The past year with Ted had been so difficult. So much arguing between them that even their brief respites from his children were not a comfort or rejuvenation. Had he just come from a hot session with his pretty young nurse that night he’d found her crying in their bedroom because his kids had deleted her entire recorded season of Homeland? Just because they didn’t like Homeland and wanted space for their own recorded shows. That night Ted, tired and sweaty from a long day, had been unsympathetic. “Listen to yourself, Peyton. You’re upset about a television show. Just buy the goddamn series on DVD! They’re children. Can’t you be the adult for once?” The same man who wouldn’t allow his kids to set foot in his office, touch his computer or move his books. The same man who threatened them with unimaginable punishments if they dared to screw around with his golf clubs or leave a fingerprint on his Lamborghini.

She laid her head down and sobbed as she wondered how many people she had worked with knew Ted was doing Lindsey right in front of her. She felt so humiliated. The idea of Lindsey being next, even immediately next, she could somehow deal with that. But the idea that he had chosen Lindsey long before he’d dispensed with her... How many women had he needed to massage his formidable ego?

What is wrong with me? she wondered. How could I fall for someone like that? How could I kid myself for so long? Why was I there for so long? What the hell did I think was going to happen?

* * *

Scott had a good afternoon in the ER, not too busy, never boring. He stopped at the clinic to pick up a new prescription pad for his medical bag and parked behind the shops, next to the back door. He unlocked it, let himself in and heard a sound. Maybe someone talking in one of the exam rooms. Could it be a patient, a late in the day walk in?

He went to his office to get the pad, and there, sitting at his desk, her head down on her arms, was Peyton. Sobbing.

“Hey, hey,” he said, going to her. “Peyton, hey.”

She raised her head, and her eyes were red and swollen, her cheeks wet, her lips fat and her nose pink. Oh, boy, he thought. She’d been at it awhile. “Come on, honey,” he said, sitting on the edge of the desk, gently stroking her back. “What can I do?”

She shook her head vigorously and muttered something unintelligible that made her cry some more. She put her head back down on her folded arms and had at it.

Scott grabbed the tissues from his desktop and pulled out a couple. “Come on, Peyton,” he urged, trying to lift her chin to look at her. “You can cry some more after you tell me what happened.”

She sobbed, hiccupped, shook her head and grabbed the tissues out of his hand. She wiped her face, blew her nose and tried to talk. “He...he...he...” And she fell into her sobs again. “So humiliated... So hurt....”

At a total loss as to what he should do next, Scott slid off the desk. With one knee on the floor to be at her level, he turned her toward him, wrapped his arms around her and stroked her back. She turned in his arms and, resting her head on his shoulder, she let it all out. “It’s okay,” he said softly. “I’m right here.”

She sniffed a little and slowly lifted her head, backing away a little bit. “That’s...that’s where she gets it.”

“Huh?” he asked.

She was gasping a little bit from the sobs. “Jenny. She says that, you know.” She wiped her eyes and nose. “You must say that to her.”

He just smiled. “Maybe I do...I don’t know. Peyton, do you want to talk about it?”

She pursed her lips. “I don’t know....”

Scott rose and pulled the other desk chair over, closely, facing her. “You can trust me.”

“Oh, I know that. Don’t ask me how,” she said, another hiccup escaping. “I know I can trust you. It’s just that...I feel so stupid!”

He chuckled and shook his head.

“That’s funny?” she demanded.

“You’re proud,” he said. “Something hurt you, and you think you should have known, been ready, figured it out before it happened. You’re smart and you’re proud.”

“Well, so what? That’s what I want to be—smart and proud!”

“I know, kiddo,” he said. “But what happened to make you cry?”

She sucked in a deep breath. “After the breakup, I...well, I got a call from a friend. I left Portland six weeks ago. I lived with him for almost three years, I left six weeks ago, not on the best of terms, of course. But he is already engaged. To a twenty-five-year-old nurse who is three months pregnant! While I’m torturing myself over whether to stay or go, while I’m working my ass off in his practice and racing home to stand guard over the world’s most malicious teenagers, he’s f**king some little nurse on the side. The arrogant bastard was cheating on me! Using me to run his practice and his home!” And then she started to cry again. She blubbered, and Scott caught a few words. “Just grow up, Peyton! Who’s the adult here.... What is it you want from me? Don’t I give you enough? Don’t you live here rent-free?”

Scott was thunderstruck. He just stared at her in a stupor. When she finally calmed down enough to make eye contact, there was only one thing Scott could say. “Him?”

She sighed wearily. “Ted Ramsdale, the cardiologist I worked for. We were together for almost three years. For over two we lived together. He shared custody of three kids. Three mean, rude, obnoxious, lazy kids. I’m sure if you asked him their birthdays he’d have to consult his calendar. I know for a fact his ex-wife used to text or email him to tell him it was time to buy a birthday gift. Which he would ask me to go pick up and wrap!”

Scott ran a hand through his errant hair. “The cardiologist?”

“Yeah, well I’ve never done anything like that before. In fact, I would not have taken this job if I’d known you were single. Especially a single father!”

He laughed. He realized it might’ve sounded a little like a gleeful giggle, so he quickly cleared his throat.

Peyton lowered her gaze. “It’s very embarrassing. I should’ve known....”

“Why? Why should you have known?” Scott asked.

“Because there were signs. He’s beautiful, for one thing, and he knew it. Women used to sway as he passed by. He’s not just striking, he’s stunning. Movie-star handsome. Once you get to know him you can see—he preens. He’s demanding. He’s manipulative and he’s in love with himself. It’s all about Ted. He takes care of Ted first. He wasn’t getting taken care of by me too well the last year we were together, so he got himself a stand-in because Ted likes love and attention, but more than that he needs to be worshipped.” She started to cry again, but softly. “The rat bastard. He was cheating on me, and he still asked me to take care of his kids! He needed a babysitter! Or a warden!”