As he left Diane’s hospital room, Nathan’s mind was in turmoil. He knew, of course, that seeing Elizabeth again was going to be emotional, no matter what he had told William. She was, and always had been, his perfect woman. She was so beautiful and so full of love. He had not expected her to fall into his arms upon seeing him, but his heart ached at the space between them. Perhaps it was because he had not been around her since breaking their engagement. He had no experience being near her when she wasn’t in love with him. Still, it was like muscle memory. His arms ached to hold her close, especially when he saw the pain in her eyes as she took in the severity of her mother’s condition.

Seeing her interact with William had not helped. She was as open with William as she was closed with him. Elizabeth’s genuine enthusiasm to see him and the physical contact she allowed his friend made Nathan’s blood boil. He was not a jealous man. He prided himself on being unshakeable. Still, seeing them walk off together had felt like a punch in the stomach.

What he needed was a few quiet moments in his office to regroup. After all, this was just old pain rising to the surface. Elizabeth was a reminder of everything he didn’t have. A bit of silence would give him perspective. Unfortunately, when he opened his office door a stunning blonde was leaning on his desk waiting for him.

“Darling, there you are. I was wondering what was taking you so long,” Simone said as though she had every right to let herself into his office.

“Simone, you’re looking well,” he replied, trying to hide his frustration. Simone was not a bad woman. She was everything he had thought he wanted. That was why he had dated her for so long, going so far as to propose marriage to her.

They had met several years before when Simone’s law firm was doing some work for the hospital. She was stunningly beautiful and intelligent. The woman was just as career-driven as him. She had never questioned when he put his career before her and he had never questioned when she did the same. Nathan had told himself that it was just because they supported each other’s ambitions. It wasn’t until she had accepted his marriage proposal and he had attempted to picture their life together that he realized his mistake. He thought of their children, raised in a home devoid of love and caring, and it had struck his heart cold. For a few months, he had tried to convince himself it was just cold feet, but finally he realized he had no choice but to end their relationship.

“That’s the only greeting I get,” she said, wrapping her arms around him and pulling him close as though nothing had changed between them. It had become her habit in the months since their break-up to do just that.

“I’m not sure what else you want me to say,” he commented stiffly, pulling away from her.

“You could start by telling me how much you’ve been missing me.”

“Simone,” he said, his tone a warning.

“Come on, baby. You know that we belong together. We both know that. Let’s not play games like this.”

“You always say that we belong together, but you never talk about how much we love each other.” Nathan was staring out the window and trying to remember the feeling of being truly in love with someone. It was Elizabeth’s face he saw as he imagined the feeling.

“Because we aren’t lovesick teenagers. We’re adults who know what truly matters in life. We want the same things, success and power. By the way, everybody thinks we look great together,” Simone replied matter-of-factly.

“That isn’t love.”

“We don’t need love to have a happy life together.”

For a long time, he had convinced himself that he didn’t need a love like he had with Elizabeth. He had told himself that what he needed was a woman who understood that his career came first. That way, he could have a relationship and still be the best in his field. Looking back, he couldn’t believe he had ever been so foolish.

“I need love,” he said plainly, unable to deny it any longer. He wanted that for Simone too. She was a good woman and she deserved the same happiness he wanted for himself.

“It wasn’t words of love you used to propose to me,” she pointed out.

“No, if I recall, I told you I’d give you a good, stable life.”

“And that’s what I want.”

“I want more.”

“I didn’t make you propose to me,” she said, her aggravation apparent.

“No, I know that. I thought it was what I wanted. Our relationship was good. Some days it was really good. I thought it was enough, but I knew when we started to plan our future that it wasn’t.”

“Our future will be good.” Simone’s tone was so determined that it was hard to deny her.

But Nathan knew what he wanted. Still, he couldn’t imagine ever finding a woman that he could love in the way that he had once loved Elizabeth.

“We both deserve more than good. We deserve magic.”

“Magic?” she said, her jaw hanging open in shock. He had never spoken of such things to her. In fact, it had been years since he had allowed himself to think of the magic of love. Maybe it was the fact that Elizabeth was so close again that was bringing such feelings to the surface.

“Love,” he whispered, his heart swelling at the thought.

“Magic? Love? Have you hit your head?” Simone asked, looking genuinely concerned.

“You’ll understand someday.”

“Speaking of love, William’s latest fling is particularly lovely.” She smirked, having no idea of the nerve that she had struck with her words.

“I wasn’t aware that he’s seeing someone new,” Nathan said, though he suspected he knew just who she meant.

“I just passed them walking out of the hospital together. He had his arm around her shoulder. If they aren’t already together, they will be soon. You know no woman can resist Bill’s charms.”

“They aren’t together,” Nathan answered, his voice harsher than Simone had ever heard it before. Just the thought of Elizabeth being with anyone else was enough to make his gut clench with anger. The possibility that that man might be William was too much for Nathan to even comprehend. He had never been jealous when he and Elizabeth were together. The truth was that he had known how deeply in love she was with him and he knew that she would never stray. Now, though, knowing that she had no reason to turn down anyone, the sick feeling of jealousy was practically consuming him.

“Like I said, it’s only a matter of time.” Simone studied him curiously as she spoke.

“No, not with her.”

“You didn’t even see her,” she pointed out, clearly suspicious.

“It doesn’t matter.” He narrowed his eyes, trying to brush off her observation.

“Now that I think about it, she looked a little familiar.”

“Did she?” He wondered how Simone might know Elizabeth. He had never discussed his first love with her for very good reason.

“Yes.”

“Do you know where you’ve seen her before?”

“No, I can’t quite place her. She’s so pretty, though. It’s no wonder that he’s so taken with her.”

“William has never been interested in anything close to a real relationship with anyone.”

“I know but you should’ve seen the way he was looking at her. Maybe I was wrong to call her his latest fling. Maybe our boy is finally planning to settle down.”

“Not with her,” he repeated, doing his best to hide how upset he was.

“Do you know who she is?”

“Yes, she’s an old friend. Now she’s a nurse with Doctors Without Borders. She’s here because her mom’s sick. Once we get her well again, she’ll go back to whatever remote corner of the world they send her to. It’s not like William is the long distance relationship type,” he answered, trying to convince himself as much as he was trying to convince Simone.

“That’s why she looked so familiar. I’ve seen her in that old picture you keep at the house. Maybe Bill will go with her.” Simone’s expression turned thoughtful as she recalled the faded picture of William, Nathan, Elizabeth and a few other staff members at the hospital when they had all first started to work there.

“William, in some third world country? I very much doubt that,” Nathan scoffed.

“Love makes people do crazy things. You should know that.”

“Why me? What do you mean?” Nathan suddenly felt defensive as if he feared that his interest in Elizabeth could be read all over his face.

“You are the one who craves love and magic, aren’t you?”

“Oh, right.” He sighed, wondering why on earth he hadn’t followed Elizabeth all those years ago. Life would have been so different.

“Love does make people do crazy things.”

“That’s why what we have is so much better. We care for each other and we respect each other. We can support each other’s ambitions and build a good life together.”

“I do care about you and I do respect you. You know that. But that’s not enough. We both deserve the chance to find real love. If we get married, we’ll lose that chance.” In truth, he cared enough about Simone to want her to find the same love he was searching for.

“You just have cold feet. I’ll give you a little more time,” she said, undeterred.

“It won’t matter.”

“You’re a smart man. You’ll do the right thing,” Simone said confidently as she turned to leave his office.