Midnight Kiss (Virgin River #12)(25)

Sunny shook her head. She sat on the sofa, turned toward Annie and pulled her feet under her. “I made up my mind I wasn’t getting mixed up with another guy after what Glen did to me, then I go and meet this sweetheart. He’s pretty unforgettable.”

“Oh? The guy from the bar?”

Sunny sipped her coffee. “Sounds funny when you put it that way. Drew—a doctor of all things. Not a guy from a bar. He was up at his sister’s cabin to study and only came into town to get a New Year’s Eve beer. I never should have run into him. And even though he’s totally nice and very sweet, I promised him I’d never get involved again, with him or anyone else. I told him I just wasn’t ready.”

“Smart if you ask me,” Annie said, sipping from her own steaming cup.

“Really?” Sunny asked, surprised. Wasn’t this the same woman who lectured her about letting go of the anger and getting on with her life?

Annie gave a short laugh. “After what happened to you? Why would you take that kind of chance again? Too risky. Besides, you have a good life! You have work you love and your parents are completely devoted to you.”

“Annie, they’re my parents,” she said. “They’re wonderful and I adore them, but they’re my parents! They don’t exactly meet all my needs, if you get my drift.”

Annie patted Sunny’s knee. “When more time has passed, when you feel stronger and more confident, you might run into a guy who can fill some of the blank spots—and do that without getting involved. Know what I mean?”

“I know what you mean,” Sunny said, looking down. “Problem is, those kind of relationships never appealed to me much.”

“Well, as time goes on…” Annie said. “I imagine you’ll get the hang of it. You’re young and you’ve been kicked in the teeth pretty good. I understand—you’re not feeling that strong.”

Sunny actually laughed. “I had no idea how strong I was,” she said. “I got through the worst day of my life. I helped my mom return over a hundred wedding gifts…” She swallowed. “With notes of apology.”

“You’re right—that takes strength of a very unique variety. But you told me you don’t feel too confident about your ability to know whether a guy is a good guy, a guy you can really trust,” Annie said.

Sunny sighed. “Yeah, it’s scary.” Then she lifted her gaze and a small smile flitted across her mouth. “Some things are just obvious, though. You know what Drew said is the best and worst part of his job as an orthopedic surgery resident? Kids. He loves being able to help them, loves making them laugh, but it’s really hard for him to see them broken. What a term, huh? Broken? But that’s what he does—fixes broken parts.”

“That doesn’t mean you’d be able to count on him to come through for the wedding dance…” Annie pointed out.

But Sunny wasn’t really listening. “When that deer was lying on the hood of the SUV I tried not to look, but he was taking pictures for the insurance and I had to take a peek out the windshield. He gave the deer a pet on the neck. He looked so sad. He said it made him feel bad and he hoped the deer didn’t have a family somewhere. Annie, you grew up around here, grew up on a farm—do deer have families?”

“Sort of,” she said softly. “Well, they breed. The bucks tend to breed with several doe and they run herd on their families, keep ’em together. They—”

“He’s got a soft spot,” Sunny said. “If I ever gave a new guy a chance, it would be someone with a soft spot for kids, for animals….”

“But you won’t,” Annie said, shaking her head. “You made the right decision—no guys, no wedding, no marriage, no kids.” Sunny looked at her in sudden shock. “Maybe later, when much more time has passed,” Annie went on. “You know, like ten years. And no worries—you could meet a guy you could actually trust in ten years, date a year, be engaged a year, get married and think about a family… I mean, women are now having babies into their forties! You have lots of time!”

Sunny leaned toward her. “Did you hear me? He loves helping kids. He carried me to the cabin—two miles. He petted the dead dear! And he should have broken the heels off my Stuart Weitzmans so I could walk in the snow, but he carried me instead because I just couldn’t part with—” Sunny looked at Annie with suddenly wide eyes. “What if he’s a wonderful, perfect, loving man and I refuse to get to know him because I’m mad at Glen?”

Annie gave Sunny’s hand a pat. “Nah, you wouldn’t do that. You’re just taking care of yourself, that’s all. You don’t have a lot of confidence right now. You’re a little afraid you wouldn’t know the right guy if he snuck up on you and kissed you senseless.”

Sunny touched her lips with her fingertips. “He kisses great.”

“Oh, Sunny! You let him kiss you?”

Sunny jumped up so fast she sloshed a little coffee on her pajamas. “I have plenty of confidence, I always have,” she said. “I started my own business when I was twenty and it’s going great. I know I get help from my dad, but I was never unsure. And I can’t even think about being alone another ten years! Or sleeping with guys I don’t care about just to scratch an itch—bleck!”