2. Izzy
IZZY
I’m standing behind the nurse’s station, and Caroline is smirking at me.
We’ve been best friends for most of our lives.
We met in elementary school. We were best friends growing up.
We even went to nursing school together.
I helped her with the death of her husband years ago, and most recently she’s helped me deal with finding out my husband cheated on me, which is why he’s now my ex-husband.
Caroline is usually more laid back, but right now she’s practically beaming with excitement.
Like really excited and I’m not sure what’s going on.
I should probably be nervous. I hold a file to my chest. “What’s up? ”
She is practically bouncing on her feet, and she can barely contain herself. She leans in. “Ryker Kirby announced his retirement.”
I feel a jolt. It’s just an automatic feeling that rolls through my body, but I try to hide my reaction. I watched the Lonestar Thunder game the other night, and Ryker had the best game of his career. There’s no way he’s retiring.
“I don’t care, Caroline.”
She laughs and leans against the cabinets in front of me, blocking me from opening them. “Really? You don’t care that the man you’ve loved most of your life just announced his retirement?”
My mouth falls open, and I shake my head. “It’s none of my business.”
Caroline laughs. “First of all, we’re best friends, and I know you. You care, so you can quit acting like you don’t.”
I shrug. “I don't care. I haven’t seen him in twenty years.”
Caroline shrugs and looks at her short, painted nails. “So you don't want to hear about the gossip rags and what they're saying?”
“Nope. Don't you have patients to help?” I ask her, trying to get her back to work and off the topic of Ryker Kirby. It was twenty years ago that I told him I wanted to end things. And I’ve regretted that decision at least once a day since.
She stomps her foot. “Isabel Curtis, is that you? Where is my best friend? There’s no way you’re not excited about this.”
I gently shove her aside so I can get to the cabinet. “It’s none of my business, Caroline. I’m sure he has his reasons for doing what he’s doing, and they don’t have anything to do with me.”
She puts her hand on the wall next to the cabinet. “Oh yeah, there’s something else. You sure you don’t want to know?”
I slam the cabinet shut. “Nope.”
I turn to walk away and get three steps when Caroline drops the bombshell. “He did an interview, and they asked his plans for the future.”
My feet stop moving, and my head drops between my shoulders. Don’t ask. Don’t ask. I repeat the words over and over, but I can’t stop myself. “What did he say?”
She walks up to me. “He said that he was moving to Whiskey Run. He said—” She silently claps her hands together. “He said that he has something unfinished that he needs to take care of.”
My mind starts to whirl, but I rein it in quickly.
I’m not the na?ve girl that believes in forever anymore, and there’s no way that Ryker Kirby even remembers me after all this time.
He’s not going to quit his job and move back to Whiskey Run for some girl he knew twenty years ago.
“Caroline, that could be anything. His dad still lives here. He’s a patient here.
Maybe he wants to be close to him. Don’t try and figure out what some man is thinking?—”
“Some man? Some man? He was our friend, Isabel. He’s not just a stranger on the street.”
I roll my eyes. “Well, I’m not going to speculate on why he’s quit his job or why he’s coming here of all places. I’m sure he has his reasons.” I point at the closed door. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a patient waiting.” I point at her. “And I’m sure you do too.”
I don’t have a break for another two hours, but when I do, I slip off to the break room and pull my phone from my pocket.
I do a quick Internet search, and the feed is full of news about Ryker’s recent retirement.
I click on the first one and do a quick scan.
The baseball community is shocked. Some people are really mad, making threatening remarks.
Some people are supportive, and some people are speculating on the reasons why.
A few different theories are discussed. Some say it’s drug rehab, which makes me mad. Anyone who would think that doesn’t know Ryker. Some say he has a gambling problem, which is ridiculous because he’s always been one of the most responsible people I know.
I go down the line and see a video. Before I can talk myself out of it, I click on it and watch, staring at Ryker as I do.
“We’re here with Ryker Kirby, the designated hitter for the Lonestar Thunder.
At the championship game, you recorded five at bats, four hits, two homeruns, one triple, one double and six RBIs.
It’s been the best hitting game in the whole league this season.
You are at the height of your career, and analysts say that you’re not slowing down.
” The interviewer pauses. “So why now? Why are you retiring now?”
“It’s time,” Ryker says.
The interviewer is openly not happy with that answer. She tries to ask the same question but in a different way. “So what are your plans after retiring?”
Ryker nods his head and looks directly into the camera. “I’ve spent years chasing wins… Now it’s time to chase what matters.”
The people in the background all start cheering, and the interviewer tries to get control of the interview, but Ryker decides it’s over.
He moves away from the woman with the microphone, and the camera follows him to where some kids are standing.
He squats in front of them, signing hats and shirts.
With my hand over my heart, I suck in a breath.
He didn’t mean me. There’s no way he meant me.
I broke his heart, and any chance we had I demolished a long time ago.
No, there’s no reason to get my hopes up because Ryker Kirby is way out of my league. The faster I come to terms with that, the better off I’ll be because my divorce was hard. Getting my hopes up about Ryker Kirby will just destroy me.