Finish What We Started by Amylynn Bright

to say to him now.
    He saved her by speaking first. His voice was soft and intimate. Tender. “You look really beautiful, Candy.” Even the way he said her nickname bordered on sentimental. “I’m glad everything worked out like you wanted.”
    She’d thought she had nothing to say. “How is Sarah?” She’d wanted to ask so many times, but her own pain had been too raw to keep that wound open.
    “She’s doing really well.” He paused and wrinkled his nose. “Sidney’s in a wheelchair. Will be for the rest of his life.”
    The ball of sorrow that had settled in her stomach was now a lead weight. “Oh my God.”
    His dark brows came together. “Yeah. He’s a really cool kid. He’s seven now. Loves everything superhero. In fact, they gave me this shirt for my birthday.” He plucked at his tee with the Hulk on it. Another pause, then he changed the subject to something less painful. “Mark got married.”
    “That’s great.” She’d always liked Lee’s younger brother. “You like the girl?”
    “Oh yeah.” He looked down at the dog. “She’s great. Really fun. She totally kicks Mark’s ass. We love her.”
    “When you see him, tell him I said congratulations.”
    “Sure.” His expression turned serious. “Look, could we talk about—”
    Oh hell no.
She was not having heart-to-heart talks with him. “Find out about Milo’s shots sooner rather than later.”
    He nodded. “I’m glad you’re home. It’s great to see you.”
    She sensed he wanted to hug her. She stepped backward to increase the distance between them, then crossed her arms over her chest. She needed to remember that behind the good guy exterior, Lee could be hurtful and mean. Their breakup was like nothing she ever wanted to experience again. She’d learned a lot while she was away and not just from her expensive education.
    He nodded again, then led Milo out of the exam room.
    “Bye, Milo. It was a pleasure to meet you,” she called after them.
    She watched him walk down the hallway. He waved when he got to the exterior door. She didn’t have time for this. What did he want from her? Whatever it was, she wasn’t giving it to him. Once the clinic was complete, she wouldn’t have anything to do with him.

Chapter Five
    Lee hopped down from his truck and yanked a sports bag from the bed. Baseball bats clanged inside it as he hurried to the field. It had been the kind of day where no matter how fast he moved he was always running late. Most of the guys were already there, milling around the grass, their raucous laughter carrying all the way to the parking lot. The other team was doing the same on the far side of the field.
    “There he is,” Mark hollered and saluted with a soda can.
    “It’s been one of those days,” Lee explained as he tossed the bag to the ground near the dugout. “Sorry, guys.” Lee had been the manager of the Elson Spartans for the last three years. Playing on the team was really the only thing he did that wasn’t work related. Running a rapidly growing construction company required a lot of time and attention to detail.
    Like today, for instance. He’d had two bids to finish and turn in, there were invoices to write up and billing to send out, and he needed to find a new drywall subcontractor. He’d dealt with all of that, visited his job sites and answered a million phone calls from freaked-out customers, bickering subs, and postponing suppliers. It had actually been a pretty typical day, but he’d been off his game ever since he’d taken Milo to see Candy, and it pissed him off. He didn’t know if he’d made any headway with her at all, and he couldn’t stop thinking about it. Obviously, she wasn’t going to make it easy on him. He was going to have to work up to the apology. His mother was always babbling about “closure” and other pop-psychology nonsense she got from Oprah and Dr. Phil. But maybe there was some truth to it. All of his life was in order except his love life. His