Page 76 of Parallel

She excuses herself for the night, though it’s barely seven, taking a new bottle of wine with her, so I retire too. I know I need to listen to Jeff’s voicemails, but God I dread it. I can deal with his anger, but I cringe at the idea of his pain. Right now, I’ve got so much of my own, I’m not sure I can handle his on top ofit.

I shower, dry my hair, and dawdle as much as possible before I finally turn on the phone. My heart sinks when I see there are well over a hundredtexts.

And stops entirely when I see the most recent one is fromNick.

Nick: Quinn, I’m going crazy. Please just answer me. I need to know you’reokay.

He sent it 15 minutes ago. And he texted an hour before that. I scroll through all the messages from Jeff and discover Nick began texting me at ten this morning. Maybe he was just trying to warn me about his change of heart. Maybe he wanted to make sure I didn’t show up at the lake and ruin hisreunion.

Or maybe, just maybe, he’s the guy I thought he was allalong.

35

NICK

Ialready knew yesterday the risk to my career no longer mattered to me. It was only the remaining question of ethics that kept me from driving back here last night and begging Quinn to give me a chance. As her doctor, it’s possible I hold more sway over her than I would otherwise. But I also know this isn’t the classic case of a vulnerable patient and predatory doctor. Iknowher. My very bones remember her in ways my brain can’t quite catch upwith.

And when I woke this morning, I realized there was no longer time to sit around debating—I could go for it, or I could become Grosbaum, growing old still longing for someone who didn’t come back tome.

The decision was made, but I never dreamed it would take me eleven fucking hours to get ahold of her. By the time she finally calls, I’ve spent so long worried she had another seizure that I’m almost as angry as I amrelieved.

“Thank God,” I say when I answer, before she’s even said a word. How could she have let me go that long, unsure if she was even alive? “Why the hell was your phone off?” I demand, pacing theroom.

“Why the hell was your girlfriend visiting you at the lake?” she replies. The question—and how hurt and angry she sounds asking it—stops meshort.

“What?”

“I saw Meg,” she says. Her swallow is audible. “At the market by your parents’ house this morning. Talking about herboyfriendand his Jeep. I just don’t understand how you could say the things you did yesterday and—” Her voicebreaks.

I’m so confused right now. But my anger disappeared the moment I realized how upset she was. “Quinn…I honestly have no idea what you’re talking about. I’m not even at the lake. I came home this morning to see you and you never answered your phoneonce.”

“But then—” She stops and takes a deep breath. “But then why was she outthere?”

I lean on the counter and run a hand through my hair. None of this makes sense. Why the fuck would Meg have gone to the lake? I saw a voicemail from her this morning but didn’t check it. The more important question, to me, is why Quinn was there. “I have no idea. I didn’t invite her and I haven’t seen her since last week. But…why wereyouthere?”

“I wanted to see you,” she admits quietly. “But then she was at the market…so Ileft.”

I’m dumbfounded. What I have with Quinn is something I wouldn’t be able to replace in a year or a decade or a century—how could she possibly have believed otherwise? “I would never have done that. There is no one for me but you. Not today and not a year from now. So if you stay withJeff—”

“I didn’t,” she says quietly. “That’s why I came to the lake. I ended things thismorning.”

The relief is so sweet and sharp that for a moment I’m speechless. “Thank God,” I finally whisper. There is so much more I want to say to her right now, but not like this. I need to see her face. I need her to see I mean every word of it. “Where are you? This isn’t a conversation I want to have over thephone.”

“I’m at my mom’s, up in Pennsylvania,” she says. “I’m coming back tomorrownight.”

Not soon enough. Now that I’ve spent an entire day wondering if I’ve lost her, there’s not a chance I’m waiting twenty-four hours to really know she’s mine. I grab my keys and head for the Jeep. “Give me youraddress.”

“In Pennsylvania?” she asks. “Are youserious?”

I’ve never been more serious in mylife.

* * *

It’s justafter ten when I pull up to her mother’shouse.

I’m halfway up the walk when she steps outside the door. I don’t slow my pace. I keep going until she’s in myarms.

“I can’t believe you came all the way up here,” shewhispers.