Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Allison

I was shocked to see Mike’s name on my cell phone screen. I hadn’t spoken to him since the day he had practically encouraged me to sleep with Dr. Barkley for a job, which had hurt even worse than finding out about him and Dr. Fountain’s daughter. After Jen had left that day, I called and left a voicemail letting him know we were done. It was the coward’s way out, but it hadn’t seemed to bother him. He had never even taken the time to call me back.

Part of me knew better than to answer the phone. But the other part of me knew I would worry until I found out why he was calling.

“Hello?”

“Allison.” His voice came through, strong and confident. “It’s been too long.”

“It’s definitely been a while,” I agreed, flooded with mixed feelings over hearing his voice again. On one hand, it filled me with warmth to hear the familiar way he said my name. We’d been friends, then more, since med school, and his absence in my life after being part of it for so long had felt strange.

On the other hand, hearing his voice brought the hurt right back.

“I’m sorry I didn’t call you,” he said. “I didn’t know what to say.”

“It’s fine,” I lied. I would never let him know it had crushed me that I hadn’t even been worth an explanation.

“Darnell told me you moved,” he said, a trace of hurt leaking through his voice. He paused for just a moment. “I was surprised you would leave without saying goodbye at least.”

I bit my lip, forcing out a breath. “Mike, what’s the point? We’re over.”

“I know,” he said. He took a deep breath, letting silence feel the void. “It’s complicated. Look, I just want to say that I’m sorry for the way things went down. I got in over my head, and you know the pressure my dad put on me to land something prestigious. I was playing the game. I’m sorry it hurt you.”

“Okay,” I said, not knowing what else I could possibly say. It wasn’t as if I was going to let my feelings out. How could I? I didn’t even understand them. Because while the whole thing definitely hurt, it was also a relief in some ways. He had been a great friend during med school, but I had never been completely comfortable with our relationship turning romantic. Truth be told, there had always been some red flags with him—things I’d been willing to ignore in exchange for having a partner who knew what residency life was like and didn’t expect more from me than I was able to give.

“I miss you, Allison.”

My stomach clenched. “You don’t get to say things like that anymore.”

“Can we not be friends?” he asked. There was a bit of sadness in his voice. It tugged at my heart, reminding me of what I used to feel for him.

I sighed. “Honestly? I don’t know.”

“Can we try? Allison, I could really use a friend right now.”

I closed my eyes, unable to block out the pleading in his voice. “We can try,” I finally said.

“So, uh. Tell me about your new job.” It was clear this was as awkward for him as it was for me.

For a brief moment, I considered ending the conversation, preferring to go back to the one I was having before Mike had interrupted. My eyes automatically sought out Jackson, but he was at a new table, having an animated—and hilarious, by the looks of it—conversation with a gorgeous redheaded woman who appeared to know him quite well.

Other than Jackson, who was obviously occupied, I didn’t have a single friend in town, and the only thing waiting for me was an empty house. So I tried to shake off the past and take all the emotion out of the conversation.

But I couldn’t. “I’m sorry, Mike,” I said. “But I need to go.”

When I left O’Malley’s, the late summer sun had already slipped behind the mountains, letting darkness wash over the woods. I shuddered involuntarily as I pulled my car up to the lonely farmhouse. “This is Rosemary Mountain,” I reminded myself aloud, forcing my voice to be steadier than I felt inside. “It’s perfectly safe. Much safer than Memphis. You just need to get used to it again.”

Still, I put my pepper spray in one hand and my keys in the other before getting out of the car.

“Doesn’t anyone here believe in garages?” I muttered to myself. This house was from the days when Rosemary Mountain was still a tiny mountain town with homes built by people who didn’t have many resources. A carport was a luxury back then. This house didn’t even have that.

Pulling into a garage and closing it behind me would have felt so much safer than walking exposed to the front porch. If I decided to make this move permanent, a garage would be at the top of my wish list.

As I stepped out and closed my car door, something swooped down above my head, making a screeching noise. I shrieked, unable to help myself, and took off running to the relative safety of the porch before it registered that I was running from a bat. I shook my head, feeling my heart pound in my chest.

“It’s just a bat,” I said aloud, attempting to reassure myself. But my voice seemed so small here, surrounded by the vast forest. My hands shook as I put the key in the front door and turned it, practically falling in as soon as it opened. I closed the door behind me and locked the deadbolt before flicking on the lights and letting out a sigh.

I was home—in more ways than one. And I wasn’t going to let a creepy house, angry patients, or a rude receptionist send me running back to Memphis.