Page 34 of The Sweetest Mistake

Eyebrows raised, she said, “How? You don’t want kids, and I do. How do we work that out?” She hadn’t realized how loud she was being until she noticed the lady at the table next to them staring.

Lowering his voice, Alec said, “Aren’t you going to eat that?”

Glancing down at her plate, Julia saw that her beautiful dessert was turning into a pile of mush, and it suddenly looked very unappetizing. It would be one of the very few times in her life she’d turn away dessert.

“No. I’m not interested,” she said and stood up abruptly.

“Julia. Wait. Where are you going?”

“Home.”

“You can’t leave without me. I drove,” he said, a touch of panic in his voice.

“Hand me your keys.”

“Why?”

“Hand me your keys,” she repeated, eyes narrowing at him.

This time, he must have realized that she was serious, because he fished his keys out of his pocket and placed them in her hand. She’d turned to walk away when he said, “How am I supposed to get home?”

“You’re going to be a doctor. You figure it out,” she said and stomped off to the sound of the lady clapping from the next table over.

After she and Alec had broken up, she hadn’t minded working the extra hours, but now that Connor was in the picture, and Ava too, she would have rather been with them. Them. How funny, that she was already thinking of them as a set when a week ago it had just been him. And then she realized that she hadn’t told her parents about Ava yet. If they were already displeased about her dating Connor, how would they feel once they found out he had a child?

She was so lost in thought that she forgot she was sitting in her car until another vehicle pulled up and parked in the space beside her. When she glanced over, she said, “Oh no. Not again.”

They stepped out of their cars at the same time, and Alec said, “Hey, Jules.”

“What are you doing here?” she snapped even though she already knew the answer.

“I’m meeting with Dr. Lee to go over some questions I have.”

Ugh. How was it that she’d managed to avoid him for months and now he kept showing up just like a bad penny. As if I don’t have enough to deal with.

Turning away, she started walking toward the front door, and in two long strides, Alec was right beside her.

“Are you working today?” he asked.

It was obvious he was trying to make small talk, but she really wasn’t up to it.

“Yes, but if I’d have known you would be here…”

“You wouldn’t have come. Yeah. I kind of gathered that.”

“Look, Alec. I don’t mean to be rude, but it’s a little awkward, don’t you think?”

“What is?”

“You hanging out with my dad. Us running into each other. When people break up, they’re not meant to keep in contact. That’s kind of the whole idea behind breaking up.”

Alec smiled at her, not looking the least bit offended. “I see you still have that quirky sense of humor.”

Ignoring him, she slid her key in the lock, opened the door, and stepped inside with him right on her heels. Hearing her dad’s voice, she figured he was on the phone, and she was just as glad. She wasn’t ready to face him yet, and now she had Alec to deal with too.

“I wasn’t kidding, Alec. It was kind of upsetting when you showed up at Mom and Dad’s house the night I was there with Connor.”

“Connor, huh. So, you’re still seeing him?”