Beat of the Heart (Runaway Train, #2)(67)

The sound of her brothers behind us caused her to tense in my arms. At their questioning expressions, I said, “Go on down to the limo. We’ll be down in a few.”

Micah nodded. “See you there.”

When they were safely on the elevator, she pulled away. “Sorry about that,” she sniffled.

I cupped her chin, bringing her gaze to mine. “Hey, you have nothing to apologize for. Okay? You know I’m always here for you.”

After wiping her eyes, she gave a quick jerk of her head. “I know.” She leaned up on her tip-toes to kiss my cheek. “I’ve missed you,” she whispered.

Her words caused my chest to clench. “I’ve missed you, too.”

That was all that had to be said for me to know that everything was fine between us. As we started down the hallway to the elevators, Abby slid her arm around my waist. She peered up at me and smiled. “Thanks again for coming with me today since Jake had to bail.”

“Hey, I was glad to do it.” When I punched the down arrow button, I kissed the top of her head. “Jake’s still having a hard time with hospitals, huh?”

She nodded as we stepped onto the elevator. “I don’t know how to help him, AJ.”

“Just be there for him. That’s all you can do.”

“I will.”

“You mean everything in the world to him, and he’s lucky to have you and your love.”

“Thanks, AJ.”

I smiled at her. “No problem.”

We stepped out of the hospital into the bright sunshine. Gabe, Eli, and Micah were standing outside the limo waiting on us. “Ready to head back?”

“Yep,” I replied.

As I waited my turn to get inside the limo, I gazed ahead. When the realization of where we were washed over me, I felt like someone had sent a roundhouse kick straight to my gut. St. Joseph’s loomed tauntingly at me from across the street. Like a sappy-ass chick, a rush of memories flooded my mind of meeting Mia for the first time.

A gentle nudge caused me to snap out of my thoughts. Abby stared up at me with a knowing smile. “Go see her,” she urged.

I shook my head. “That’s ancient history.”

“Give me a break, AJ. You were just staring at a hospital building with a sad, lost puppy dog expression. Mia can’t be history when you obviously still care for her.”

“She handcuffed me to a f*cking shower,” I countered.

“In her mind, she had a good reason.”

“Oh really?”

Abby nodded. “Regardless of whether it was a misunderstanding or not, your past indiscretions with women came back to hurt a very vulnerable woman.”

“Thank you, Dr. Phil.”

Abby narrowed her eyes at me. “Watch it, Resendiz. Don’t forget I know you better than you think I do. And that forty-five minute drive to Mia’s house gave me a lot of time to get to know her and exactly how she was feeling.”

I raked my hands through my hair. “It’s too late. I didn’t tell you at the time, but I did try to call and text her. She wouldn’t answer.”

“Maybe what you need to say should be said in person.” Abby reached over to palm my cheek. “You know I love you, AJ, and I want more than anything for you to be happy. And while you may think that what happened wasn’t that big a deal and Mia should have forgiven you, I disagree.”

My brows shot up in surprise. “Do you?”

“Yes, I do.” Abby’s gaze went to the glittering diamond on her hand. “Most people would have given up on Jake—they would have never tried as hard as I did to forgive him and give him a second chance…or many chances.” She then stared pointedly at me. “But then at the same time, he proved to me that in his own way he was working his ass off to show me how sorry he was and how much he truly cared for me. So maybe you need to step up and show a little more to Mia. Maybe she wants to reconcile with you, but she doesn’t know how to go about trying. Maybe she needs some grand and huge gesture from you to prove that you’re not like all the other *s she’s had the misfortune of being involved with.”

Gabe poked his head out of the limo window. “You guys coming?”

At my hesitation, Abby patted my back. “You know a wise woman once said that fate had a funny way of intervening in our lives.”

“Susan said that,” I replied in a strangled voice.

“Yes, she did.”

“Fuuuccck,” I groaned.

Abby laughed. “Should I take that as an ‘I’ll see you guys later. Thanks for letting me see the error of my ways’ curse?”

“Yeah.”

“What about getting home? Want me to send the limo back for you?”

I shook my head. “No, I’ll hopefully be leaving with Mia…if not, I’ll get a cab.”

Abby reached up again on her tip-toes to kiss my cheek. After playfully ruffling my hair, she said, “Good luck.”

“Thanks, mi amor. I’m going to need it.”



When I stepped off the elevator onto Mia’s floor, my heart started pounding so loud in my ears it drowned out all the noise around me. The stretch of hallway to the nurse’s station seemed to draw on forever. As I drew closer to it, Mia’s friend, Dee, stepped out a patient’s room with a chart in the crook of his arm. When he saw me, I grimaced and prepared for a verbal tongue lashing.