AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Iwasexhaustedafterthe emotional roller coaster of the last 24 hours and I wanted nothing more than to soak in a hot bath and crawl into bed, but I was a mom so that wasn’t how my life went. I offered to pick Luca up but Addie insisted on bringing him home. I knew she was anxious for me to fill her in about what had happened. To be honest, I was grateful. At least this way I could take my shoes off and change clothes sooner. And, I’d rather tell her everything tonight and be done with it. The sooner I put this behind me, the better.
I poured myself a glass of wine and drank it faster than I planned. Zane had included a couple bottles of nice red in the grocery order he had sent to my room after I first arrived at the lodge. It was another example of just how kind and thoughtful he could be. But then he had that other side to his personality—the side that scared me, and reminded me too much of everything I was trying to get away from.
My muscles instantly felt more relaxed and as tempting as a second glass sounded, I refrained. I knew alcohol was no way to deal with my problems. Four years with Aleks taught me that.
I could tell Zane had been honest and sincere in his apology, but I meant what I said too. I had no problem accepting his apology and being civil to one another moving forward, but I just couldn’t let there be anything else between us. It was by far one of the hardest things I’d ever said to someone I cared about but I did what I had to do and I stood by it. I didn’t just do it for me, but for Luca as well. He has already been through enough in his short life, and I didn’t want to cause him more trauma. Not if I could help it.
I filled Addie in on all of this after she brought Luca back to my room later that evening, and she had pretty much the exact reaction I thought she would.
“You need to stay away from that man,” she said. “He sounds like he’s trouble, and the last thing you need after getting out of that relationship with Aleks is more trouble.” Luca was in the bedroom, so it was just Addie and I sitting on the couch, sipping wine and chatting in soft voices.
“I know,” I said. “It’s just weird, you know? Because when Zane is nice, he’sreallynice. Way nicer than Aleks has ever been to me.”
“It doesn’t matter, love,” Addie said with a sympathetic smile. “He’s snapped at you
twice over the course of just a couple days. That’s just… it’s not a good sign.” She looked around the room and sighed. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy he helped you get away from Aleks the other night, and that he set you up in a safe place like this but… I think you need to just forget about him. If he gets mad at you for not going back to him, or if he tries to say you can’t stay here, then you can come crash at my place.
I smiled, and reached out to squeeze Addie’s hand. “Thanks. That means a lot.”
“I’ll always be here for you and Luca, you know that. Speaking of, I’m planning on picking him up and taking him to school this next week, so don’t even worry about that.”
“You’re the best.”
She laughed and finished off her glass of wine, which was only half full to begin with. “Yeah, you’re right. I am.” She winked as she got up off the couch and said she was calling it a night. She went to go say goodbye to Luca, then kissed me on her way out, and left. Before I shut the door behind her, however, I lingered and she must’ve been able to tell that I had something on my mind.
“What is it, honey?” she said.
“I just—I just want to say, Zaneisn’tAleks. I don’t want you to get the wrong idea. He got upset, sure, but only because he’s going through something. I really don’t think he’s a bad guy.”
Addie nodded encouragingly. “Alright… If you say so.”
“Are you just saying that to placate me?”
“No,” she said with a small laugh. “Well, not entirely. Look, Katya, I want you to have more people in your life looking out for you. I want you to be taken care of, okay? So, if you think there’s a reason to keep this man in your life in some capacity, then I’m not going to tell you what to do. Just promise me you’ll be careful, and that you’ll call me if he ever yells at you like that again. Deal.”
I grinned. Deal.”
Then I shut the door and leaned my back against it on the other side. I let out a heavy sigh and shook my head. I was hoping that by talking to Addie, I would somehow find some clarity on the situation, but in all honesty, I was more confused now than I had been before. But there was no time to worry about that now. I had more important things to think about, like my son.
I found Luca sitting on the floor of the bedroom playing with his toys. “So, Little Man, how about I make you some of my famous blueberry pancakes for dinner?” I asked, already knowing the answer.
His eyes lit up and he excitedly asked, “With powdered sugar and butter?”
“Of course, you got it. Anything you want,” I told him.
“Yea! Can I help?”
“Absolutely! I can’t work without my assistant,” I said. He followed me to the kitchen and I started taking the ingredients out of the cupboard.
“Oh wait!” Luca said, then he ran to his room and came back wearing the superhero apron Addie bought him last year. He climbed up on the stool and began counting out the number of eggs we needed. For a brief moment, I forgot about my own problems and enjoyed the pure happiness that was Luca.
We were mixing the batter and singing, “Let It Go” when there was a knock at the door. I hadn’t ordered anything and Addie and Zane were the only people who knew we were here, so I couldn’t imagine who it was. It was a hotel though so I assumed someone must have the wrong room as I headed to open the door.
The bellboy was standing there with a smile on his face as he handed me the most beautiful bouquet of pink and red roses I had ever seen along with a mystery box. I thanked Zack, the bellboy, and took the roses and box to the table. Attached to the roses was a card.
Without knowing, I already knew who they were from so I opened the card hesitantly. I didn’t know why I was scared to read what it said, but I was. I also didn’t know what to expect. I took the card to the couch and sat down to open it. Tears began to form as I read the words Zane had written.
Dear Katya,
