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was willing to do was mutter over his shoulder. “Nice bike, by the way.”
    “You fucked me! Do you understand what you’ve done? This was all I had!”
    He ignored her until he reached his driver’s-side door, but then he lost his composure and wheeled on her. “I’ve not ever fucked you, as you well know, but I sure as hell screwed you over pretty good. Seems fitting.”
    “I lost my job because of you!”
    “You can’t possibly think I care.” He was seething as he spoke the words, and her eyes had filled with tears.
    “Yeah? Well, you used to,” she yelled at him. She stayed staring at him with her lips trembling as her tears started to fall, and with a final resigned shake of her head, she turned back to her bike and walked away.
    He watched her small figure walk away from him, and he didn’t look away from her until she’d hopped on her bike and was pedaling away from him. He didn’t want her to catch him staring after her, so he forced himself to get in his car and drive away before she noticed.
    That odd combination of hatred and hurt racked his brain on the way home, and once he was safely inside his own home, he flopped down on the couch and stared at his great room ceiling high above him. It was nearly thirty minutes before he realized he’d forgotten Macy, and he trudged back outside to jog the half-mile to the Anderson’s house. They were outside on their porch, and Macy was lying at their feet. She started barking the instant she saw Darren, and when Darren made it up to them, he apologized.
    “I can’t believe I forgot her. My brain was just taking a break, I guess. Sorry about that.”
    “Oh, it’s no problem. If we were worried, we’d have called. You know we enjoy Macy’s company.” Katherine Anderson was a plump, older woman with the sweetest face he’d ever seen. She always smiled, and Darren no longer thought she owned a frown. He certainly did, and his stress was more often than not etched on his face—at least Katherine often told him so. She also didn’t know how to hold her tongue. “You look upset, Darren. You okay?”
    “I’m fine.” He sank to their porch steps as Macy wriggled up to him and tried to French kiss him before Darren could close his mouth. “Just a long day is all.” He could hear the drawl in his voice. It only ever really popped up when he was stressed. Another of Katherine’s very astute observations.
    “How your folks doin’?”
    She was studying him closely, looking for his deception. “They’re all right. Only see ’em once a week or so. Been so busy at the hospital.”
    “Well, you make sure you get to see them soon, you hear?”
    “Yes, ma’am.” Darren didn’t call anyone ma’am, but she seemed to bring it out in him with her strong southern accent. They’d retired up to the Ozarks from Louisiana. They liked seasons more than they liked hot, humid, year-round warmth. He stood and stepped down from the porch steps. “Y’all take care. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
    They watched as he retreated with Macy, and with a final wave, he rounded the bend at the end of their driveway. He jogged most of the way home, still wearing his scrubs but at least with a good pair of tennis shoes on at this point. He was sweating when he finally reached his house, and he stripped out of his clothes as he stepped into his walk-in master shower. He stood with the water only barely warm, showering down over him, and he closed his eyes, seeing her. When he opened his eyes, it was no better. He couldn’t shake the image of her standing furious in front of him, her tears streaming down her cheeks and her cutting words, hell, his own cruel rebuttal. He wasn’t ready to have her near him again. He just wasn’t ready for this.

Chapter Four
    Six Years Before
    “Hey, Jess, you seen Bailey?”
    “Shut up! My head is throbbin’, and your voice is the most obnoxious thang in the world.” His sister was sitting slumped over the kitchen island, and even though