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“Speaking of Davina, you two couldn’t seem to keep your hands off each other at the wedding.” Lexi grinned as she took a seat.
“How are things going with you two?” Alex added as he pulled the food out of the bag.
I cleared my throat, not sure what to say right away, and Lexi must have read my face. Her hand shot out to my arm. “Oh, no. Things aren’t working out? I thought for sure you two would hit it off and build something.”
“To be honest, I thought that too, but it seems my past is too much for her to deal with.”
“What?” Alex barked with a laugh. “What past?”
“Well, my weekend with her best friend that ended with me being a father, for one.”
“Yeah, but she loves Devon too. It’s so obvious,” Lexi commented.
“I know she does, but—” I heaved out a heavy breath. “She was in the office today when Whitney showed up. It was almost like an overindulged replay of when she came to tell me about Devon. When I escorted Whitney into the conference room to speak to her about what was going on, Davina bolted.”
Lexi’s jaw dropped as Alex laughed and said, “Did she think that the little girl was yours?”
I hiked a brow, and he chuckled. “Yeah, don’t answer that. I bet she did. Have you tried to talk to her?”
“Yeah, when would I have had the time?”
“Trevor, if you care about her, then you need to find the time.” Lexi squeezed my arm.
“I will, Lex, when I get back. Right now, I need to get myself moved into the house and get Tonya somewhat acclimated to Devon’s schedule. Then I can figure things out with her.”
“You are going to get things figured out, right?”
I stared into Lexi’s bright eyes. “I’m not letting her go, Lex. I’m crazy about Davina, and she will be part of my life.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Davina
Ididn’t want to get out of bed the next day. Nor the one after that, or the one after that, but I did. I would have been content to sleep away the days and live in the dreams that I had, rather than the reality that was my life.
Here I had thought that I had Trevor all wrong, and I had been thankful that he’d asked me to wait for him. I had wanted to apologize, ask him if we could talk. See if I could right my wrongs and find out if there would be a future.
Seeing another woman fall into his arms and passionately state that she had been searching everywhere for him, had made my blood run cold. Did he have half a dozen children running around without him?
I could have enjoyed a relationship with him with just Devon, maybe one of our own children in the future. What I couldn’t imagine was opening the door to more children from a multitude of romantic weekend interludes. I just didn’t have that in me.
It was Sunday now, and I padded up to the third floor with my to-go mug of coffee and let myself into Carol’s apartment one last time. Tomorrow I would be handing the keys over to the management office. Last week, two different charity companies had come to collect all of her belongings that I was not keeping. It had been gut-wrenching to watch them leave, but what was I to do.
It was time to let go of the past, and maybe that meant letting go of Devon too. I sank to the carpet in the middle of the barren living room and let myself cry. I cried for Carol, for Devon and myself. I curled up in a ball and ran through a million memories, then rolled to my back and stared at the ceiling. I had no idea how long I had been there when I finally dragged my ass off the floor and walked the apartment one last time.
There were no sounds nor laughter as I stood in her room staring at the spot where the lightning bolt painting had once hung. I had almost kept it, but after the incident with Trevor, I couldn’t bear to look at it. Part of me wished that I had, if only to keep a memory of our night together.
I let myself out of the apartment, locking the door behind me, and headed back to my apartment. A glance at my stove told me I’d been gone four hours; no wonder I was starving. I made myself a sandwich and then curled on my couch.
I unlocked my phone and found a missed call. My heart sped up as I realized that Trevor had called me about an hour ago. There was no message, and I wondered what he was going to try to say about what I had witnessed on Thursday. I tossed my phone to the side, picked up the remote, and found a good sappy chick flick to watch.
That’s how my next week went. I worked during the day, watching stupid romance movies at night, and cried myself to sleep. By the end of the week, I’d had enough of my own self-pity and decided that on Monday, I was going to get back with the program. No more feeling sorry for myself. I was going to work; I was going to force myself to get out of the house, meet new people, have some fun, and move forward with my life. Trevor and Devon were my past.
That’s why on the following Sunday morning, I pulled out the guardianship papers and stared at them. I never had notified the courts that Trevor had taken custody of Devon. I guess that was going to be one of the first things that I did this coming week.
I was getting ready for bed when my phone rang, and I saw a number I didn’t know. Since I hadn’t spoken to anyone in days, I figured it couldn’t hurt to at least talk to a telemarketer for a little while, and I answered my phone.
“Davina!” a woman practically shouted over the phone. “It’s Lexi Miller.”
