Page 48 of Healed Heart

“Yeah, and I’m sorry.”She looks down, runs her hands over her forehead.“My mind has been a mess lately.”

“I hear that one.”I take a sip of water.“It seems he has a thing for you.Ralph.”

She drops her mouth open.

“I mean, he came on to you, right?”

“Yeah.But Jason, he’s a dickhead.I have no interest in him at all.”She grabs my hands.“I love you, remember?”

“I know, baby.”I squeeze her hands and then let them go.“But he said something to me when I left his hospital room.He said, ‘you never fucking deserved her.’”

She shakes her head.“Did he tell you who beat him up?”

“It wasn’t me, Angie.”

“I know that.”She sighs.“I’m sorry again that I doubted you.I know you could never do such a thing.And then, when I found out my brother was in town, for a hot minute I thought it might have been him.”

I raise an eyebrow.“Your brother?Why?”

She exhales sharply.“You don’t know my family.The men are a bunch of hotheads who will do anything to protect their women.Their wives, sisters, cousins, mothers, daughters.I’m not even exaggerating.”

“I get it,” I say.I would have done anything to protect Julia.Lindsay, too.If Ralph came between either of them and me, I’d have no qualms about beating him to a damned pulp.

“But it wasn’t him.He was out with friends last night, having a few beers.”

“Have you confirmed this story with his friends?”

She laughs at that.“I don’tknowwho his friends are.Probably people he met at the conference.But I don’t have to check out his story to believe him.He didn’t have a scratch on him, and neither do you.”She rubs her temples.“I don’t know what I was thinking.I guess it’s just the uncertainty of it all.”

She’s caught up in this mess just as much as I am, and the last thing she needs is more to worry about.

“Look,” I say, setting my glass down and standing to face her.“Ralph doesn’t matter.I’m…” I let out a breath.“I’m going to level with HR.Tell them about us.And then I’m going to figure out who murdered my wife.”

She places her hand over her chest.“You’ll lose your job, Jason.”

“I’d lose it anyway if I went to Switzerland for the surgery.Which I may still do if I can get to the bottom of this before then.”

“But anatomy lab…”

“They’ll find someone else to teach it.And you’ll do fine.Probably better without me there.”I run a hand over my face.“I’m sorry.I’m sorry about all of this.”

“For loving me?There’s no reason to be sorry about that.”

I swallow.“I didn’t mean to.”

“Neither did I,” she says.“It just happened.”

A shared silence falls, but it only lasts a minute before Tillie scratches at the door.Angie lets her in, and she jumps onto the couch in the living room and lies down.

“I need you,” I say.

“I need you too.”

“No.”I shake my head, stalking toward her.“I mean Ineedyou.Now, Angie.Fuckingnow.”

ChapterNineteen

Angie