Page 20 of The Comeback Road
He averted his eyes down, then to Magnolia, and the smile I’d been sporting slipped into a frown. “What’s with that look?”
“Well, with uh, with everything going on, Magnolia asked that I take over the renovations for the house. Alone.” He barely got the words out, and I didn’t miss the look he shot her, showcasing his discomfort. Magnolia just stood there, looking at me, trying to gauge my reaction.
“That’s ridiculous. I’m leaving for a work trip anyway. At minimum, it will be a few weeks…and it wouldn’t shock me if it turned out to be more like a few months.” I brought the coffee to my lips as Magnolia let out a sound of shock.
“What? I figured a week, maybe two?” She looked angry at my confession, and even I could admit it wasn’t the best way to tell her that I’d probably be gone for a while.
“Wait, don’t you work for me?” Dexter sat there looking every bit puzzled, but I just ignored him, pointing my words at Magnolia.
“Mags, trust me, okay?” I winked, but her lips were pressed together in the thinnest of lines, and Dexter started looking like he wanted to be anywhere but there. Finally, when Magnoliarealized that she wasn’t going to get more of an explanation, she nodded curtly in my direction. “I’m not happy about this. It feels…different,” she expressed, worry written all over her.
“You’re being paranoid. It’s like every other work trip I’ve ever been on.” It wasn’t a lie, exactly. It was just the first time I wasn’t given an option, and that alone sent warning pings up and down my spine. “Good news. There should be no reason that Jace can’t be here and get things done as well.” I clasped my hands together. Dexter and Magnolia both shot me varying looks of worry. I rolled my eyes at both of them, doing my best to put their minds at ease. I didn’t have time to placate them. I needed to get out of there—not only for work, but for myself.
“Sloan, feel like chiming in?” Magnolia shot daggers out of her eyes, but he just kept reading the newspaper. “If I thought that anything I said would sway Lexie, I would. She’s a big girl, babe, let it go. It’s work.”
I had to hand it to Sloan; he had no problem telling Magnolia exactly how he was feeling about any situation, even if it pissed her off. I swear, those two lived to fight and lived to make up even more.Old house, thin paper walls.“But she doesn’tneedto work,” she shot back at him. And while financially that might have been true…
“Everyone has to work, Magnolia. Moneyliterallymakes the world go round.” She huffed out in frustration, knowing it was a conversation she was going to lose because she’d never let them in on the fact that I was a millionaire, even if it served her purpose. Magnolia threw her hands up in frustration and stalked out of the kitchen.
“She’ll get over it.” Sloan went back to reading his newspaper. I couldn’t help the guilt I felt at keeping the secret to myself. There were certain legal hoops I had to jump through before I could explain my job to people, and I didn’t want to put anyoneI cared about in danger. So, I had elected to keep that part of my life a secret, and it always seemed to work fine.
Until then.
Chapter Eighteen
Lexie
After I made my excuse—I needed to finish packing—I made my way upstairs and looked at the hurricane that was my room. I started slowly putting away what I knew I wasn’t taking and shoving the rest of the random things I think I’d need in whatever crevice I had left in my suitcase. Once again, I was so absorbed in my task that I didn’t recognize I was no longer alone.
“That’s a lot of stuff you seem to be packing.” Magnolia stood there with her hand on her hip. I couldn’t bring myself to look at her, so I just continued about my task. “When I had you promise you’d come back to me, I thought you were talking about an extended vacation, so tell me why I have a feeling that this is more permanent than you’re letting on?”
I couldn’t help the sigh that escaped. “Mags…bab—”
“Don’t you dare ‘babes’ or ‘Mags’ me, Lexie. Be honest with me. Why do I have this weird feeling? Why are you hiding things from me?” she scolded me. I wanted to taunt her about how the tables had turned—it used to be me, pestering her for truths and friendship when we first met.
“Okay. Then I’m just going to ask you to trust me because I can’t give you the truth.” The silence unfolded around us in a scream that never made it out as Magnolia’s sharp gaze flicked over me, trying to find a weak spot to dig out my truths. But my truths were mine to protect, and the only weak spot she might have found lay in her—or, if one had asked me a few days before, Jace. But he was no longer mine to protect, no longer mine. He was always Jess’s. The more I thought about it, the more I realized he was never mine, and he was never going to be. It was a foundation that started on half truths and promises that weren’t ever going to happen.
“I don’t like this.” Magnolia never broke eye contact with me.
“I get it, but you’re overthinking this, babes. I promise.” I had to look down so I wasn’t lying while looking at her. Magnolia must have realized that she wasn’t going to win the argument because she just walked over and started folding my clothes.
“I know you’re lying to me. I know there are things you kept to yourself before, but this feels different—wrong. I respect that you can’t orwon’ttell me. Just know that I’m here for you if that changes. Comehomesoon.” I could hear the tremor in her words. I snaked my arm around her waist, pulled her close to me, and squeezed.
“I love you, you know that?”
“Do you leave today then?”
“Yeah. I’ll finish this, and then I’m off to the airport.” Magnolia didn’t even try to hide her sigh, and even though she clearly wasn’t happy with the situation, she still took the time to help me get ready to leave. I had to stop myself from spilling my guts to her. My silence was for her benefit.
The minutes passed without words, and for once, I was thankful for not needing to fill the empty space. I could just be alone with my thoughts, in the comfort of my best friend.
What is happening?I mulled everything over in my mind, and I honestly didn’t even have an inkling. The last case I had worked on wasn’t anything special, just fine-tuning some software for the directional systems and mapping in airplanes. Maybe there was something wrong with the specs, and they were encountering a problem with the accuracy.
That would be a real problem, and whatever was going on with Jace wasn’t a real problem—it was the beginning of something that didn’t pan out, and now it was done.It’s time for me to let go of this daydream.That’s all it was—adaydream. And I was ready to leave it behind.
“It’s time. I’m ready.” I looked around at the room that had once felt like an opening, a new beginning. Suddenly, it felt just how it looked—bare. Like just another room for rent.
Chapter Nineteen
