

So that was it.

There were things I hadn't known.

Something clogged up in my chest, a heavy, aching pressure.

"So I'm supposed to spend the rest of my life repaying his kindness?"

"Repaying, what repaying? Aren't the two of you dating?"

"That wasn't dating." I cut her off. "That was charity."

I hung up.

My chest heaved, my eyes stinging hard.

I thought I was past being hurt by any of this.

But it turned out I wasn't.

That afternoon, I met an agent to look at an apartment.

It was in an older complex downtown, not far from Melinda's.

One bedroom, one living room, plainly furnished, but clean.

I put down a deposit on the spot.

Coming out of the agency, I was waiting for a car at the curb when a black Cayenne pulled up in front of me.

The window came down, and there was Dustin's familiar face.

He'd gotten thinner, a bluish stubble on his jaw, something worn and haggard about him.

"Get in."

His voice was hoarse.

I didn't move.

"I've already rented a place. I don't need a ride from you."

He pushed the door open and got out, crossing to me in a few strides.

"Jane, do you really have to be like this?"

"Like what?" I looked at him. "Dustin, it's over between us."

"I didn't agree to it!" He grabbed my arm, losing his grip on himself a little. "A breakup isn't something you decide all on your own!"

The people passing by were starting to throw us curious looks.

I didn't want to tussle with him in the middle of the street.

"Let go of me first."

"I won't!" He stared at me, stubborn. "You're coming home with me."

Just then a white car pulled up beside me.

The window rolled down, and a gentle male voice came through.

"Miss Pruitt? Do you need any help?"

I turned and saw an unfamiliar face.

The man wore thin gold-rimmed glasses, refined and mild-mannered.

Then it came to me. He was the ER doctor who'd cleaned up my scrape that day. A Dr. Dickerson.

It was like grabbing a lifeline.

"Dr. Dickerson? What a coincidence." I twisted free of Dustin's grip. "My friend's here to pick me up. I have to go."

I opened the door and got in fast.

Dustin froze where he stood, his face as dark as it could get.

As the car pulled away, I could still see him in the side mirror, standing there, not moving at all.

"Thank you, Dr. Dickerson." I let out a breath.

"It was nothing." He gave a small smile. "A friend of yours?"

"Ex-boyfriend."

At that, he raised an eyebrow but didn't ask anything more.

He drove me to the entrance of my complex.

"How's your knee doing?"

"Much better, thank you."

"Don't mention it." He handed me a card. "I'm Gilbert Dickerson, orthopedics at City First Hospital. If there's any problem with the wound, you can reach me anytime."

"Okay, thank you."

I took the card and got out of the car.

Back at Melinda's, I told her all about running into Dr. Dickerson.

Melinda's eyes lit up in an instant.

"An orthopedic surgeon at City First? Gold-rimmed glasses? Refined and mild-mannered?" She grabbed my hand, her whole face lighting up. "Girl, your spring is on its way!"

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"You're reading too much into it. He just helped me out because he happened to be passing by."

"Passing by, my foot. This is fate!" Melinda said it with total conviction. "You have to grab this chance!"

I didn't take her words to heart.

But I never expected that the very next day, I'd run into Gilbert again.