Free Yours Truly by Jen Meyers Page B

met his eyes, gave a half-hearted smile and a wave. “Hi, Dr. Heartw—D-D-Dan. It’s…uh…been a while.”
    His eyes hardened and his jaw set.
    Clearly he wasn’t entirely over it yet.
    Okay, look. When Dan had dumped me cold, I hadn’t reacted WELL. After nine blissful months together and absolutely NO sign from him that we weren’t going to continue on together, get married, have babies, and live happily ever after (see? Once upon a time I’d wanted all those things, too), he’d gotten his residency acceptance, rented an apartment in Minnesota, and then, at the last minute, announced that I was not invited along. That it had been fun while it lasted, but he’d spent the night with another doctor-in-training on a visit to the Mayo Clinic, and he wanted to go there free from all prior commitments so he could explore his options.
    He’d actually used those words. Explore his options. Can you even believe that?
    Even worse, he’d said it the night before he left. The night before I thought we were BOTH leaving. I mean, I’d just graduated, so I’d assumed we were going together. I’d even packed up all my stuff and loaded it into my car.
    You can understand why his news hadn’t gone over well.
    The only bright point had been that I hadn’t yet worked up the nerve to tell my parents. For one, I knew they’d be heartbroken for me to move so far away. And even though we’d been together for my entire senior year, I’d never introduced him to them.
    Maybe it was because The Girls were not his biggest fans—to put it mildly. I mean, at first they’d liked him just fine. But over time, they’d liked him less and less. I’d been worried my parents would feel the same way. What would I have done if my parents hated the love of my life?
    He’d at least saved me from that.
    But it’s not like that made me feel any better.
    I’d been so stunned that I didn’t get out of bed for a week and a half, drowning in devastation and self-pity. Not knowing where I was going to go, what I was going to do, how I was going to live through this. The Girls had rallied around me, and bit by bit I’d swum to the surface and started to breathe again.
    And then I started to write. Feverishly. Madly.
    I scribbled for days, getting down everything that I felt, spewing my anger and brokenness all over the page.
    What I ended up with was my very first “Yours Truly” column, though I didn’t know it at the time. Lucky coaxed me into coming to New York with her, then set me up with interviews at all the magazines, and helped me throw together an impromptu portfolio with this piece about Dan on top.
    I’d gotten an offer from Du Jour on the spot with a request that they run the article in the next issue. And they’d wanted me to write more just like it. Help women everywhere.
    Getting the piece published could have been enough for me, but I wanted to be sure Dan saw it. So I sent him a copy. And then I sent copies to the residents at the Mayo Clinic and the entire nursing staff. Basically anyone and everyone that Dan might possibly come into contact with.
    And from the look on his face right now as he sat across the desk from me and my parents, THAT hadn’t gone over well with him.
    He stared at me for a moment, then turned and forced a tight smile at my dad. “I’m sorry you’ve come all this way, Mr. Truly, but after looking at your records, we can’t—”
    “ What?! ” I said. “You’re refusing to help my father because of me? You can’t do that, Dan. That’s illegal.”
    “Willow!” my mom said, then shot a worried smile at Dan. “She’s not usually like this…though I suppose you already know that since you… Wait. You’re Dan?”
    My dad sat up straighter. “Dan, the guy who hurt my Willow?”
    Fury and indignation formed a dangerous cocktail in my blood, and I stood up, placed my hands on his desk and leaned toward him. I was not the doormat I’d once been, and I’d be damned if he was going to wipe