The Secrets of Her Past

She trudged toward the private offices. She’d been able to avoid the back of the building until now, but she hadn’t packed a lunch and didn’t want to force her company on the staff. She definitely wouldn’t bum a ride to lunch as Adam had suggested.

Dread quickened her heartbeat as she approached the office she’d shared with Andrew. A lump the size of a Saint Bernard lodged in her throat. She wanted to duck her head and plow past, but she forced herself to stop outside the door.

C’mon. You can do it.

It took colossal effort to turn ninety degrees and face her past. She deliberately kept her gaze high, focusing on the wall behind Andrew’s desk. She started at the long horizontal transom-style windows just below the roofline that allowed sunlight into the room. Then she let her gaze slide down. His mahogany-framed diploma occupied the same spot. It was flanked by the bookshelves he’d ordered custom-built in the same dark glossy finish as the frame. The textbooks and knickknacks he’d collected still cluttered the shelves.

Her heart thumped harder and her nails bit into her palms. Taking a bracing breath, she allowed her gaze to click incrementally down like the second hand on a clock to the high back of his chair and then to the surface of his desk. The leather blotter and desk set she’d given him as a graduation present remained in the center. The frame that had held their wedding photograph still occupied the front right corner. She inched forward on leaded feet, and slowly turned the rectangle around.

Seeing the two of them with their hands linked, love in their eyes and radiating from their smiles, crushed the breath from her like a horse pinning her against a stall wall with his haunch. They’d been so young, so idealistic and so certain of their future together. At least she had been.

Had Andrew been plotting even then to derail her plans? Had he ever intended for her to join his father’s practice? Or had he always planned for her to be a stay-at-home mom like Helen?

She scanned the rest of the desk and a familiar emptiness yawned in her belly. She cradled the ache with both hands. Andrew had gloated that their son had been conceived during a quickie on this surface while the staff was at lunch. He’d thrown that in her face that horrible night.

And that was when she’d taken her eyes off the road.

A tremor racked her. She pried her gaze away and examined the rest of the space. Another shrine to Andrew. Nothing had changed since he’d left, and yet ironically, nothing in her life was the same.

With his drunken boast he’d crushed her faith not only in him but in herself. How could she have been so blind, so gullible, so stupid?

An undeniable urge to bolt swept through her. She raced down the hall into Dan—Dr. Drake’s office and planted her palms on the edge of his desk. It had been six years. She shouldn’t still react this viscerally.

Out of habit, she gulped deep breaths and rammed the darkness into its hidey-hole by counting her blessings. Her health. Her home. Her practice. Her pets. Her friends. The peaceful town she’d grown to love.

Tilting her head back, she closed her eyes and tried to focus on something else—anything besides the grief gnawing away her hard-won peace. There had to be something positive in this horrible experience.

Her morning had been crammed with everything from avians to reptiles, testing her memory and her training to the limit. Not knowing what she’d find upon entering a treatment room had been both intimidating and exhilarating in ways Madison hadn’t anticipated. She’d enjoyed being kept on her toes.

“You okay?” Lisa asked behind her.

Madison spun around. “Yes. I’d forgotten how exciting and varied Danny’s patients could be. At home my most exotic patient is a ferret and once in a while an ornery donkey.”

“Sounds dull. It’s never that here. We’re eating in the break room—I hope you like pizza. Better come and get yours before Jim scarfs it down.”

Surprised to be included, Madison straightened. “You ordered delivery? I’ll pay for my share.”

“Adam covered it.”

Adam. Her nerves twanged. For the first time since she’d stepped into the office Madison glanced at the clock. Almost one o’clock. Danny would be in surgery. She’d been too busy this morning to keep track of time. A fresh wave of worry snaked through her. She wanted to call and check on Danny. But she wouldn’t. If she intended to keep their relationship strictly business, then checking up on him was out of the question.

She followed Lisa down the hall. “Does Adam always send food?”

“No, not Adam, but Dr. Drake always orders takeout on the days we’re slammed and don’t have time to go out.”

Madison had suggested that practice when she’d interned here. “Does that happen often?”

“Often enough—especially during shortened holiday weeks. Dr. Drake has more patients than he can handle, and he hates to turn anyone away. He definitely needs a partner.”

Kay, the receptionist, Jim, the groomer, and Susie, the kennel manager, were seated when Madison and Lisa entered. Kay was older than her predecessor, a perky twentysomething who’d shamelessly flirted with Andrew even in Madison’s presence.

“Madison, you did well this morning.”

Warmth surrounded Madison. “Thank you, Kay.”

“You hit the ground running and never missed a beat. Dr. Drake was right. You’re one sharp cookie.”

“Da—Dr. Drake said that?”

“He’s talked about you for months.”

Madison’s heart jolted. Months? She hadn’t agreed to come until Saturday, and yet he’d been discussing her with his staff?

“I have a practice in North Carolina.”

Jim laughed. “We’ve heard all about your little practice and your farm.”

The fine hairs on her body rose. Danny had known where she was all along? How much of her business—personal and professional—had he followed? Knowing he’d been spying disturbed her.

Lisa paused with her slice just shy of her lips. “He told us about the good ol’ days when you shadowed him and his son, but he didn’t tell us why you left.”

The unspoken question decimated Madison’s appetite. “I didn’t feel comfortable here after Andrew died.” She forced herself to take a bite. A full mouth gave her an excuse not to elaborate.

Kay nodded. “It must be hard coming back to the place where you worked with your husband. You were both so young—it’s such a sad story.”

What had Danny told them? The pizza turned to a cheesy, greasy paste in Madison’s mouth. She chewed and chewed, then finally swallowed the wad. “Y’all have helped by keeping me busy.”

Kay covered her hand. “I’m sorry, hon.”

Madison’s eyes stung at the unexpected show of sympathy. She’d needed this six years ago, but she couldn’t handle it today when her nerves were already exposed and raw from seeing ghosts. She hadn’t cried in years and wouldn’t now in front of strangers.

“I noticed Miss Findley’s and her dog’s diets have failed,” Jim said.

Madison shot him a grateful glance for his obvious attempt to head off an emotional display. She let the conversation about the morning’s patients roll past her. She’d choke down her lunch if it killed her rather than let the others know how badly their revelations had disturbed her.

Bite. Chew. Swallow. Repeat.

Did Danny honestly believe she’d abandon her practice and return to Norcross? Everything she’d heard implied he’d been expecting her for longer than a few days’ time. How far was he willing to go to get her back? Would he, like his son had, stoop to using underhanded tactics to get his way?

“Hernia surgeries are supposed to be a piece of cake. But you never know. Dr. Drake isn’t young.”

Kay’s statement jerked Madison from her thoughts. “Hernia?”

Heads bobbed around the table.

Jim reached for a second slice. “Dr. Drake never mentioned any symptoms. He’s been lifting big dogs like nothing bothered him. I had no idea. I could’ve helped.”

“He told you he was having hernia surgery?” she repeated to make sure she hadn’t misheard.