“I didn’t say it had,” she says innocently, averting her eyes.
“Do I get another letter?” I ask her before taking a bite.
Her mouth turns down at the corners, and I already know the answer before she says it.
“No. There is only one more, and I don’t think it really has anything to do with any of this.” She spins her finger in the air. “But I do have one last message for you.” She looks over her shoulder to make sure we’re still alone. “She wants you to remember the Skull motto.”
I pull my head back. “What the fuck does that mean?”
Her shoulders pull up to her ears. “I really don’t know, Raffe, but it sounds ominous, doesn’t it?”
I reach over and place my hand on her arm. “Hey, it’s fine. Let’s think about this. She wants me to remember the motto. That’s easy.Do whatever it takes to protect those you love.”
“Maybe it’s her way of saying she did all of this to protect you and Jackson,” she says, and I realize she’s been pondering this cryptic message a lot longer than I have.
“I’m sorry she left you with such a heavy burden. That wasn’t very kind of her.”
Lexie leans forward. “Rachel saved my life. If it wasn’t for her, I don’t know if I’d be here. She trusted me. No one had ever trusted me so completely. It gave me hope that my life could change. That I could be a good and trustworthy person.”
I swallow hard, looking away from her. Lexie has come so damn far. She’s a completely different person than she was just a few short years ago.
I chuckle sadly. “I’m trying to be angry with her, and you’re not helping,” I say, hanging my head between my shoulders and resting my elbows on my knees.
“I can tell you that when she was working on this project with me, she would stare longingly out the window. She would tell me how excited she was for you to meet Jenny again. I think she was imagining it in her mind’s eye. It always brought a smile to her face.”
I shake my head, not sure how to process any of this information.
“In my opinion, she didn’t do any of this out of spite or jealousy. I think she did it for love. Love makes you do strange things sometimes.”
As if on cue, Jenny steps from the trees and looks up, her lips moving. It’s something she’s always done. She’s reciting a poem. She did it last night too.
“Oh and Dirk said he needs you to get your ass to the warehouse by two to help him move the last of their shit.”
I groan out loud. “Fuck, I don’t want to leave her here.” I look over at Jenny.
“Yeah, I get it, but you don’t want to piss Dirk off right before they leave, do you?”
My eyes go to my watch as soon as Jenny sits down beside me.
“Do you have somewhere to be?” she asks.
“No,” I say at the same time Lexie says “yes.”
“Raffe, if you have somewhere to be, go on. I’m not going anywhere.” She laughs, busying herself with cutting the stems off the flowers she’s gathered.
Lexie nods, and I give her a funny look. She’s trying her hardest to get me out of here.
Jenny jumps from her chair. “Oh, I forgot John is coming for an order in the morning. I have so much to get ready for him. I’m sorry, Raffe. Maybe we can catch up sometime next week.”
My heart protests, squeezing so hard I wonder if I’m about to have a heart attack. I don’t want to leave.
I take that back. It’s not that I don’t want to leave, it’s that I want her to come with me when I do.
Lexie stands up. “I better get going.”
“It was nice to meet you,” Jenny says, and when they hug, I swear a secret message passes between the two of them. “Weshould get together soon. I’d really like to get to know you better.”
Something feels off.
