Page 100 of Single-Minded
He tilted his head again, the expression on his face looking like I was clueless. “Flora didn’t fit in here. Never even tried to fit in here. She was never going to be happy in Dragonfly Lake.”
“That should’ve changed when she got pregnant.”
“But it didn’t. That’s on her, not you,” Levi said. “I saw how hard you tried to make it work with her, West. You weren’t the weak link. She just wasn’t the right woman for you.”
I snorted. “You’re damn right about that.”
“April was all wrong too.”
“You think?” I said sarcastically. “I rushed in with both of them for different reasons.” I shook my head, wondering if the regret, especially over April, would ever wear off. The only thing I couldn’t regret was my three daughters, so as much of a mistake as it was to hold on to Flora for too long, it gave me the best parts of my life. “I make poor decisions with women.” I shrugged, even though I didn’t feel at all nonchalant about it.
“Is Presley a poor decision?” he asked. “Is she the same as the other two?”
“She’s nothing like Flora or April,” I said quickly. When I noticed how he was eyeing me, like he was waiting for shit to get through to my brain, I got his point. “You think I was just with the wrong people before.”
“I know you were with the wrong people before,” he said with a laugh. “You know it too.”
That much was true.
“Question is,” he went on, “is Presley right, and you’re missing it because of your baggage?”
“I wouldn’t know how to tell if she’s right.”
“I’m no expert, but it seems like you have deep feelings for her.”
I glanced at my watch, noting how late it was getting.
My boss wasn’t the first person I’d choose to discuss this with, but then I wasn’t really a fan of discussing it with anyone. And yet I was sick to death of all the shit circling in my head with only me to try to make sense of it.
“Presley and I were supposed to be a simple fling,” I said. “A one-time fling, if I’m being honest. Long story short, it didn’t work out that way. We spent a lot of time together working on her shop. My girls didn’t know we were more than friends, but they started getting attached to her anyway, so I ended it.”
“Seems like you’re not done with it though,” he said insightfully.
“Seems like I’m a slow motherfucker who took a bit to realize what I feel for Presley is the real thing.”
“You love her?”
“Pretty sure I do. Too fucking bad I figured that out after I hurt her.”
“What’d you do?”
I told him how she’d said she loved me, and I’d responded by ending it. To protect my daughters.
“Your daughters who love her,” he clarified.
I nodded.
“And she likes your girls too?”
Another nod.
“And you’ve caught feelings. And she loves you. West, what the fuck are you doing?”
“I know, man,” I bit out. “I know.”
He was saying all the shit that’d been coalescing in my head for the past few days.
The truth was, my feelings for Presley were different.
