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Too bad. I was going to be bothering him. “Thank you.”
“Can you do lunch today?” She smiled sweetly.
Against my better judgment, I said, “Sure.” It’s not like I was in the middle of a huge life change and had hours of work ahead of me. But my mind was spinning so fast, I wasn’t sure I would be able to think straight. Especially after I gave Kane a piece of my mind.
She clapped her hands together. “Yay! Finally. There’s this great little Italian place I love close by.”
“Perfect. Excuse me. I have some pressing matters this morning.”
“Of course. Does noon work?”
I nodded and walked toward my office. The first thing I did was reach for my phone and dial Kane’s number.
He picked up right away. “Hello, darlin’.”
“Don’t darlin’ me. What have you done?”
“Scarlett,” he said my name so tenderly. “I promised that you would have all the options. I meant that.”
“How? Why does Auggie want my plan?” I barked at him.
“You’ll have to ask him.”
“I did, and he said you were pushing the envelope. Did you tell him I didn’t want this job?”
“Do you think so little of me?” He sounded angry.
That pulled me up short. “No,” I whispered, ashamed.
“Scarlett,” he sighed, “talk to your dad. And when you finally decide what you want, let me know. You know how I feel about you. Goodbye, darlin’.” He hung up.
I stared at my phone willing the tears not to fall, but they did anyway. What had he done? And would I love him or hate him for it? Who was I kidding? I was always going to love him.
I grabbed my laptop, set it on my desk, and turned it on. Not even bothering to sit down. With shaky hands, I logged in and pulled up the files I’d been working on. My presentation and plan were in no shape to be evaluated. Regardless, I zipped the files, ready to send them to Auggie, but first added a lengthy explanation in my email to fill in the blanks and more accurately portray my vision. I also mentioned who I still planned to talk to and the research I had left to do. I wanted to shake Kane for whatever it was he was playing at. Was he forcing Auggie to see I wasn’t ready? Or was he trying to convince Auggie I needed his help? Or worse, was Kane throwing in the towel? Was that how he meant to give me options? Well, I had news for him: I wouldn’t accept that. I was either going to earn this or lose this fair and square.
I sent my email, and for the rest of my morning, I paced around my office, not knowing what to do with myself even though I had more than enough to do. I kept wondering what Auggie thought of my plan and presentation. When I wasn’t wondering about that, I was thinking about Kane. I remembered a long time ago he’d told me if I didn’t choose my dreams, it would complicate my life even more. Well, things were complicated all right.
I wondered how life would be now, if eight years ago I had told my father the truth, and if Kane hadn’t tried to do the “right” thing. I had a feeling I would have been in a lot more Facebook posts and I’d still be doing my residency, as forensic pathology requires one more year past clinical pathology. Would I be happier? Would Auggie still have been proud of me? Or would he and Momma be disappointed that I didn’t want their hopes and dreams?
By the time noon rolled around, it felt like midnight. I almost canceled with Jaycie, then decided I would feel too guilty if I did. Besides, I needed some fresh air. My office was becoming more and more claustrophobic as the day wore on.
Jaycie and I mostly made small talk on the way over to the restaurant. I let her drive me in her sporty little coup. Another thing she had in common with Kane—she loved sports cars. She couldn’t say enough about how fun it was driving the Porsches at the conference and, of course, how gorgeous Kane looked behind the wheel.
When we got settled at our table and ordered, the tone of the conversation shifted.
Jaycie bit her pouty lip. “I’ve heard rumors that you and Kane used to date. Is that true?”
I wrung my napkin on my lap. “We did, a long time ago.”
She breathed a sigh of relief. “Was it amazing?” She was obviously obsessed with him, which on one hand disturbed me, but on the other hand, I understood.
I didn’t appreciate her question, though. It made me think of how utterly amazing he really had been. I’d never been with someone so fully supportive, who appreciated who I was. He’d never wanted to change me. He had been thoughtful, and never made fun of me, even when he’d had to teach me how to kiss. And man, could he kiss. But he’d never pushed it further than I had wanted it to go that summer. Always careful to never break the teacup, as he’d put it, even at times when I probably would have let him. So yes, he had been amazing, even though he’d left me. And I wish I could blame him for stealing my dreams; however, he was right. That was on me. All on me. And he had probably been right to break things off—not in the manner he had, but I was twenty-two years old, and overly naive at that. I’d had no business committing my life to anyone back then, even though I’d really wanted to.
