Page 19 of Entangled By You
Maybe she’s got other business to handle today.
I scan the horizon, watching the eerie clouds roll in like a slow threat. The wind bites at my cheeks, sharp and relentless, and I brace myself for the downpour that feels inevitable. Hopefully, I don’t end this day soaked to the bone, looking like some sad, drowned mutt trailing behind her.
Another ten minutes pass with the icy air whipping against my face, and the sparse traffic fades into silence. Then she turns beneath the rusted iron archway of Rosenfeld Cemetery.
The cobblestone drive that winds through the graves is too narrow for her compact car, but she pulls off into the grass without hesitation and climbs out. She doesn’t look back, but there’s no question in my mind she knows I’m here now. Out here, flanked by nothing but open fields and the hum of the highway, there’s nowhere to hide.
The headstones stretch in tidy rows, a grim grid that marks generations of stories long ended. It’s five deep, at least, back to the first families who carved a life into this soil. But Lexi doesn’t need to go that far.
She walks with purpose, and I don’t need to see where she stops to know who she’s here for. I haven’t been back since her father’s untimely funeral. That day still feels like a fault line in the middle of everything—the beginning of the end.
His death hit her like a freight train. He was everything to her. The one who kept the peace between a spiteful mother and a misplaced older brother. The piece that held the family together when emotions ran high. He was the buffer between Lexi and the toxicity between two of the people she loved most in the world. Her father was an amazing man who gave her brother a safe landing to come home to occasionally.
And then, just like that, because of a drunk driver, he was gone.
I was there for her. Stood by her and tried to carry what weight she’d hand over. I would’ve done anything to take the edge off her pain.
But she didn’t lean on me. She shut me out before long. Kicked me to the curb like we hadn’t spent years together. Like she wasn’t my everything or the girl who promised me forever the night we took each other’s virginity. I became some disposable thing she didn’t need anymore.
We graduated a year later, and her mother left without alook back. She fled the town that took her husband, leaving Lexi to grieve alone in the aftermath.
All I ever wanted was to be the one she leaned on. The steady shoulder. The safe place. But that day at the cemetery, she buried more than her father.
She buried us, too.
SPEAKING TO THE DEAD, BECAUSE THEY HAVE TO LISTEN
LEXI
“Hey, Dad. Long time no talk.”
The itchy grass tickles my skin as I lean against his headstone. The glare of the familiar motorcycle’s headlight across the cemetery should annoy me. Unfortunately, all it actually does is settle the unease from my earlier appointment.
I knew the baby was his. Okay, well, I didn’t know for sure, but the likelihood that I was months along instead of weeks was improbable. It’s a blessing and a curse.
“So, I have some news and I need to tell someone before I implode. I’m having a baby. Well, at least I think I’m having a baby.”
The reality of that statement hasn’t fully set in. I’ve been ignoring it. Disassociating from the news until my appointment earlier.
“I know, I know. I’m nowhere near ready to have a kid, but it’s kinda too late for that.”
I bark out a defeated laugh that mixes with the fresh tears gliding down my cheeks.
“Maybe I should take care of it. The doctor said it’s an option. Not here in Texas, of course. Who finds out they’repregnant and decides before six weeks, anyway? I’d have to travel out of state, but I think Harlow would come with me if I asked her.”
Dragging my knees into my chest and wrapping my arms around them tight, I draw in a stunted breath.
“I don’t know what to do. You should be here, Dad. I know you’d be so mad at me, but I’d gladly take your quiet anger. Because even though you wouldn’t have the words to express your thoughts—ironic for a lawyer.” Another burst of laughter breaks free from my chest. “You’d really be mad at the situation and not me. There are so many bad decisions I’ve made since you’ve been gone. You’d probably be pissed about those, too. But I did them for you.”
The sob rips from my throat, and the onslaught of tears blurs my vision like a fogged-up bathroom mirror. I tighten my grip around my knees and furiously wipe my eyes against my rough jeans.
“But what if this is the only piece of him I ever get?” I choke. “I don’t think he’ll ever forgive me for what I did. He sure as hell doesn’t look at me the way he used to, and how can I blame him? What I did is unforgivable. I broke his trust. I shattered the amazing thing we had, even if we were young. It was real and I threw it away—threw him away—like we were nothing.”
Steadying my breath, I try to get my emotions under control. I haven’t cried over the news yet, and I think this is what I needed to process what I truly want.
“He’s here.”
My eyes cast up across the field to the strong form patiently waiting behind my car. He’s too far and his sunglasses are still on, so I can’t tell if he’s looking at me. But the unnatural heat against my skin tells me it’s highly probable.
