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Diana gasps loudly.
“There he is.”
I’m ripping off my disgusting cleaning gloves to throw in the trash, too busy to look at wherever Diana is pointing. I doubt, whoeverheis she’s talking about, will be of any interest to me in the slightest, despite her attention-grabbing gasp of surprise.
“Who is it, Diana?” I ask her wearily.
“The hot new pediatrician,” she whispers excitedly. “He’s here.”
I snort at that and throw the other glove in the trash, still refusing to give her the pleasure of looking where she’s pointing.
“I’m not obsessed about some new doctor,” I say. “They come and go and get super rich, and they are always, always rude. Without exception. Call me prejudiced, but that’s the truth.”
Diana is ignoring my comments, she is way too busy ogling at whoever this man is behind me.
“I’m surprised,” she mutters, “that the new doctor is a Penmayne. I know there are so many of those brothers. Their dad is that guy who owns, like, every news channel, right?”
My heart stops.
No, no, no. That can’t be true.
“Did you just say...Penmayne?” I ask my best friend.
“Yep. Doctor Penmayne. I’ve read about him in a magazine. Apparently, he’s a genius or something. There he is.”
I slowly turn around to face the object of Diana’s fixation.
And there he most certainly is.
I would recognize him even if I hadn’t seen him for a hundred years. I couldn’t wipe that face from my memory even if I tried.
August Penmayne.
He’s standing right there. In the hospital I work at.
He’s the new hot pediatrician everyone is obsessed with.
The man who betrayed me.
He’shere.
27
EMMA
I inhale deeply on the sidewalk outside the house before I dare step onto the porch. It has taken me a hell of a while to get here – a train ride, and then a lengthy walk from the station.
We’re a long way from the city.
I take in another deep breath before I summon up the courage to knock on the door. It takes time for the occupant to open up, but I am fully aware she’s in there. I can be patient - I’ve made the journey all this way...
The door finally unlocks. It slowly swings out, and then I can finally see her.
“Hello, Mom.”
Decades of harsh cleaning work across the length and breadth of this country hasn’t been kind to Mom. I have to admit she’s aged a lot in the last few years, and it shows clearly across her face and her posture. Lines weather around her mouth and eyes, exaggerating her weariness. Her skin is cracked all over. She once proudly stood upright and straight, but now her shoulders are noticeably stooped and she moves with the gait of a woman twenty years older than herself. And as for her living situation - she can barely afford rent on this small property in this nowhere town a million miles from any city. She doesn’t have a car and is therefore stuck here in this ramshackle house, not able to walk anything close to a long distance properly anymore.
