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“I’ll take my thank you now,” he said with a twinkle in his eyes.
She painted on a sweet smile and watched as his eyes grew big as she approached. Then stopped in front of him, snatched the bag of candy canes from him, and pulled one out. She broke it in two and handed him half.
“Thank you for helping. It’s perfect,” she said, turning to look around the room.
“All I heard was ‘Drake, you’re perfect.’ Wow, that’s quite a compliment, especially coming from you.”
“Incorrigible sounds more accurate,” she said, fighting the desire to fall into a playful banter with him. It felt like a slippery slope, or a trap. Up until now, every interaction with him was combative.
“You know, for two people who supposedly can’t stand each other, you’re not fooling anyone. And on that note, I’m heading home to collapse and sleep for twenty-four hours,” Dalton said, walking out.
Then they were alone again.
“You must be exhausted. I never expected you to do all this,” Margo said.
“I’m just sorry I missed your reaction,” he said. “It’s been ten years since our last Christmas together, and I still remember your face when you saw that big tree in your dorm room.”
She spun to face him.
“Almost seems like a lifetime ago, and yet…” The previous playfulness had drained from his face, and he looked hungry, just like he had the last time he kissed her.
Holding her breath, she waited to hear what he would say next. But instead, he shook his head, as if to clear away the memories.
His hand lifted to tip her chin up, forcing her eyes to meet his. “I never should have left you behind.”
Her heart was pounding. He finally said those words she had wanted to hear for so long, but now they almost stung. Like it never had occurred to him to regret leaving her, or come back for her.
“But you did, and we can’t go back in time,” she said.
“No, but if you could forgive me, we could try again.”
She pulled out of his reach. “Try what? We’re both different people now, and you still live in LA. Once you’ve gotten more time with your family, you’ll want to get back to your real life in LA.”
“Stop coming up with excuses, Margo, and tell me you’re not still attracted to me, that you aren’t curious about what would have happened if you’d come to LA or I had stayed here.”
“Our shift is starting. We can’t talk about this now.”
“Fine, but we are going to talk about it,” he said just as the rest of the shift’s residents walked into the doctor’s lounge and oohed about all the festive decorations.
Chapter Fourteen
Margo
After yet another intense shift at the hospital while avoiding being alone with Drake, with his questions tumbling in her mind, Margo was ready for a day off. Her niece’s birthday was tomorrow, and she was looking forward to spending time with family. Although she only had one sister, they had fifteen cousins on her mom’s side and a dozen more on her father’s. Every event and every holiday turned into a family reunion. Growing up with a big extended local family had some blessings, but she was often expected to help her parents wrangle family events.
She just needed to get a good night’s sleep, and then she could focus on the festivities. Dalton had relieved her a little early so she could get a few extra hours of sleep, and she didn’t have to spend time with Drake at the end of their shift when he liked to pepper her with questions. When had she gone from dreading to see him to looking forward to working with him? He hadn’t brought up their past again, but it was like he pressed play on every memory she had tucked away. And they were on repeat now.
It was hard to think about how in love they had been, how connected. The twenty-year-old version of her had thought after medical school they would marry and have started a family by now. But nothing had worked out the way she’d thought it would.
It was pouring rain outside, but she enjoyed the walk several blocks to her condo across from the Potomac River. Cocooned under her umbrella, it was nice to feel the pelting rain hit the clear plastic of the bubble-style umbrella surrounding her. With each step, she left the stress of work behind, but Drake’s jet-black hair and firm lips popped into her mind. It was like he couldn’t let her completely forget him. She moved on, created her own busy life, but he was always on the back of her mind, and now, working with him brought everything between them to front and center.
But there was no point in holding onto the past. She chose to stay, and he’d chosen to follow his dream without her. It didn’t matter why she didn’t go to UCLA with him, it only mattered that he went, anyway. All their choices were like a wall between them, but he was taking a sledgehammer to it. Like they hadn’t missed ten years of each other’s lives, like there weren’t huge hurts standing between them. And what if he really did stay? Would it matter?
Finally home, she kicked off her shoes, and peeled off her damp clothes in exchange for an old familiar T-shirt before crawling into her cozy bed. She fell asleep to thoughts of Drake and lips that knew exactly how to kiss her into oblivion.
*
The sound of a loud knocking woke her, and she jumped out of bed, disoriented. The banging continued as she walked past the Christmas lights she left strewn on the floor days earlier. It was like the knocking was getting more intense.
