Something seemed to occur to her, and she added with a coy pout of regret, "Actually, Patrick never really called me by my full name. He always used a nickname. He was such a tease back then."
I couldn't be bothered to dissect the barbs hidden beneath Edith's silk-soft words. Instead, I stared at Patrick in surprise, a warmth rising unbidden in my chest.
I let myself believe it. Pathetically, shamelessly, I let myself believe it. He'd acknowledged me in front of the one that got away. Maybe he did care about me. Maybe today really had been nothing more than a good deed.
Patrick cut through her rambling.
"Don't talk about the past. If I could, I'd rather I'd never met you at all."
Then he turned to me, his voice softening.
"Babe, ignore her. If it weren't for old times' sake, she could drop dead on the side of the road and I wouldn't spare her a glance."
Edith seemed to catch the meaning beneath his words. She assumed he still resented her for disappearing without a word all those years ago. Her small face crumpled with helplessness. She pressed her lips together, said nothing, and quietly slipped into the back seat.