AllFreeNovel
Share Us
ChapterSeven
~Lexi~
Sitting by the pool,letting the sun warm my legs, I couldn’t help but let myself actually enjoy Vegas.Nicole was probably right.Las Vegas wasn’t all bad.Maybe I’d even tell her that.I glanced at my cell phone and the unanswered texts she’d sent me already that morning.I had no real reason for ignoring her, except I knew she wanted details on our trip and I wasn’t sure I had any to give her.
Especially after my little breakdown the night before in the chapel.After Leo pulled me outside, we’d laughed until I started to cry again and then I couldn’t be sure whether I was crying because of the secret I was keeping or because the whole situation had been so ludicrous.All I knew was that I needed to get out of there.I’d given Leo some excuse about wanting Ben with us, which wasn’t an excuse at all.There was no real way we could have gotten married without our son, and we both knew it.
He’d looked relieved, as if he hadn’t wanted to go through with it either, and now in the light of a new day, that was the thing that was bothering me the most.The look on his face when I’d told him I couldn’t marry him was definitely one of relief.
Why?
We needed to talk, that much was clear, but I’d slept in and when I finally got out of bed there was a note on the pillow that he’d taken Ben and gone to try out the paddle boards, so I’d slipped out to the pool to enjoy a tea in the morning sun.
Over the pool in the distance, I could see figures out in the middle of the lake.I wasn’t worried about either of them because they were both confident swimmers.Ben was happiest when he could be in, on, or around water and after a few years living at the lake, Leo had become just as comfortable with the water.Besides, I knew Leo wouldn’t take any chances with Ben.
I took a quick glance around, looking for what, I wasn’t sure.There was nobody around considering the hotel wasn’t really open, but still, I hadn’t been comfortable in a bathing suit in years, not since the miscarriages started and my once flat stomach started to store a little extra padding.My hand slid between the folds of my robe and rested on my stomach where there was a little life starting to grow and develop.Was it possible my belly was already growing?
I said a silent prayer that the little sprout was still okay before I slipped off the robe altogether and padded over to the pool’s edge.I didn’t have any goggles or a swim cap because it had been so long since I’d been in a pool, but it didn’t matter.The water was like a magnet that pulled me toward it.
I lifted my arms over my head.My body remembered what it was supposed to do as I pushed up off the concrete and arced up into a perfect dive.The water sluiced over me, cocooning and cleansing me all at the same time.I kicked hard, staying under as long as I could in a streamline position.But it had been so long since I’d been in the pool, my lungs didn’t have nearly the capacity as they used to and I surfaced before I wanted to, with a gasp.I didn’t let that deter me, and with a hard kick, I launched my right arm out of the water and pulled, propelling me forward.My muscles strained and protested but a thrill ran through my body at the exertion.It felt good to swim again.Really good.
My body fell easily into the rhythm and when I approached the cement wall at the far end, without even thinking about it, I tucked into a flip turn and pushed easily off the wall and back into a streamline.I didn’t bother counting the laps, but instead allowed my mind to wander.I’d always used swimming as a way to decompress, think through things that were bothering me or needed an answer that I couldn’t seem to come to any other way.It had always been the ultimate stress relief, so why had it been so long since I’d allowed myself the luxury of a swim?
The answer was easy.Life got in the way and my own needs had been pushed aside.That and the swimming season in a Canadian glacier-fed lake was considerably shorter than a pool in Nevada.I laughed a little; bubbles slipped out of my mouth as I reached the edge of the wall for my final lap.The sun warmed my head the moment I surfaced and I ran my hands through my hair, wringing out the extra water.
“Impressive.”
The voice jolted me and I had a flash of déjà vu from years ago, with Leo staring down at me in the glare of the sun of the MGM hotel on the Strip.But it wasn’t Leo who looked down at me this time, but Roxanne, Keith’s girlfriend.
