Page 3 of The Wish List
He looked like the type of guy who could bring a woman or twelve to their knees with longing. His sandy blond hair was thick and curled slightly at his collar. He had eyes the color of the ocean after a storm and she could almost read the upheaval in them. Why was that upheaval so appealing?
“I thought I was alone.”
He nodded but didn’t smile. His gaze darkened. Beth had lived in Magnolia most of her life but didn’t make a habit of going to the beach. She knew what the waves looked like in winter though, and this man would be right at home there.
“I gathered that. You aren’t somebody who makes an awareness of your surroundings a priority.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Beth narrowed her eyes. She was hyperaware of her surroundings and the people in them to a fault. To the point where she often forgot to eat or go to the bathroom because she was so focused on her patients and coworkers and—
“I was in the room when you were rude to Shauna. You didn’t notice me. I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt and say you also didn’t notice the effect your words had on her. Otherwise, you should pick a new line of work. She’s a good person and a fantastic mom. She didn’t deserve you roasting her like that.”
Embarrassment crashed over Beth like an icy wave, almost stealing her breath with its force. She squared her shoulders and opened her mouth to issue a sharp retort, to defend herself and rationalize her behavior.
Then she shook her head. Why bother? The stranger was right. He’d pegged her in one decisive judgment.
“I’m going to apologize to Shauna,” she said quietly.
“Will you mean it or is it just a way to keep yourself out of trouble with your supervisor?”
“Mothers have a responsibility to be careful,” she said, responding to the question without directly answering it.
“Accidents can happen anywhere.”
“She’s a single mother of six-year-old twins and went skydiving,” Beth said, crossing her arms over her chest.
His full lips thinned and he glanced at the floor before meeting Beth’s gaze again. “She’s a fantastic mother,” he repeated.
“How well do you know her?” Beth asked, then regretted the question. “Don’t answer that. It’s none of my business.”
“I know her better than anyone in her life.” The man rose, and Beth had been right about his height. What she hadn’t counted on was the force of his presence. Hadn’t she just been mentally lamenting the fact that she didn’t react to men in the way a woman should?
It must be some sick cosmic joke that the man who made her knees wobbly just by looking at her was also one who clearly thought she was a rude bitch.
He moved up a step, and Beth instinctively inched toward the door. “What would the people closest to you say about your character?” he challenged.
Okay, she’d been wrong to lecture Shauna Myer about her free-time activities, but this guy had no right to level a barrage of criticism at Beth.
She licked her dry lips, trying not to gape when his gaze lowered to her mouth. “My ex-husband would probably tell you I’m too controlling and need to loosen up a bit. On the other hand, he just requested my permission to ask a woman he barely knows to marry him since she’s having his baby.” She held out her hands. “And since I wasn’t able to carry a pregnancy to term during all the years we tried, what could I do but give my blessing?”
The stranger’s nostrils flared although his expression stayed neutral. “That sucks.”
“Pretty much,” Beth agreed, but she wasn’t finished. “My two sisters would tell you I liked to boss them around too much back in the day, but my mom kind of turned over raising them to me when I was barely a teenager. So I got a little bossy. Sue me. Since they both got to leave town while I stuck around to take care of our mom, they might want to thank me instead.”
She cupped one hand around her mouth like she was sharing a secret. “Mom has never been a big fan of pesky details like paying the electricity bill or regular medical care. Those are still my responsibilities, as is her care now that she’s had a stroke. All fun things to deal with while I’m doing my level best to find a way to leave this town, you know?”
He held up his hands, palms out, a look of abject panic dulling the storm in his gray eyes. “I get it. Not an easy time for you right now.”
“Exactly.” She jabbed a finger in the man’s direction even as she commanded herself to ease off the verbal diarrhea. “Maybe you could cut me some slack.”
“Maybe you could cut Shauna some?”
Beth spit out a laugh. She’d just unburdened her soul to a stranger—for the life of her she had no idea why. In response, he reminded her that his loyalty did not lie with her. She didn’t know who he was to Shauna. A friend. A lover. It didn’t matter, and she had no explanation for the slight pinch in her chest.
His words reminded her that she was alone in the world, the only one in her corner. Beth had never been much of a fighter.
Yes, she had her mom and sisters, although the baby of the family, Trinity, had yet to arrive. Did Freya and Trinity even count when neither of them particularly liked Beth? If this reunion followed the pattern of their childhood, it would be the two of them in one corner and her in the other.
Their mother, May, hadn’t been emotionally present for any of them in years, and Beth didn’t see how her recent health crisis would change that.
