Page 3 of Meet Again

″I’m so happy for them,” Ellie sighs as she stares at the couple.

″Me too.” Despite everything, I’m overjoyed for my best friend. She deserves her happily ever after.

″We’ll be sitting for dinner,” Hope announces to the group. “Please take a seat.”

“Great, I’m starving.” Ellie rubs her stomach.

On cue, her stomach growls. We look at each other and boisterously laugh as we take our seats. When I look across the table, Hudson is watching me.

″Wonderful,” I mumble as I place my napkin on my lap.

“I’m starting to feel like this hostility is personal.” He doesn’t remove his eyes from me. He’s acting as if he doesn’t have a clue what this moment means to me. He may be able to pretend everything is peachy, but it’s not. Too much sits between us.

″You’re picking up on that now?” I tilt my head.

A hand squeezes my leg under the table. I look to my right to find Hope silently pleading to keep the peace. I don’t want to ruin her evening, so I look at Ellie.

″How’s the farm going?” Ellie’s family owns a dairy farm right outside of town.

″Great. We’ve got an important order, which will help us a lot.”

″That’s great. I’m sure it’s a relief.” Ellie’s family has had some years better than others, and they’ve been struggling with commercial competition increasing, but those big companies don’t value the purest form of products.

″Have you thought about finding an investor so you can expand the farm?”

My eyes snap across the table to Hudson.

“My family doesn’t need an investor.” Ellie crosses her arms defiantly.

″Not everyone wants help from some suit with a wad of cash,” I shoot back. It’s just like him to stick himself without asking.

″You didn’t mind at one point.”

″And I was an investment you could just replace.” For the second time, I make eye contact with the man I thought I knew. His green eyes are intense. I place my napkin on the table. “If you’ll excuse me.” The screeching of my chair fills the silence that’s settled over the table. Ignoring it, I walk away and head toward the bathroom with a racing heart. I don’t want to ruin dinner, so removing myself before it becomes worse is the best plan of action.

I lean against the door once I’m inside, grateful the bathroom is empty, and close my eyes. Tears well behind my eyelids, but I refuse to let them fall. It’s been a while since I’ve cried over him, and this moment isn’t the most optimal one for me to have a breakdown over a broken heart.

″Whoa,” I stumble forward when the door forcefully pushes against me. “What in the world?” I turn around, ready to face Hope. It’d be like her to leave her guests and make sure I’m okay.

″Hope—” My words freeze when I come face to face with a six-foot-one frame. “You’re not Hope.”

″Lex, I’m—”

I lift my hand to stop him. “Don’t. We just need to get through this wedding for Hope and Toby. Then, we can go back to being strangers. Can you handle that?” I cross my arms and force myself to look him in the face, not willing to let him see the hurt seeping out of my pores.

After a few beats, he sighs and looks away. “Just know you weren’t an investment.”

″It sure felt like a cheap trade.” I step around him and head back to the table. I pray the rest of the night passes quickly. If only this were our final interaction. The next few months are sure to test my patience and my heart.

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