Tires squealed as Brant took the turn hard. He lurched to a stop when he reached his driveway. Never in his life had he treated a car as badly as he’d treated this one on the way home from the hospital. He’d been a maniac on the expressway, but stood in good company, keeping the evening commute interesting at any rate for any who crossed his path. At least he hadn’t caused any accidents, but the guilt was there, letting the one rule he’d prided himself on about driving safely be thrown so easily, so casually, under the tires of his BMW.

The delay had been important, but damn it, too much was happening at once. He shouldn’t have let her leave the hospital like that. He slammed down the phone as the house loomed up in front of him. Mel obviously had hers off. And the other calls he’d needed to make were done, accomplished on the drive back.

There was an unfamiliar Jeep in the driveway. A young man leaned against the passenger door. The door to the mansion stood open.

Brant’s phone rang. His mother. Again.

He parked the car at an angle, screeched to a stop, taking it all in with one glance. He jumped out of the car and jogged to the open door.

“Who’re you?” Brant pointed at the young man.

“Dude, that was some awesome driving. Nice drift!”

“What? Who the hell are you?” He turned his attention to Mel, who was coming out the door dragging her suitcase. “Who is this?”

“I only took my things,” Mel said in passing. “Maria’s suitcase is still inside. I trust you can handle getting her home? Hopefully your removal from your partnership won’t interfere with your ability to make plane reservations.”

“Where the he—where are you going?” Brant demanded, trying to block her way, but she sidestepped him neatly, handing off her suitcase to the young guy. The man bowed comically, with exaggerated servitude, before lugging it over to the back of the Jeep and hoisting it in.

“Who is this idiot?” Brant pointed to guy again.

“My new boyfriend!” Mel shot back and grabbed the young man as he turned, one hand on each side of his face, pulling him in to lock lips with as much passion as she’d shown him only last night. “We’re not technically engaged, though, so it’s all right!”

“Damn it, Mel! It’s not like that!”

“Yes, it is!” Mel shot back, and grabbed the startled youth once again to prove her point. The guy gave Brant a weak thumb’s up and surrendered himself to her embrace, with a look that could only be described as pure bliss.

“Listen to me!” Brant reached over and caught her wrist, pulling her out of what was fast becoming an embrace that would have been embarrassing to witness had he not just been personally involved with one of the…er…combatants.

“Let. Go. Of. Me.” Mel’s eyes were pure fire in the light from the open doorway.

“Dude, uh, let go of the lady, all right?” The Jeep driver stepped up, awkward and brave and stupid.

How old is this kid? Is he even legal drinking—shit, driving—age? “Who the hell are you?” Brant roared, out of patience.

“LET GO OF ME!” Mel ripped her hand free of his grasp. She ran back into the house.

“Not cool, man,” the guy said over the top of his sunglasses. Who the hell wore sunglasses at night?

“WHO ARE YOU?!” Brant stared at him as he just waggled his eyebrows. Brant gave a strangled cry as he tore into the house, needing to find and somehow convince the only woman he had ever loved, to stay.

“Where are you going to go?” Brant demanded as he caught up with her in the hallway outside their—his room. “Back to the jungle?”

“There something wrong with that?” Mel cried as she pushed past him and grabbed a carry-on that had been sitting on the bed. She shoved clothing into the bottom of a bag so roughly Brant expected to see her fist come through the bottom. “Something wrong with my life’s work that I threw away on some stupid, damn, ‘noble’ idea? Something not good enough for your L.A. privileges to be seen with a jungle doctor? Well, don’t worry; I’m not a jungle doctor anymore!”

“You left DI?” Brant couldn’t keep up. At this point, so much had changed in the last 24 hours that he highly suspected that if someone asked him his name, he would have to check his driver’s license just to make sure he was answering correctly.

“YES! Dammit!” Mel threw the bag onto the bed. “I quit! I took the only place I knew, the only job I had, and flushed it down the toilet for some idealistic morals that no one else has!” Mel grabbed her bag and stormed out. Brant tried to reach for her again, but she saw his advance and dodged. She ran faster, and Brant was right behind her.

“LEAVE ME ALONE!” Mel screamed, and slammed the front door in his face.

