“Beach?” Us?
“My wife is watching the kids right now. Our oldest son Tyler could live on a boogie board in the water if we let him.”
“Thank you, but I’m not dressed for the beach. Maybe another time,” I said. My nurse’s uniform would make me stand out and I was trying to limit how many locals saw me. It was only a matter of time before someone who knew my parents would see me and call them.
“We will be here all week. If you come by again, just ask the receptionist to let us know and we’d be happy to have you join us,” he said, sounding very sincere.
“Thank you, I’ll keep that in mind,” I responded.
Shaun headed out of the lobby and a moment later, Bennett Stone arrived. He had a reputation on the island, and everyone knew who he was, even me.
He strode over and shook my hand. “Nice to meet you, Miss Marzon. This shouldn’t take long, but Finn, I mean Dr. O’Connor, wanted to make sure your visa information was submitted today. He has provided me with most of what I need, but there are forms that require your signature and I’ll need to take a current photo to include as well.”
“That’s fine.”
“Come with me, and I’ll have you on your way within the hour,” he stated.
The breezy conversation I had with Shaun wasn’t going to happen with Bennett Stone. He was all business, just like I had expected. I followed him down the hallway, and soon I was in an office signing a bunch of paperwork I didn’t understand. When it was over, I was mentally exhausted and couldn’t wait to get home. I declined Mr. Stone’s offer of a resort tour and made a beeline for the valet stand.
As I pulled into my driveway, I prepared myself for another difficult conversation. Even before I got out of my car, my cell phone rang. I usually could guess that it was either my mom or Karrol. Now I had to look.
Liam.
Oh, how I wanted to ignore his call and let it go to voicemail. It would serve him right after what he did. But another side of me desperately wanted to hear his voice, and with any luck, an apology.
I decided to answer, but that didn’t mean I had to be all warm and friendly with him. “This is Nurse Marzon.”
“Hi, it’s Liam,” he said.
“I know,” I replied dryly.
“Are you still at work?” he asked.
“No. I’m parked in my driveway,” I said, still not allowing any of my usual enthusiasm shine through. If you want the sweet Kyleigh, you’re going to have to work for it.
“Rough day?” he inquired.
That did it. He was acting as though my bad mood had nothing to do with him. I was about to set him straight.
“Maybe I’d have had a better day if this call took place last night. How are the rolling green hills of Ireland, by the way?” I asked, sarcastically.
“You know about that?” he asked, and before I could even utter a snappy retort, he added, “Of course you do. I am sorry. I wanted to tell you last night when we were together, but you canceled. The opportunity slipped by and I thought it would be best if I waited until you returned home from work.”
And you were wrong.
“Do you know what I hear?” I asked.
“That I’m sorry?”
“I hear excuse after excuse. And if I’m correct, the first one actually blamed me because I had to cancel last night,” I snapped.
“Kyleigh, I’m not blaming you. I wanted to have the conversation in person, but time didn’t permit. And I honestly would’ve called you this morning, but you also stressed to me how we can’t speak when you’re at the hospital.”
“That’s twice now that you blame me. Did you want to go for a third or can we just end this call so I can go inside? Because I have a dinner date tonight,” I stated. He didn’t need to know it wasn’t with another man.
“Please don’t go out tonight. Let’s talk and let me explain. Finn needed me - I couldn’t let him down.”
But you could let me down.