His apology had been sincere, but there was no way she was going to let him into her life again. He’d hurt her before and she was not going to allow that to happen again.
Ben got into the car and looked over at his daughter. “Well, sweets, are you ready to go home?” he asked.
“Yes, I’m ready,” Janelle said.
As the car pulled away from the curb and drove down the street, she glanced in the side-view mirror again. Tyson was still standing at the curb. She watched him watch her until the car turned the next corner.
Closing her eyes, she relaxed for the first time in days. She was on her way home once more.
Minutes later she climbed the stairs to her childhood room and lay on the bed. Within a matter of seconds she was fast asleep.
* * *
After standing at the curb and watching Ben’s car drive away, Tyson went back inside and climbed the stairs. As he headed for the master bedroom, he glanced in on Aneka to see that she was still asleep, holding Janelle’s doll.
He walked over and sat on the love seat beneath the alcove. He laid his head back, thinking about the evening. Hearing Janelle’s voice when she had called earlier had been a shock, but seeing her walk into the office had left him speechless.
Granted, she was stunned and furious to see him. Even so, she was even more beautiful than he remembered. Her soft brown eyes still sparkled when she was emotional and her flawless skin still singed red when she was angry. Her full lips were still as luscious and tempting as ever and her body was just as perfect as always.
Her reappearance in his life was far sooner than he’d expected, yet it had allowed him to take the first step back into her life. Granted, it had been awkward and far more difficult than he’d expected, but nonetheless it was a move toward a new beginning.
He had loved her the moment he’d first seen her walk into the hospital cafeteria years ago. He’d known right then she was the only woman for him. It had taken her a bit longer to see that he was the man for her. But together they had worked it out and their union had ended up strong...before he’d left. Tyson needed to remind her of that. It would take time. She may not be ready to accept him right now, but there was one thing he knew for sure—tomorrow was another day.
Hours later Janelle rolled over and opened her eyes. It took her a few seconds to realize where she was—at her father’s home in her old bedroom. Smiling to herself, she stretched leisurely and then slowly leaned up on her elbows and looked around the room. Sunlight streamed in and everything seemed brand-new. She chuckled to herself. Her father hadn’t changed a thing since she’d been gone.
Music posters still hung on the walls, trophies and dolls remained on the shelves beneath the crown molding, and CDs, books and DVDs were neatly stacked in her bookcases. It was like stepping into a time warp. Janelle realized the last time she’d actually slept in this room was at the end of her sophomore year in college. After that she’d lived in year-round campus apartments and later on in her own town house.
Her own town house. The instant she thought about her house, she recalled Tyson being there. Of course, now that the home was completely furnished with his things, it seemed more like his than hers. To his credit, the place was stunning. It fit him perfectly—it was stylish, contemporary and tastefully elegant. But she would have expected no less from Tyson Croft. He was the man she thought she’d be with the rest of her life. He was her soul mate, her friend, her confidant and her lover. He was the man of her dreams from the very beginning.
They’d met in the Johns Hopkins cafeteria the start of the second week of her third year in residency. She’d just completed a double shift—all night, all day and well into the following evening. She had been exhausted, too tired to drive home, but also distraught. Her patient, a five-year-old little boy, had been critical.
There’d been about thirty other people in the cafeteria the night they’d met, but she remembered seeing only him. She had grabbed a cup of tea to wind down and take a much-needed break. When she’d walked into the cafeteria, he’d been there, sitting right at the entrance. As she’d entered, he’d looked up at her and she’d stopped. He’d smiled and nodded once. “Good evening,” he’d said.
Her heart had jumped. He had unnerved her the instant he’d spoken. She’d taken a deep breath and managed to return his nod. “Good evening,” she’d replied and then continued walking until he’d stopped her again.
* * *
“Excuse me,” he began. She turned around slowly. “Are you okay?”
She grimaced at his question. “Yes, I’m okay. Why, do I not look okay?”
“Actually, you look distressed, like you’re carrying the world on your shoulders.”
He was more right than he knew, which she admitted to herself. “Thank you for your diagnosis, but I’m fine.” She turned and just before she walked away again he spoke once more.
“In that case, are you a doctor here at this hospital?”
She looked down at her blue medical scrubs, white jacket and badge that clearly stated her name and title. She nodded.
“Good, because seeing you just stopped my heart.”
She smiled and half chuckled at the corny remark. “That’s the worst pickup line I’ve ever heard.”
“True, but it was effective,” he said.
She looked at him, slightly confused.
“It got you to smile. I’m feeling better already.”
She grinned again, then turned to walk away.
“Wait! What about my heart?”
“Sorry, you’re out of luck. I’m a third-year pediatric resident. The best I can do is to tell you to take two aspirin and call me in the morning.” He laughed as she walked away.
When Janelle took a seat on the far side of the room, she turned to see him still watching her. A few seconds later, though, a woman walked up beside him; it was obvious he had been waiting for her.
That was apparently the beginning and end of their first flirtation. She drank her tea while mulling over a troubling case she’d been working. Minutes later, her cell phone rang: her young patient had taken a turn for the worse. Jumping up, she dumped the cup of tea in the trash and ran out, only to discover her five-year-old patient hadn’t survived.
An hour later Janelle walked, zombielike, back into the cafeteria. It was empty this time...except for him.
He stood as soon as she walked in. Seeing her face, he opened his arms to her without a word. She went to him. He was a stranger, yet all she could think about was being in his arms. Janelle never cried at work because doctors weren’t supposed to. They had to be unaffected by human emotion to do their jobs. But the instant he folded his arms around her, she relinquished her detached emotions and sobbed.
He consoled her without a single word.
She didn’t see him again until the following week, when he was waiting at her table, their table, in the cafeteria. Janelle asked him about his heart problems, and she knew right then that her heart was lost to him. For the next eleven months, they were inseparable.
* * *
“Damn,” Janelle said as she snapped back to the present. She closed her eyes and sighed heavily. Her memory was too good. Why did he still have to be so—amazing? She sat all the way up in bed and wrapped