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“Open please.” He knocked.
She opened right away. “Did you have an accident?”
“No.”
He locked the door behind him, yanked off his parka, then pulled her against him, and crushed her mouth with his.
Startled, she stiffened but didn’t push him away. Reassured she didn’t hate him, he released her mouth, keeping her locked against him, his cheek pressed to hers.
“I never wrote these texts, Sienna. I just saw them when I tried to text you thirty minutes ago. Please believe me.”
“Then who wrote them?” She pulled back and glared at him, her gaze burning with reproach.
“It must’ve been Beverly, although I don’t know how she got hold of my phone.”
“So Beverly was with you.” Bitterness sharpened her voice.
“Yes.”
“Do you think I’m an idiot, Tyler?”
“Never.”
He remembered her resentment toward her parents. Under her sweet appearance, Sienna hid a backbone of steel, and wouldn’t yield easily.
“I can’t explain what I don’t understand myself. Just give me the benefit of the doubt until I try to figure out the whole mess.”
She held his gaze for a moment, then shrugged.
“Go ahead.” She walked to the sofa and sat, her arms crossed over her chest. “I’m listening.”
He lowered himself to the chair he’d usually occupied and rested his elbows on his knees, leaning toward her.
“I had a long, hard day, Friday.”
“As usual.”
He ignored her sarcasm since it was well-deserved.
“Around six, I decided I could safely leave my patients to the new shift. I remember texting you, I couldn’t wait to get home. I meant to come here and stay with you.”
She checked her phone. “It was exactly six-twenty.” She arched her eyebrows. “Apparently you changed your mind.”
“No. Beverly was in a wheelchair in the lobby. She’d been discharged and was waiting for a cab with the orderly who brought her downstairs. She asked me to take her home. I told her I was in no shape to drive forty-five minutes to her place in that weather. She started whining and making a scene, calling me selfish...”
Sienna frowned, but her lips twitched, no doubt imagining the scene.
“Then she suggested I drive her to my old apartment which was closer. I didn’t have the keys anymore, but she did. I planned to drop her off and leave.”
“So far so good,” Sienna said, her tone that of a rational judge. “Once more, you behaved like a dedicated doctor and rescued a patient in distress, even one who didn’t deserve rescuing.”
“I’m not sure if I was adedicated doctor. I almost fell asleep twice while driving. Somehow we made it to the building. I helped her up to the second floor, but the moment I stepped into the apartment, I collapsed onto the sofa exhausted.”
Sienna narrowed her eyes. “According to my text, she gave you a massage.”
He shook his head.
“I never removed my coat or boots, and slept like a zombie until the next day. Still I don’t understand how she managed to take my phone. I would have awakened if she’d touched me.”
