Page 39 of Healed Heart

She doesn’t look convinced, and it breaks my heart.

“But you have to admit, it does look suspicious,” she says.

My blood simmers underneath my skin.“How so?”

“Because you were angry at him.And he knew about us.”Her voice quivers as if she’s on the verge of tears.“And he said it was my boyfriend.”

“Angie—”

“No, Jason,” she snaps, cutting me off.“I’m not accusing you of anything.But you have to understand why I thought it could have been you.”

I close my eyes, take a deep breath.Count to ten.“I do understand,” I say in as calm a voice as I can muster.“But just because things look a certain way doesn’t mean they are.”

“But Jason?—”

“No,” I cut her off this time.“I’m not going to stand here and let you accuse me of something I didn’t do.”

“I told you, I wasn’t accusing you?—”

“Speculating, then.”I stand and pace around her.“Yes, Ralph knew about us, and yes, I was angry with him.But that doesn’t mean I attacked him.”

“Then who did?”

“I don’t know,” I reply, my voice strangled.“But it wasn’t me.”

The silence stretches between us once more.It’s stifling, heavy with accusations and denials.

She wraps her arms around herself.“I want to believe you,” she says quietly.“But I just don’t know what to think anymore.”

The admission cuts deeper than any knife could have.

“I understand,” I say finally when my voice returns to me.“And I can’t make you believe me.But I promise you that I had nothing to do with this.”

She doesn’t respond.

“Angie,” I say, sitting back down next to her.“I love you.I would never do something like this, not even to my worst enemy.Certainly not to some jackass student of mine, even one who’s poking his nose where it doesn’t belong.”

“I need time,” she murmurs, brushing a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

“Of course.”I nod, fighting back the urge to reach out and hold her.To comfort her.“Take all the time you need.”

She gives me a half-hearted smile, but it doesn’t quite reach her eyes.Slowly, she rises from the bench.Without another word, she turns and walks away.

The leaves rustle overhead.I look around the garden, chilled and snow-covered.This place is beautiful in the spring and summer, when the flowers are in full bloom, the trees green and thick with life, and the air smells like roses and sunlight.I used to sit out here before a complex surgery, running through each step in my mind.

Now?

The garden is icy, stripped down.

I don’t know how long I sit there, lost in my own thoughts.The shadows around me deepen as the sun begins to set, but I barely notice the change in light.All I can think of is Angie’s accusing gaze and the fear I saw reflected in her eyes.

And while it saddens me, it also makes me angry.

Angry that she thinks I’m capable of harming someone.

But angrier at Ralph for accusing me.

He and I will have words.