Brant threw it open in time to see her jumping into the back of the Jeep. The young man tore out of the driveway, giving just a little drift of his own. Brant grabbed the keys from his pocket and lunged through the door, landing face-down on the top step, the fall winding him and cracking his arm painfully on the stone.

He sat up slowly and stared at his ankle. A pair of her panties has fallen from the bag she’d clutched so hard and he’d tripped over them. More specifically, one leg hole was caught on the bottom of the door, the other held his toe.

There were no words. He groaned in absolute despair, realizing the Jeep was long past hearing, and he had no idea where Mel had just gone.

Was it really over? Just like that?

“That’s a cute trick,” a voice said over him.

Brant moaned and rolled over, blocking out the light over the door with a raised hand, trying to see the shadowy figure that loomed over him. Shit. “Alice?”

“Most women can get a man into her panties, but mostly we have to be wearing them. I haven’t seen this variation before. I gotta hand it to her.”

Brant sat up and winced, discovering new bruises and what he suspected that might require a chiropractor later. “I thought you quit.”

“Quit? Doctor, the day I quit is the day you have to figure out how to feed yourself and how to clean the house. In other words, the day I quit is the day you die of starvation and get buried in a dirty shirt.”

“Don’t be silly,” Brant grumped as he unwound the underwear from his shoe. “You know they’d never find my body under all the empty pizza boxes.” He took a deep breath and stared down the empty driveway. Somewhere in all those lights of the city below them was the love of his life. He sighed. “Well, it all fell apart.” Brant’s smile was bitter. Rueful. “Just like you wanted.”

“This is not what I wanted,” Alice said in mild reproof. “And stop snapping at me like a spurned adolescent. You’re a doctor, one of the most respected in your field.”

“A field you don’t think is good enough or…OW!”

Alice straightened while Brant held his knuckles to his mouth, tasting blood. “You actually carry a ruler?”

“Listen to me, Doctor.” Alice’s face could have spawned a thunderstorm. “You’ve been acting like a little boy—”

“But she’s—”

“Not just today, I mean since I’ve known you!” Alice shot back. “And it has to stop. I happen to like this one.” She indicated the driveway where Mel had disappeared. “I also happen to like Gloria. What I do not like are lies and deceit.”

“I didn’t lie to her…” Brant said, but it sounded weak even to him.

“You are now,” Alice reminded him.

“I gave my word,” he mumbled, glancing with wary eyes at Alice to see if the ruler was going to make another appearance.

Alice sighed. “So you did. That was your first mistake. Can’t you see this from this woman’s perspective? Don’t you understand why she’s so upset?”

Did he? He opened his mouth to speak and thought better of it. This wasn’t a moment for a glib answer. This was time for truth. For facing who and what he’d become.

He knew exactly how he’d hurt her. And deserved every bit of this. “Yes.” Brant looked down at the driveway. In the stillness, if he listened closely, he could hear his mother’s ringtone from the car. “Of course, I can. But—”

No buts, Brant. Fix this. Now.”

“How?” He looked up at Alice. He was genuinely without an idea how to fix anything at this point.

“A night in a hotel room isn’t going to hurt her any,” Alice said, offering a hand. “And maybe this is something you need help to fix. There’s two of you involved here.”

Brant ignored her offer to help. The way the day had been going, he’d only bring her down to his level. Instead, he levered himself to his feet. Awkwardly. Slowly. Yeah, this was going to hurt. Alice stood in silence, waiting for his answer. “Yeah,” he said finally, dusting off his pants. “You’re probably right.” Then he laughed, ducking his head the way he used to when Alice caught him out. “No. You are right. Thanks.”

“Brant.” Alice looked up at him, a proud grandmother. She clasped his arm and said, “The only question I have for you, young man is this: Is this girl worth growing up for?”

Brant stared at her a long time. “I just thought that I had.”

Alice shook her head. “Maybe in the last few minutes, Brant. Let’s give that a little time to see if it takes, all right? What’re you going to do now?”

Brant stretched and slowly walked to the car. He pulled the phone from the passenger seat. “Fix this,” he called over his shoulder, holding up his phone for Alice to see.

The damn thing never stopped ringing.

Brant stared at it a moment, composing in his head the things he needed to say. Then stood a moment, at a loss for how to begin.

Do it simply.

Just do it.

He swallowed hard and put the phone to his ear.

“Hello, Mother.”