“I know, Peyton.”

And then something occurred to her, and it was very painful. “Did everyone else know? Were they the talk of the office while I was working my ass off in the practice and taking care of his family and sleeping with him at the home we shared? Were they?”

“There was some chatter about flirting going on, but I didn’t actually hear anything substantial. You know I would have told you, horrible though that would have been for both of us. I saw her flirting, and I warned her that was unprofessional and might not go the way she hoped.”

Peyton gave a hollow laugh. “Shows what you know.”

“I’m appalled,” Amy said. “Appalled and angry and embarrassed for him. And if I had a daughter who acted like that, it would be hard not to slap her.”

“I can hardly criticize,” Peyton said. “I flirted with him. I hope I kept it well away from our working environment, but I don’t know—I was very taken with him. Though, to my knowledge, he wasn’t committed elsewhere at the time. Ted has a lot of faults, but I never suspected him of cheating. And I’m having a hard time believing he’s fool enough to get someone pregnant.”

“I know. Me, too,” Amy said. “Sometimes he’s a little hard to take, but he has admirable qualities or I wouldn’t have worked with him for so long. Listen, I know it doesn’t feel so at the moment, but I think you’re lucky things didn’t work out for you with Ted. He has shown his true colors.”

“Makes one a bit curious, doesn’t it?” Peyton asked. “What if I had wanted to stay? To try again? Would he have come to me to explain about this new baby on the way? Or would he have told me it was time for me to go? Because I left him. And not because I suspected him of cheating.”

“I can’t even speculate. But he’s in his forties, saddled with some very large alimony and child support, three intolerable kids whom he seems to avoid, though they spend the majority of their time in his home, and I can’t imagine him with another one. I think she tricked him. I think she planned it. She’s a silly little thing. And lazy.”

“This explains so much,” Peyton said. “When I told Ted I couldn’t live in his house anymore, he dismissed me from the practice. He mentioned giving Lindsey my job, and that’s when I knew. Up to that moment I thought my biggest problem was how to handle his children. I never suspected another woman. Do you suppose there were more?”

“I never suspected anyone, Peyton,” Amy said. “But I find this horrifying. You’re better off.”

Dear Amy, Peyton thought. She was quiet for a moment. “My mother would call it a lesson hard learned. She always said those were the most enduring lessons. What a fool I am.”

“Oh, please,” Amy said. “He’s an unfaithful ass and you call yourself the fool?”

“Don’t women usually know?”

“Not always. Obviously!”

“You’re just biased.”

“I’m sorry this happened, Peyton,” she said. “And I believe he’s going to regret this. He can’t replace you, you know. And he surely can’t replace you with her!”

As much as Peyton wished to hear Amy rant about the injustice of it all, the nastiness of Ted and Lindsey’s behavior, she had to end the call so she could think. She was so grateful to be alone, but then Amy was smart enough to know it was likely after hours in the clinic. She had asked before unleashing this bit of news. And all Peyton could think was, I must have been blind, deaf and stupid!

Her eyes burned, and she felt the tears come, though she wished she wouldn’t cry over him. She was done with him, after all. Once he’d severed their relationship and told her he was moving on, that he had started something with this pert young nurse, she was done. But pregnant? Engaged? She’d been completely unprepared for that. What she had learned to expect was that Ted would replace her because he had needs—he needed a woman, he needed a housemate, he needed a babysitter, he needed an assistant.

And Peyton needed three years of her life back. Three years of her life during which she had accomplished nothing and at a very high cost.

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.”