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“That’s only sexual attraction.” Tell me I’m wrong. Please, Blake, tell me you feel more for me than sexual attraction.
“Don’t knock chemistry. It’s what makes the world go around.”
“Not my world,” she admitted softly.
Knowing she had to go while she still could, Darby pulled free from his loose hold.
She’d hoped he’d stop her, that he’d hold on to her and tell her what he felt for her was so much more than sexual attraction.
“If you stay, I’ll marry you.”
“Why?” Tell me you love me. I’ll go anywhere with you, Blake. Just love me.
“For the baby.”
A part of Darby died. The part that had been holding out hope that maybe, just maybe, he cared for her. But when push came to shove Blake wouldn’t fight for her. Why would he? He didn’t love her, and had never given her reason to think he did. In the long run, her leaving made things easier for him.
Darby touched his cheek, loving the feel of the light razor stubble that had popped up since he’d shaved that morning, wishing she could touch him forever.
“Don’t make doing the right thing more difficult than it already is, Blake.” She stood on her tiptoes, pressed a kiss to his lips, and stepped away. Her gaze landed on the one thing she hadn’t yet packed. The one thing she hadn’t been able to place inside a packing crate. Her heart.
Picking up the plastic model at its base, she felt memories assail her. Memories all made with Blake. She turned, smiled through her tears, and held out the heart.
“Here,” she whispered. “Take this. It seems my heart won’t be making the move with me. It’s always belonged to you, anyway.”
“What happened to that pretty female doctor?”
Blake frowned at Mr. Hill, and not because of the ulcer on his leg. Fortunately, the ulcer on Mr. Hill’s leg now had pink granulation tissue forming and was slowly healing.
“She left.”
The man cracked his arthritic neck, frowning right back at Blake. “To be a doctor, she wasn’t too bad. Easy on the eye, too. Where’d she go?”
He didn’t need a man in his seventies telling him Darby was easy on the eye. Blake knew she was easy on the eye. Good thing too, because whether his eyes were open or closed Darby was always what he saw.
“She moved back to where she came from.” Did he sound bitter? Likely. He felt bitter. Darby had found out she was pregnant and immediately left him. Sure, he didn’t know much about being a family, but she hadn’t even given him a chance.
“Where’s that?” Mr. Hill asked.
“Alabama.” Blake answered.
Mr. Hill’s bushy white brow quirked. “You don’t like Alabama?”
“It’s a state.”
“And misery is a state of mind.” Mr. Hill waved his hand in dismissal. “Why are you still here? You should go after her.”
“No one asked for your opinion.”
“You should have asked. I’ve been around awhile, learned from life experiences. You should try it sometime.”
“I’ve learned from life experiences.” He’d learned that he shouldn’t rely on anyone except himself. He’d learned that he’d been a fool to stay in Knoxville following graduation. He should have left, joined a traveling medical group where he could change locales every few months. Wasn’t that what he knew best? How not to get close to people because they came and went from your life?
“You ain’t learned jack, or you’d be rubbing her leg instead of mine.”
Blake dropped his hand away from Mr. Hill’s calf. He’d say the older man had a point—except his rubbing had been covering the wet dressing with an elastic wrap to protect Mr. Hill’s clothes from getting stained.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
