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sorry.”
    “No, Ross. I’m the sorry one. I came here because I felt bad, like I overreacted. I know you didn’t mean to do what you did, but it really magnified the problem. Do you know how hard it is to be in love with someone and have no idea who they’re thinking about when you’re with them? I thought if I was patient, if I listened and was there for you when you needed a shoulder to cry on, you’d come around, even when everything about you said otherwise.”
    “Mattie, please—”
    “You have no idea how badly it hurts me to have to let you go.”
    “Then don’t,” he said. “I came home to let things cool off, to give us both time to think things through. My feelings for you are complicated.”
    “Then uncomplicate them. I know you miss your wife. I know you’re hurting, but by ignoring the problems between us, I’m letting you hurt me. Five years and you’re still not over her. She’s gone and she’s never coming back. I can’t be her.”
    Ross’s hurt turned to anger. “No one asked you to.”

CHAPTER TEN
     
    Guy buried his face in his hands, the call having not gone as he had expected. The Ross Reeves he knew never shied away from a challenge or from helping someone in need. Something had changed, and whatever it was had left Guy in a lurch.
    He picked up the phone and dialed Ruth Wheeler’s number. Ruth answered on the second ring.
    “Dr. Oliver, good morning.”
    “Ruth, we need to talk.”
    “Okay, let’s skip the pleasantries.”
    “What, exactly, do you want me to get out of Lila?” It was the most direct he had ever been with her.
    “I don’t want you to get anything out of her, Dr. Oliver. I want you to help lift the weight of her grief, to get to the bottom of whatever’s bothering her.”
    “Why? You aren’t her flesh and blood, Ruth. You have no reason to take care of her. You say there isn’t something you’re specifically looking to hear, but then why the donation if she opens up? What do you get out of any of this?”
    “The satisfaction of taking care of my son’s wife. It’s what Blake would have wanted. The money is a token of my appreciation for all that Lakeside has tried to do. Lila’s family has never approved of her choices. From the minute Lila married Blake, forsaking having children, her parents have been distant. Well, more so than usual. They’re business people, in love with an easy lifestyle. They aren’t the ‘taking care of someone’ type. Someone needs to look after Lila.”
    “And that day, when we were doing the admission paperwork, you asked to be separated from Lila. If you were overseeing her care because you loved her or because of some obligation you felt to your son, why couldn’t you be in the same room as her?”
    “Things had been strained between us since Blake’s passing. I didn’t want to be in the room with Lila as much for her sake as for mine. She’s,” Ruth paused as if choosing her words carefully, “ fragile .”
    “I agree, but I can’t help feeling there’s more to this. I put my license on the line for you, Ruth. The least you can do is to explain to me why.”
    “If you’re worried about your license, don’t be. No one knows Lila signed those papers under heavy sedation except for me.”
    “That doesn’t make me feel any better.” Guy’s limited dealings with Ruth Wheeler had him believing her capable of anything. “Please, Ruth. One hint. One clue about anything that might get Lila to open up.”
    “Something happened in those last days before Blake was shot, something dramatic enough for Lila to want to take her own life. It’s up to you to find out what.”
    “I’m trying, but how am I supposed to do that if she won’t talk to me? Lila transferred here a year ago with a copy of her hospital chart and a suitcase and you expect a miracle. I read her file, cover to cover, and there’s nothing in there that matters.”
    “Then find out what isn’t in there.”
    The line went dead.
    Ruth had