“So you don’t care about her at all.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“Poor girl. All alone in that cottage with no neighbors.”
Zach set his jaw. “She’s the most independent woman I’ve ever met, and she loves that cottage.”
“I know, but she can’t go next door if she has a problem. Must be hard managing with one arm in a cast, and being Brittany, she would
n’t admit it to anyone. She’ll just struggle along.”
The thought of her struggling made Zach uncomfortable. “She seemed just fine to me.” He tried to forget the disaster in the bathroom and the mess in the kitchen.
She’d just come off a long flight.
She wasn’t the tidiest person.
Didn’t mean she was struggling.
Philip stood up slowly and straightened gingerly, rubbing his joints. “Can’t be easy managing one-handed. I’m guessing she’s in a bit of trouble. You going to turn your back on that?”
“Yeah, I am.”
“Why?”
Zach felt a rush of irritation. “For a start, because she wouldn’t want my help. I offered to heat the casserole for her lunch and she all but pushed me out the door. You don’t have to worry about her. I’ve never met a woman more capable than Brittany.”
“Which is why she won’t ask for help even when she needs it.”
Remembering the oyster-pale skin and the dark shadows under her eyes, Zach shifted uncomfortably.
“She might want your help, if it was the right sort. When does she go to the hospital?”
“How would I know? We didn’t exactly sit down and swap schedules.” He hadn’t asked. Hadn’t thought about any of it. All his energies had been focused on not flattening her to the backseat of his car and doing all the bad things people were no doubt predicting he was already doing to her. It was the first time in his life he could remember wanting to live up to their expectations.
“So you don’t have a plan?”
“I have a plan. My plan is to stay the hell away from her.”
“That’s one way. Another way would be to make amends. She’s going to need transportation to the hospital and she can’t drive. Taking the ferry and a cab will cost her. You could fly her direct.”
Zach didn’t consider himself an expert on relationships, but he was fairly sure that a free flight wasn’t going to compensate for a broken marriage. “One of her friends will take her. Emily or maybe Ryan.”
“Emily has her hands full with Lizzy and there is no way Brittany would ask Ryan. This is peak month for the Ocean Club. The place is bursting at the seams every day. And then there’s the fact you’re the one with the plane.”
Zach looked at him in exasperation. “You seriously think I should offer to fly my ex-wife to her next hospital appointment?”
“Makes perfect sense to me. You could land right next to the hospital.”
“Why would I do that?”
“Out of the goodness of your heart. Because you owe her.”
Zach gave a humorless laugh. “I don’t have a heart. And she’ll say no.”
“Then at least you’ve made the offer. Ask her. If the past really means nothing to her, if she’s as indifferent to you as you think she is, she’ll probably say yes.”
“And if she doesn’t?”