who’d known them both acted like he’d never existed.
“Honestly?” she said, “I’ve thought about calling him several times. Annie brought Julia out to see us one time and the girls hit it off. I’m sure they’d love to get together for a playdate. But you know how life is. Things come up. You get distracted. And then that crash happened here recently, and I knew how hard it had to be for him. I just wanted him to know I was thinking of him.”
When Mitch only nodded, she felt the urge to explain, though why, she wasn’t sure. “I’ve only run into Ryan a handful of times since I’ve been here, and I got the impression he wasn’t too thrilled to see me those few times.”
“It’s not personal,” Mitch said, setting his glass on the table. “Ryan doesn’t keep in contact with any of his old friends, especially any of Annie’s old friends. He wasn’t planning on calling you back, and he’s pretty pissed at me for meeting with you tonight. Things have been…rough for him.”
She could only imagine. But her concern was Kate right now, not Ryan Harrison. She took another sip of wine. “So, Mr. Mathews, why did you want to see me?”
He leaned forward, stared into his beer, seemed to contemplate his words. “Annie was my sister, and I loved her. If there’s a chance this woman, Kate Alexander, is her…well, I just wanted to get your take on it all. You knew Annie before, and you’ve spent more time with Kate than we have.”
She saw the heartache in his eyes, felt the pain. This had to be killing him inside. “You two were close, weren’t you?”
“Very. Oh, she wanted to pummel me on a regular basis when we were growing up, just like any good sister, but yeah, we were tight. I miss her.”
Simone didn’t have any siblings, but she knew all about loss. “And you and Ryan? You’re close too, I take it?”
“The closest. We’ve been friends for years, ever since college. Almost had to kick his ass when I found out he was sleeping with my baby sister.”
Simone laughed, feeling oddly at ease with this man she’d just met. “I bet that made for interesting times.”
“It did. Ryan and I played baseball together in college. We were seniors the year Annie started school. One spring day we’ve got a home game, and I’m out at shortstop, and I glance in the stands between innings and see Annie there. She’s smiling and waving, and I’m like, ‘Cool, she came to a game.’ Then I realize, she’s not smiling and waving at me. She’s making moon eyes at Ryan over on second base. Took me all of like ten seconds to realize what was going on.”
Simone smiled. “Then what happened?”
Mitch frowned, leaned back against the booth. “There wasn’t much I could do during the game except get worked up. I stayed away from Ryan in the dugout so I didn’t lose it. Then ended up getting ejected when I threw one measly little bat at the umpire.”
“You didn’t.”
He cringed. “I did. But in all fairness, the man needed glasses. No way those pitches were strikes.”
She lifted her wine, sipped, felt herself relax for the first time in days. “What happened after, with Ryan?”
“Well, I had plenty of time to get good and pissed. I showered, changed, left, then went back to confront him after the game. Stupid move. I should have done it off campus. When I got back, I saw him and Annie outside the ballpark together. He was kissing her and…I lost it. He needed stitches. And I’m pretty sure the black eye lasted a good week.”
“Nice.”
“Then Coach came out and suspended us both for fighting.”
“Oh, even better,” Simone said, still smiling. “What did Annie say?”
“Annie didn’t speak to me for a month.” He looked into his beer, and the humor faded from his voice when he said, “Thing is, Ryan had a reputation in school for being a player. We both did. When I found out he was seeing her, I was sure he was just using her. I was wrong. In fact, he never looked at another girl after that. He still doesn’t.”
“I’ve seen Ryan at functions. He’s not lacking for female companionship.”
“No, he’s not. But the truth is they come on to him because he’s got money and power now. And I’m pretty sure the only reason he dates is because it takes his mind off the fact he’s alone. In