Page 7 of Wild Promises

"Of course. Will you be okay?"

The thought of going home, of being surrounded by my family and childhood friends, made me feel better. "I will be. I think going home will be good for me." I was starting to feel suffocated in the city. It hadn't been the lifestyle I wantedwhen I went to med school. I'd let Hugh steer me in a different direction, but it was time to live the life I wanted. Not the one he'd talked me into.

"I hate that he cheated on you, and you're going through this."

"Maybe it was just the thing I needed to remind me of who I am and where I'm going." I wasn't this girl. One who lived in her boyfriend's apartment waiting for him to come home while he's fucking someone else. I needed to take charge of my future.

Satisfied I had a plan, I fell asleep in the guest room. The next morning, I packed my things and arranged for movers. Then I scheduled a meeting with my boss. The entire time I explained that I always wanted to work in my father's practice, she had a sympathetic look on her face. She knew what happened and why I was quitting, and the crazy part was that she felt sorry for me. But Hugh had done me a favor. It was the catalyst I needed to remind me of my dreams and what I wanted out of life. I was finally going home.

I gathered my things from the locker room, eager to get out of the hospital. Then the door opened. I was surprised to see Hugh standing in the doorway. "You can't be in here."

"One of the nurses said you'd be here."

"I'm just clearing out my things. The movers are scheduled on Friday. Then you'll have your apartment back. I'll leave my key on the counter."

"So that's it. You're just quitting?"

I smiled as I slung my bag over my shoulder. "You did me a favor. You reminded me of my dream, and it wasn't to work in an emergency room."

Hugh's lip curled into a sneer. "You want to move to your hometown and work in your father's clinic?"

"Yes."

From the look on Hugh's face, I knew he thought that was a fate worse than death.

"It's what I've always wanted, and I lost sight of that."

"You don't have to go. You can stay in the condo for as long as you need. We could go out to dinner and talk about it."

How many times had I asked him to go out to dinner or to grab drinks, and he was always too busy? "It's too late. Besides, I'm excited for the next phase of my life. Good luck, Hugh."

He sputtered as I slipped past him and out the door. I felt the eyes of the nurses at the station on me as I walked. I smiled but kept going. These women were never my friends, especially if they knew Hugh was cheating on me and didn't say anything. I couldn't trust anyone here. It was one more reason to go back to the place where honesty and friendship meant something.

I felt lighter than I had in a long time. Hugh had done me a favor. He'd made me see that I wasn't being true to myself. The thought of moving home to Telluride was exciting. It was a slower pace, where I could get to know my patients. It was what interested me in medicine when I was younger. I wanted a connection to my patients. I wanted to follow up with them and see their progress. And I was looking forward to spending more time with my parents, and even my childhood friend, Xander.

I'd gone to his family's lodge on New Year's to see him. It had been a long time, and he'd stopped answering my text messages. I wanted to know that he was okay and our friendship intact. I hadn't asked why he'd been so distant. Instead, we'd talked about what we were doing, and the marriage pact that had been on my mind more often lately.

I was turning thirty in November, and we'd made a pact to marry each other if we weren't married by then. It was a silly agreement, one no one would insist we fulfill. But I couldn't help but think the idea had merit.

The thought of marrying my best friend set off a fluttering in my stomach. He'd been this charming, flirty guy to all the other girls, but to me, he'd just been Xander Wilde, my best friend. The one person I could always count on to be there for me, outside of my parents. But I'd always had this awareness of him.

Why was the idea of walking down the aisle to him pulling such a strong reaction from me? I wasn't even sure we were friends anymore. His responses to my texts had been fewer and farther apart until I'd given up on communication entirely.

If the feelings in my body were an indication of the direction I was going, I'd made the right decision. I was antsy to get out of New York and away from the toxic culture of the hospital. I wanted to get back to small-town living. Where everyone knew everyone's business, but they wouldn't knowingly hurt anyone.

In Telluride, I could make a difference in a way I couldn't here. Hugh cheating on me was the best thing that could have happened. I think I would have confronted him eventually about the status of our relationship, but it could have taken months or even years to get to the truth.

It hurt that I didn't have the relationship I thought I did. But if I was being honest with myself, I suspected something was wrong for a while. I was just in denial or too scared to go looking for answers.

Now I had my answer, and I could move on to a different chapter. The one I always wanted to live.

3

XANDER

I'd heard that Tori had moved home. The gossip mill was churning out theories, but the prevailing story was that she broken up with her surgeon boyfriend and came home to nurse her heartbreak. The reasons for their breakup were varied, and I wouldn't believe any of them until I talked to her. Tori always wanted to come home, and I was secretly pleased that she had.

I knew I'd run into her at some point, but I wasn't in a hurry. When we’d last spent time together, she'd brought up the marriage pact. We were inching ever closer to our thirtieth birthdays in November. Would she bring it up again?

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