“Sorry,” she said.“I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“You didn’t,” I lied, but put a bright smile on my face.“And it’s hardly impressive.I can’t remember the last time I swam laps.”I pulled myself up onto the edge of the pool and accepted the towel she handed me.I wrapped it quickly around my waist without bothering to dry myself at all.
“Well, you sure looked good out there,” Roxanne said.We walked back to where I’d left my robe on the chair and sat side by side.“I can’t even swim.Well, not in any way that counts.Mostly I just splash around with the kids or float with a drink in my hand.”She laughed and I found myself instantly liking her.We hadn’t had much of a chance to chat except for dinner the first night, and that had been a loud, busy night full of kids and the usual getting to know each other stuff.Despite our limited contact, my first impression of her had been of a quiet woman who seemed a little unsure of herself.Which had seemed a bit strange to me considering Keith was so outgoing and smooth.Pretty much the epitome of a Las Vegas event planner and hotel manager.But maybe that’s why they worked.
“Well, floating around with a drink sounds like a pretty good use of the pool, too.”I felt like a fraud as I spoke the words when there was no way I’d be having a drink any time soon.Well, hopefully not anyway.But I couldn’t tell her that.
“We’ll have to do that later this afternoon while the guys are working.”
“Working?”I still hadn’t had a chance to talk to Leo about what Keith said about investing in Oasis.There was no way we could do it.For so many reasons.Not the least of which was the money factor.It was too much money and as much as I knew Leo would love the challenge to turn the resort around and make it into something great, there was just no way we could uproot Ben and sink all our money into it.There was just no way.
“Of course.”Roxanne twisted her long, dark hair around her fingers before she tossed it all over her shoulder.“Now that the investors are all on board, they can really get to work and hopefully have everything in place for a soft opening at Christmas.”
She spoke so fast I almost didn’t catch it, but my brain twigged onto the one phrase I knew meant everything was about to be different.“What do you mean, ‘now that the investors are all on board’?”
I knew the answer to the question before she opened her mouth and by the look on her face, she realized too late that she’d said too much.
“Well,” she continued cautiously.“Now that Leo has committed to being the final investor, they can get—”
“Leo’scommitted?”The words came out of my mouth, and they tasted sour on my tongue.“How could he...but he didn’t...”We hadn’t talked about anything.In fact, he hadn’t even mentioned the opportunity to me.Keith had.Was he trying to keep it from me?How could he, though?Moving our family from Canada back to Las Vegas was, well...it was huge.He couldn’t make that decision on his own.My brain spun; too many scenarios and thoughts slammed through me.I couldn’t keep up with the twisted mess flying through my head.Was the hotel project something he wanted to do on his own?Maybe he didn’t want us to come.Was he...“Oh God, I think I’m going to be sick.”
I managed to run to the bushes only moments before I emptied the meager contents of my stomach into them.I felt rather than heard Roxanne come to stand behind me.She slid her hand up and down my back while I wiped my face.“Lexi, I’m so sorry.I thought you knew.Are you okay?Can I get you anything?”
I waited until I was sure I wouldn’t be sick again before I slowly stood up.I nodded in reaction to her questions, but didn’t make eye contact with her.I couldn’t.I didn’t want to see the look in her eyes.That look that said,I’m sorry your husband lied to you.But he wasn’t my husband.Technically, he didn’t have any legal responsibility to me at all, only Ben.Is that what this was all about?He wanted to leave?He wasn’t in love with me anymore?
I knew my mind was going to places it shouldn’t.I knew I was being irrational and ridiculous, but still I couldn’t seem to stop myself.
“Lexi?”Roxanne bent down so I had no choice but to look her in the eyes.“Are you okay?Do you normally get sick like that when you...well, I’ve never seen someone throw up like that before.Except for myself, of course, but that’s when I was pregnant with Ruby and then I swear I couldn’t keep anything down.Especially if anyone told me anything that was remotely stressful, I’d—” She clapped a hand over her mouth and her eyes got wide.
