How could someone you had come to loathe still take your breath away? Miranda Patrick took another quick peek around the corner at Drew Elliott. Her arch nemesis. Her ex-lover. The father of her little boy. It had been seven long years since she had last seen him. Her brain told her it hadn't been long enough, but her heart, as well as various other parts of her body, were begging for a quick reunion.
Right now, she just needed someplace to hide. Before her brain lost control. Before her fluttering heart found a mind of its own and said or did something she would regret.
She snuck back up the staircase, and down the hall toward the family wing. Living in an inn had its advantages, and anonymity was one of them. There were usually so many people milling about, that she didn't have to worry about drawing attention to herself.
Yes! The light was on in Kayla's bedroom, shining like a bright beacon of hope.
"Kayla!" She used her best stage whisper to get her friend's attention. Her high school drama teacher would have been proud.
"Miranda?" Kayla said. "What are you doing out there?"
"Shh!" Miranda darted into Kayla's bedroom, shutting the door behind her. "Are you crazy? Don't say my name out loud. He might hear you."
"And by 'he', you mean Drew?" Kayla shot Miranda an amused look, with just a touch of shameful disbelief around the edges.
"Of course, I mean Drew." Miranda dropped onto Kayla's bed and wrapped herself in the soft comforter. "Who else could cause such misery just by occupying the same building as me?"
"Are we feeling a tad dramatic today?" Kayla said.
"No. Maybe. Probably." Miranda wanted to be incensed at Kayla’s comment, but the truth was she might be overdoing it a bit. Okay, a lot. Drama wasn't normally her thing, but when it came to Drew, all sane thoughts and composed behavior seemed to fly out the window.
Kayla sat on the edge of the bed next to Miranda and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "I love you, sweetie," she said. "But, I love Drew, too. I don't want to spend the rest of my life as referee between my best friend and my brother. It's been almost seven years. You've got to let go of your anger and move on. For Tommy's sake."
For Tommy. She chuckled at the irony of it. Thomas Andrew Elliott. Her son. Their son. The child she had raised on her own while Drew travelled the world, living out the dream they were supposed to have experienced together.
Usually, she was able to keep the bitterness at bay but today was not one of those days. For the longest time, in the early months, she had really believed Drew would come home. That his sense of responsibility would be greater than his burning desire to escape the small-town life. But, instead, she’d muddled through her last year of culinary school, swollen ankles and all, while Drew travelled the world teaching English in far-away places and picking up other odd jobs to make his way. Instead of joining him when her classes were complete, as they had planned, she stayed behind playing both mother and father to their son.
She’d been so young. Gullible. Full of the belief that love mattered more than anything else in the world, and still certain of Drew's trustworthiness and loyalty. Through it all her love had never wavered. Even after he stayed away, months after she had given him the news. Even while she lay in her hospital bed, newborn baby in her arms, pining for a man that was literally thousands of miles away. She had still believed their love was strong enough to prevail.
But, time had a way of changing things. Of providing the clarity that only years of being a single mother could bring. Of revealing what a selfish jerk some men could be.
"I have no desire to see him." Miranda swiped at a rogue tear on her cheek. "It’s been such a long time."
"Nobody knows that better than me." Kayla rose and walked to the door. "I've been the one who had to make excuses for your absence every time he came to visit Tommy."
"Maybe if he did more than send a monthly check and visit a few times a year, I would be around."
"Oh, so that's the reason,” Kayla said. “I thought it had something to do with you being pissed, but I guess I was wrong."
"Very funny.” Kayla's sarcastic grimace might have been humorous, if it wasn't directed toward her. She grabbed a pillow, hurling it at Kayla’s head. "Do you mind if I hang out here for a bit? I need a few minutes to myself before I join the throng of Drew worshiper’s downstairs."
"All right, I'm leaving," Kayla said, "but I better see you down there within the hour or I'm coming back to get you." She took Miranda's hand, giving it a firm squeeze of support. "My friend, you are the strongest woman I have ever known. You've started your own business, you're a wonderful mother to Tommy—no one could ask for a better friend. But, you can't hide from Drew anymore. He's home to stay, for the next few months at least. You can't avoid him any longer."
"I can avoid him for the next few minutes, though," she muttered. And, as Kayla left the room, shutting the door behind her, Miranda took a deep breath and set about the business of shutting her own doors—the doors to her mind, the doors to her soul, and especially the doors to her heart. It was time to batten down the hatches. Drew Elliott was back in town and no amount of preparation would ever make her heart feel safe.