Chapter Seventeen

It was all he could do not to grab her, kiss her, and never let go.

Not the right time or place, he reminded himself. This is about Jordan and Karli right now. But we’re damn sure going to talk before either of us leaves here.

He sharpened his focus as Sarah asked, “What happened?”

Her voice… it’s as sweet as I remember... I missed hearing her voice so much.

But he kept his attention focused on Karli as they walked down the hall, leading them to the elevator. As they moved, he explained the night’s events that had led to Jordan’s injury, then slipped an arm around Karli when she went pale and began to sway.

He guided them off the elevator and to the right, where a room of police officers and firemen waited for word on Jordan’s condition. Tim saw Karli seated, then moved to the desk to ask for an update. He noticed Dan walk over and squat down in front of her.

That’s good, he thought. He’ll be able to calm her down, so she doesn’t go into labor early.

And he took a moment to stare at the woman beside Karli who’d remained the love of his life, even after all this time.

***

Sarah, meanwhile, was patting Karli’s shoulder, trying her best to be a comfort. She felt someone watching her and lifted her head to make eye contact with Tim from across the room.

There was an unmistakable ‘we need to talk later’ vibe in his stare.

She nodded once in acknowledgement, then returned her focus to Karli.

***

Once Dan had gotten Karli’s breathing under control, he left her under Sarah’s watchful eye and sauntered over to Tim.

“Any word?”

Tim shook his head.

“Not yet, I’m afraid.”

“By the way - who’s the brunette? She’s cute.”

Tim growled before he could stop himself.

“Dude, what the hell,” Dan muttered, clearly confused, and wandered back over to check on Karli.

After three hours, the surgeon arrived with an update, and shortly after that Karli was being escorted into post-op for a brief visit.

The moment Karli left to go see Jordan, Tim looked at Sarah, an almost imperceptible head motion indicating he wanted her to step out into the hall. He moved that direction, and she sighed, then followed.

Dan grinned as he watched them leave the room.

Ah, he thought. That explains him growling at me. Guess she’s spoken for.

***

Tim strode to the far end of the long hall to be assured of some privacy, then leaned against the wall and watched her approach.

Just as gorgeous as ever, he thought, and frowned.

Sarah stopped in front of him, gazing at him with big brown eyes clouded with emotion.

“What the hell are you doing here?” he grumbled.

“Karli’s my best friend, Tim,” Sarah said quietly. “I wasn’t about to let her come up here by herself. Not as upset as she was.”

“Oh,” he snarled, when what he really wanted was to touch her. “So, you don’t run out on everyone you supposedly care about, just me, is that it?”

Her eyes went wide with pain and surprise before narrowing in anger.

“I don’t have time for this right now,” she snarled back, giving him a surprise of his own. “Karli needs me.”

He grabbed her elbow, but she yanked it out of his grasp.

“Be sure and say hello to Lilah for me,” she sneered, then turned on her heel to stomp away.

But she wasn’t fast enough. He noticed the tears beginning to form.

Lilah? What the hell is she talking about?

He raced after her.

“We’re not together,” he told her.

“Aw, you two broke up? I’m so sorry. Sucks for you, I guess,” Sarah’s voice dripped with derision.

“Will you please stop walking for one minute and just listen to me?”

She whirled, and yes, there were definitely tears in her eyes that he could see, but also a huge dose of hurt.

“You have one minute,” she hissed, arms folded defensively across her chest. “Go.”

“We’re not together. We were never together. I don’t know what the hell you were told, but it was wrong.”

“You don’t understand… I saw you myself, Tim. I saw you kissing her the night before our wedding. I was driving to the store, and I saw the two of you in front of the pool hall.”

“There’s nothing to understand, Sarah. I have never, ever been involved in any way with Lilah Tucker. Not that she didn’t try. That’s what you saw. She was drunk as hell, and she followed me and Kevin outside and planted one on me. If you’d kept watching, you’d have seen me shove her away and put her in her place, because I was with you. I love… loved you,” he corrected after a brief pause. “I wanted to marry and spend my life with you. But you didn’t trust in me, trust in us enough to ask me what was going on. Instead, you assumed, and I got an envelope with your ring and a scrap of paper with two sentences on it that broke my heart.”

He paused, his gray eyes alight with feeling as he watched her.

“And so here we are, almost three years later. Three years that we could have shared and been happy together, Sarah. But you bailed out on me because of a few seconds of a situation that I didn’t start and damn sure didn’t want.”

Sarah took a stumbling step backward from him as the import of what he’d just said hit home. She blinked once, slowly, sending tears cascading as she stared at him silently.

“I’ve missed you every single day,” she finally whispered. “I thought you betrayed me, and it crushed me, and I ran. But I never stopped loving you, Tim. Never. Not even a little. I just…” she paused, swiping at her eyes with her sleeve.

“I couldn’t handle staying in that little town, knowing I might see you out in public with her. I just couldn’t face that. So, I left. And then when you didn’t answer my letters, I figured you were probably still with her, and happy.”

“I’m sorry,” she told him as her voice began to quaver. “I love you. I still love you, Tim, and I hurt you, and I’m so sorry… I just… I just hope one day you can forgive me.”

Tim balled his fists to keep himself from reaching out for her, even as his heart soared.

She still loves me.

Sarah turned, her breath coming in great hitching gasps, and walked unsteadily back down the hall.

***

Tim stood slumped against the wall in her wake with his head bowed - because he knew he had just lied to her.

He’d never stopped loving her, either.

And then one sentence she’d uttered finally registered in his brain and sent a surge of confusion through his system.

Letters? What letters?

“Sarah,” he called out, pushing off the wall and starting down the hallway after her. “Sarah, wait.”