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!”

“He,” Scott said again.

“What?” she demanded through tears.

“What?” he repeated.

“Why do you keep saying that. He.”

“Oh. Um. Not important,” he said.

“Yes, it is. Why?”

“Well, because I was under the impression... That is, I thought your relationship was with... I thought it was a woman you were involved with.”

“A woman?” she asked, reddened eyes suddenly round.

“Based on things you said, you know....”

Suddenly, as if enraged, she slugged him right in the solar plexus. “You think I’m a lesbian?”

He backed away a little bit, rubbing his chest with his knuckles. “I thought that’s what you were telling me! Not interested in men, et cetera!”

She was still frowning, but it seemed from wonder rather than fury. “You think the only reason a woman wouldn’t be interested in men is if she’s a lesbian?”

“Hey, I was wrong, apparently! I just...”

“Made stupid assumptions. Why didn’t you just ask me? Jeez, you are not as smart as you look!”

“Clearly,” he said, still rubbing his chest.

A noise escaped from her, and she crumpled on to her folded arms again, literally wailing.

“Hey, look, I’m sorry, all right? I meant no offense. I mean, it wouldn’t matter to me, not in any way. Except in the way that it puts you off-limits, not just technically, but... Come on, Peyton, I’m sorry. Come on!”

She lifted her head, and there were tears on her cheeks again, but not from crying. She was laughing hysterically. Her smile was huge. She wiped at her eyes again and shook her head. “You’re such an idiot.”

He frowned at her. “Get it out of your system and be done with it. I made a mistake. I didn’t do it on purpose. And I didn’t mean to offend you.”

“I wasn’t offended,” she said, giving her nose a good blow. “I was shocked! And now I’m wondering what kind of vibe I give off.”

“It wasn’t a vibe. It was what you said— I thought you were laying it out there. Establishing boundaries. ‘Before there’s a lot of curiosity or conjecture,’ you said. That sounds like you’re saying, ‘Before anyone wonders why men don’t interest me....etc, etc.’ To tell the truth, I was pretty shocked, too.”

“Well, let’s establish a couple of things, then. One, I’m straight. And two, the last thing I need right now is a man!”

“Understood,” he said. “Tell me about Ted.”

“Actually, I think I’ll go home and microwave a Lean Cuisine since Carrie is temporarily out of service. I’ll have an injection of white wine and make a call or two to my intimates to vent. Because see, leaving him, his house, his practice, his life—it was upsetting. Depressing. I was very sad and troubled and a little confused, though I thought I knew what went wrong with us. But I hadn’t had a good cry. Not until I heard he got someone pregnant before we officially broke up. That really brought me to my knees. And not because I’m not ready to let go of Ted. Ted can go screw himself. But because I’ve worked in a number of hospitals and practices and I know—there aren’t very many secrets. While Ted was fooling around with that young nurse, people knew. And they were either laughing or pitying me. And that hurts.” She sighed and closed up her laptop. “Pride.”

“You sure you don’t want to talk about it? Because I’d be glad to make you dinner, and while the kids are in the dining room table tent, we could talk over a glass or two of wine. Or...we could take our wine into the tent....”