Page 77 of One Little Mistake
“Hey. So, I won’t apologize for kissing you because I’ve wanted to do that since the second I did it last. But, I will apologize for not asking first.” I place my hand with palm facing up on the bench next to us, much like she did in our hotel room in New York.
She side-eyes it but eventually lays hers on top of mine. We’re not holding hands, just sharing a connection.
“You’ve had a lot taken from you, Locket. A lot of really fucking shitty things that were out of your control. I won’t ever take from you again, Lexi. We’ll share. We’ll be a team, but I’ll never take from you.” I hope these simple words can convey everything I feel. “I won’t be the man to fix you, but I’ll hold your hand while you find your way. I will promise you, though, I’ll never break you, Locket.”
She sniffles but doesn’t reply. She also doesn’t remove her hand until her phone rings next to her.Please hear my words, Locket. Please let me be the one to help you.
“Hello?” Her voice is shaky at best. “Oh, hi, John. Thanks for calling me back.” She glances at me for the first time since I sat down, and I see forever in her tear-filled eyes. “Oh. All right. Can you call me when you get back into town? Easton Westbrook is here with me, and we’d like to talk to you about GG’s mountain.”
She doesn’t know I already called him this morning. When her head whips to mine, I think it’s safe to say she knows now.
“He did? Right. Okay, thanks, John. Have a great trip. We’ll set up that meeting as soon as you’re back in town. Bye.” Ending the call, she turns to face me head-on. “Did you sleep at all last night?”
“I slept enough. Come on, let’s head home.”
Home. We both hang on the word. For the first time in my adult life, I feel like I have a home, not just a house.Lexi is home.Smiling like a fool, I stand and offer her a hand. She stubbornly puts hers in her jacket pocket but rises with me, and we walk side by side.
* * *
“Ya ain’t doing it, Easton. No, sir.”
“GG, you don’t have any other options. This place will never pass inspection as it is, and whatever is going on with your loan isn’t getting any better. We’re family, and this is what we do. We take care of our own, and I’m taking care of you whether you like it or not.”
“Don’t you go getting sassy with me, Grumpy. Just let me think for a minute.”
I eye Lexi sitting in the corner and know this is hard for both of them. Lexi comes by her stubborn independence honestly.
“Locket, what do you think?”
I hear her sigh before coming to meet us at the table. “I hate asking for help, too, GG, but Easton’s right. Unfortunately, we have no other options.”
“Well, shit. I don’t like this one bit. Not one, ya hear me?”
“I know, GG, but I’m not here to take advantage of you. I only want to help,” I tell her honestly. I’m becoming quite fond of this meddling menace.
“It has to be a loan. With papers that I sign, that’s the only way. And,” she pauses, glancing around, “anything we can do ourselves, we do. I want to save every penny we can.”
“You want to do some of the work yourself?” I ask in disbelief.
“Yup, Lexi and I will.”
“That’s not happening, GG. I’m sorry, but you’re not using power tools and carting around heavy equipment.”
“I can, and I will. That’s final. Get me the papers, and then you can do what you need to.”
Over the next few weeks, GG becomes the unofficial foreman, pissing off the actual one at every turn. If she sees something we can do, and by we, I mean me, she tells the crew not to do it. Instead of spending my days getting closer to Lexi, I’m repairing studs and hanging drywall.
Chapter 30
Lexi
“Siiiiiiip.” I wake, gasping for air and clutching my stomach.
“Shhh, Locket. You’re okay. I’ve got you,” Easton’s voice calls out in the dark just before my bed dips with his weight. It’s the third night in a row I’ve woken him with a nightmare. I’m broken. When will he see that? “Shh, it’s okay.” He rocks me until my breathing returns to normal.
Checking the clock, I see it’s three in the morning. “I-I’m sorry, East …”
“Don’t,” he says, rising from my bed. For the last three nights, he’s crammed himself into my twin bed to hold me until I fell into a dreamless sleep. “But I’m done with this bullshit.”
