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Lex picked up her phone and put it in her back pocket. The way she tapped her fingers against her leg told me she was nervous. And I imagined that was from the thought of going out to the Doogle place by herself. My grip tightened on the bottle at the mere thought of Hollis being in Skagway, but I couldn’t let her go by herself. Where is the bastard? I already hated him. “Do you want some company?”
She paused for a second, her hand relaxing. And there was another gorgeous smile on her face. “That would be nice. Empty old houses creep me out. Teagan can’t come. She’s headed somewhere with Donnie. They’re always heading somewhere, it seems. I haven’t seen her but for a couple of minutes since I’ve been home.”
Sometimes Teagan didn’t think things through. More than once, I’d had to pick Lex up because Teagan had abandoned her for some random hookup. Pissed me the fuck off.
“Let me get my keys.”
“Oh, I’ll drive. I have a bunch of stuff in my car. Or you can follow me. It’s up to you. But you don’t have to. I don’t want to wreck your afternoon.” Her eyebrows crinkled as she rambled.
Yeah, this is hella confusing to me, too, sweetheart.
What I wanted was to understand what happened. Closure. For me. Maybe then I might be able to move on. Because, honestly, it made zero fucking sense. Lex was it for me. I knew this, but I’d have to figure out something.
We made our way down the stairs, her peach scent taunting me. “You sure you don’t need to go back to the bar?”
“Yeah, I’m sure. Crete has it under control.”
I pulled out my phone to let him know.
Me: Won’t be back until later.
Crete: No problem.
Crete was a good kid. He helped support his mom and two sisters. His dad had been involved in the same accident as Lex’s. It had rocked the town when the three loggers lost their lives by some freak malfunction in the logging equipment.
I followed Lex to the car and saw the Twiner sisters leaning around a pole, watching us. There was no escaping them. We’d be in this week’s newsletter for sure. During the tourist season, they dressed up in gear people wore to do gold mining. They thought it added to the impression of the town.
They. Were. Crazy.
Lex blew her hair out of the way. “The Twiners’ve made us.”
“They have?” I glanced again at the dark-haired twins.
“I wonder if we’ll make a special edition?”
She isn’t worried about Hollis? Do I ask about him? I decided to keep it surface level for now. If I started asking about her boyfriend, things would get awkward. I commented back, “Probably. I think Elvira had her camera out.”
“Oh, we’re for sure making a special edition. Shit, I hate being in that stupid thing.”
It was hard to suppress my laugh, but somehow, I managed. Lex’s leg bounced from nerves as she drove. I stretched my legs out in her dad’s old red Chevy truck. “Your dad’s truck still runs good. I’ve been going over to the storage unit and cranking it from time to time.”
When she glanced my way, Lex had that look I remembered getting anytime I did anything for her. Her adoration made me feel like a fucking king.
“Thank you. I appreciate it. Makes me feel like I still have a piece of him.”
“I know.”
We turned into a driveway on the outskirts of town and got out of the truck. From there, it was obvious the place was run down. A lot of the deck needed to be replaced, and the yard was overgrown and filled with branches. I imagined inside would be the same.
We walked up to the door. It was hot as hell today, and I wiped the bit of sweat that had formed on my brow. “Did you hire anyone to fix up the place?”
“No.” She stepped on one of the broken boards. “Before I bought the place, I asked Mom to take a look. She didn’t have time but said it was in decent shape the last time she saw it. And… umm… you know how she can be.”
Yeah, I knew how she could be. And supportive of her daughter’s ambitions wasn’t an example. Irene and I had a rocky relationship, to put it mildly.
Touching one of the broken railings, Lex blew out a breath. “I think I’m going to have to push back the opening. It’s a little different in person. I guess it’s true… the saying. You get what you pay for.”
I kept my mouth shut. Things between Irene and me were strained at times. For the most part, she tended to favor Raquel, Lex’s sister. A parent should never show favoritism to one of their children over another. My parents never did between my two brothers and me.
