Midnight, Moonlight & Miracles. Teresa Southwick

there between them like the proverbial elephant on the table. And she was right. Megan and Bayleigh owed Simon Reynolds more than they could ever repay. How could she turn her back?

      But that kiss. How could she forget?

      Megan figured she would just have to find a way. She sighed. “When you’re right, you’re right. I do have to go back.”

      “That’s the spirit. Hippocratic oath, spread comfort, save lives and all that. Florence Nightingale had nothing on you.”

      “It’s not that, although my nurse’s training will come in handy. He didn’t want to meet with me two years ago, but he can’t run away this time. At least he can’t get very far very fast on those crutches. I finally have an opportunity to thank him.”

      “No.” Janet gripped her arm. “You mustn’t say anything.”

      “Why not?”

      “He’s been shut down for two years, and I was beginning to think nothing and no one could get through to him. I tried being kind, then blunt and finally brutal. He lashes out and hurts back. That’s why I left earlier. And I swore to him I wasn’t giving up.” She squeezed Megan’s arm. “But I was starting to and that’s one reason I came back. For some reason he connected with you.”

      “But he was married to your daughter. Doesn’t it bother you?”

      “He’s been good to me.” The other woman shook her head. “He’s a good man in spite of the fact he was wrong for my daughter. But if you tell him your daughter has Marcus’s corneas, he’ll shut down again.”

      “Maybe he won’t. Maybe he’s ready to deal with it.”

      “Don’t ask me how I know. Maybe another informed gut instinct. But I just know if you tell him now that your daughter has Marcus’s corneas, he’ll give up. If that happens, I’m terribly afraid—” Janet’s brown eyes clouded with uncertainty.

      “But if I go back in there and don’t say anything, it will be a lie. I hate lies.”

      “I know you believe in being straightforward, and I love that about you. But sometimes brutal honesty isn’t the best policy. I agree deception is wrong—in most cases. But not this time. It’s been two years. His behavior really worries me, Megan. If he doesn’t open up soon, I’m not sure he ever will.”

      “But how will keeping this secret help him?”

      “In two years he hasn’t let anyone in—not even me. And we share the same loss. I’m afraid you’re his last chance. I think you can help him. And you’ve got some time. He can’t run, and he can only hide if you let him or push him over the edge with information he’s not quite ready for.”

      If only he hadn’t kissed me, Megan thought. But if he hadn’t, she wouldn’t have walked out. Janet would have arrived and the truth would have come out right in front of him. How she wished that was the way it had gone down. Then she wouldn’t be in this pickle. Between a rock and a hard place. She couldn’t leave, and she couldn’t lie.

      “Okay, Janet. I’ll go back. But I don’t think I can keep my mouth shut.”

      The other woman nodded somberly. “I know you’ll do the right thing, Megan.”

      “I’ll do my best. That’s all I can promise.” They stood up and embraced.

      Janet held her at arm’s length and stared deep into her eyes. “I know you will. Give Bayleigh a hug for me and tell her I’ll visit soon.”

      “I will. She’s missed you.”

      “I’ve been busy volunteering at the hospital.”

      “I heard you’re coordinating the organ donation program.”

      “They asked me to be a liaison between the doctors and the families who have so difficult a decision to make.”

      “It must be hard.”

      “Yes and no,” she said a little sadly. “I’ve seen both sides. It’s a unique perspective, and I try to be of help. But enough about me. You have a mission, and it’s time to quit stalling and get to it.”

      “Who said I was stalling?”

      “This is me, Megan. Now march,” she said, pointing the way back up the sidewalk.

      “Okay.”

      Megan turned away and started back. With every step, her heart pounded. She prayed for the right words to convey to Simon how very grateful she was to him. And she prayed for the strength to forget how that kiss had made her feel. She wondered which part of her would cooperate first—her mind or her body. Or neither.

      Twenty minutes after Megan had stalked out, Simon was still sitting on the couch where she’d left him. He’d gotten what he’d wanted. He was alone. Would he have kissed her if he’d known that after she was gone he would feel like a man going under for the third time?

      Not to mention the practical problems he hadn’t thought through in his ill-conceived plan to keep her from knowing his reaction to her. He was still thirsty, still had to take care of his bodily functions. Then there was the more pressing fact that he hadn’t eaten anything since…hell, he couldn’t even remember. But it was more than hunger gnawing inside him. The gaping hole in his gut had grown bigger and emptier the moment the door had slammed. He hadn’t felt this alone since losing his son. Normally, when this happened, he got on his motorcycle.

      He shifted his leg and pain zinged from his ankle to his groin. That wasn’t going to happen. “I can’t even get to the john without being in a world of hurt,” he said ruefully. “And now I’m talking to myself. This is just freakin’ great.”

      He heard the knob turn on the front door just before it opened. “Ready or not here I come,” said a familiar female voice.

      Then Megan appeared in the doorway. And again he thought she looked like an angel. Backlit by sunlight, there was an aura around her that was both comforting, surreal and heavenly. He tried to shut down the gladness before it got a toehold.