out I like being outside better than being trapped in an office.”
“How long have you been with this company?”
“ ‘This company’ is mine.” Pride underlined his words. “Mine and Manny’s. We worked construction together overseas for a long time and finally decided we wanted to be our own boss.”
“In Paradise? Why not Four Forks?” Her brows rose slightly.
“There’s nothing for me in Four Forks. I haven’t been back since I left for college. For the record, I’m in Paradise because we won the bid,” he said, making it very clear that their past had nothing to do with his future.
The opportunity in Paradise had opened up just when he’d needed to put down roots for himself and his daughter. It would go a long way toward establishing his company in the Paradise Valley and providing them with the credibility to launch them into the big league. He felt God’s hand on everything that had occurred in the past weeks...well, except for today’s disaster.
“So you’re not staying? This is temporary?”
“I’m not sure yet. We’ll be headquartering somewhere in the valley.” He bit back his irritation. “I can shoot you a memo when I decide, if that will help.”
She frowned at his sarcasm, but said nothing, and Matt regretted his words. Somehow being around Anne for the first time in so many years brought out the bitterness he thought he’d moved beyond. Maybe forgiveness wasn’t as easy as a simple prayer, after all.
When Matt began to shift on the gurney Anne put the weight of her forearm firmly against his shoulder, all the while maintaining the sterility of her gloved hands. Neat trick. She didn’t look strong enough to hold a big guy like him pinned to the table. Yet she just did.
“Please don’t move. I’m trying to remove some debris from the wound.”
“Sorry.” He closed his eyes against another wave of emotion brought on by the warmth of her arm against his shoulder.
Her touch still staggered him. That was worrisome. Very worrisome.
Silence stretched as she concentrated. “Got it,” she finally said. The examination gloves snapped as she removed them. “All done. Now Dr. Nelson can suture the site.”
“Great. Thanks.” He grimaced as he sat up.
“What hurts?”
“What doesn’t? Mostly my ankle.”
“I’m guessing more than a little. It’s likely that you have a fracture or at minimum a bad sprain. Once your lab work and X-ray are reviewed, I’ll get the doctor to prescribe something for the pain.”
“What I really need is to get out of here. I have to be somewhere.” He reached to his back pocket and frowned. “Left my phone on the site.”
“I can bring a phone into the exam room for you.”
“Thank you. I’d really appreciate that.”
“No problem. That’s my job.”
Right. Her job. Nothing personal. She’d effectively grounded him with those two words.
Then for the first time since she’d walked into the exam room, Anne really looked at him. Her deep brown eyes stared unflinching as though she was searching for answers. Then her cheeks pinked and she opened her mouth. No words came out. She winced as if in pain herself, finally glancing away.
She was remembering.
A small part of Anne Matson hadn’t forgotten what they had once shared. The fleeting expression of remorse, sadness—or whatever had been on her face—unsettled him in a way that he hadn’t felt in a very long time.
Matt swallowed and his breath caught in his chest. In truth, he’d planned for this moment for years; the moment he and Anne would come face-to-face again. He’d thought he was ready.
But he wasn’t. He had to admit the truth. There was no way that he could have been prepared.
His racing thoughts froze. Why should her remembering the past give him pause?
Hours ago he would have vehemently denied the possibility that he needed confirmation that they mattered to her. Yet, there it was; an unspoken need deep inside him for Anne to at least acknowledge their history and the fact that she had walked away from what they’d had, shattering his life into ragged pieces.
He hadn’t expected the victory to be quite so hollow.
All these years.
Once they were in love and now they were strangers. He’d torn their pages from his past and thrown them away long ago.
Yet here he was in Paradise, Colorado, with his memories and the reality of today slamming together.
He couldn’t deny his confusion.
The wall of anger around his heart trembled and Matt swallowed, afraid. Until this moment he’d been certain that he was finally on the road the Lord had laid out for him. Finally, he had gotten his life together. Now he wasn’t sure of anything.
Lord, I can’t open myself up for that pain again. Protect me from myself.
“He’s your husband.” Marta’s words were a statement and not a question. Clearly her friend was shocked.
Anne’s pen jerked, leaving a long line of ink on her paperwork. “Okay, who told you?” She quickly turned from the counter to glance around. The staff had thinned now that the crisis was over. Even the waiting room had emptied of patients waiting to be seen.
“Who do you think?”
“Luke Nelson.”
“Of course.” Marta shook her head. “The real question here is why am I the last to find out about this?”
Anne raised her hand into the air and helplessly gestured. There was no good answer except that she’d never told anyone about what had happened ten years ago. How could she?
“I’ve known you since you graduated from nursing school, Anne. Here I thought you were married to the job. So when did you have time to get married and divorced? And do not tell me you forgot. No one forgets a man who looks like that.”
A giggling young nursing assistant moved past them, pushing Matt in a wheelchair, his left leg elevated. A wide grin lit up the young woman’s face and infatuation sparked in her eyes.
“The nursing assistants did rock-paper-scissors to see who got to wheel him to X-ray.”
“Oh, brother,” Anne muttered, with a shake of her head.
“I heard the Paradise ladies auxiliary is already arguing over who gets to bring casseroles to his house.”
“He’s only been here an hour, how can they possibly work that fast? You’re kidding, right?”
Marta lifted a brow. “Am I?”
Across from them laughter rang out as Juanita Villas, the plump, middle-aged unit clerk joined the conversation. “I signed up. Twice.”
Anne’s mouth dropped open.
“Don’t look so shocked. Me encanta.”
“And that means?” Anne asked.
“I like him. I like him a lot. He’s quite charming,” Juanita translated. “You’ve got good taste in ex-husbands.”
“I’ll say. Ruggedly handsome and tall. What is he, six-three? Four?” Marta mused, her gaze following to where the wheelchair was parked outside the elevator doors.
“Six-three.”
Anne