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When he pulled into his driveway, the house was completely dark. For the second time that day his stomach clenched. It was only eight o’clock at night. Were they already in bed, sleeping?
He threw the gearshift into park and jumped out. Without taking the time to grab his luggage, he unlocked the front door with his key. Flipping on the light switch, he looked around.
No note. Was that good or bad? He didn't know. As he walked through the kitchen, into the living room and then down the hall toward the bedrooms, there was no sign of Lindsey or Josh having been there.
When he opened the door to Lindsey’s room, the bed was neatly made. When he walked over to the dresser and opened the drawers, they were completely empty.
The same for Josh’s room. Lindsey and Josh had packed up their things and moved out.
Her message couldn't have been any clearer. As far as Lindsey was concerned, their relationship was over.
Chapter Fourteen
The following morning, Lindsey drove a sulky Josh to school. He was mad that they’d come home on Tuesday, which meant not missing as much school. But the reality was that Josh was more upset because they'd left Milwaukee without Austin and with her decision to move them back home, despite the construction in progress.
“I'll pick you up at Tony’s at four-thirty,” she said when he jumped out of the car. She’d hoped the ability to go home with his friend for a while would smoothing things over.
“Whatever.” To his credit he didn't slam the door, but she could tell he was clearly not his usual happy self, either.
Back home, she glanced around her bungalow with a feeling of satisfaction. When she'd woken up earlier today, she'd suffered a momentary pang of regret at how she'd moved out of Austin’s house last night. But now she was convinced it was for the best. When she'd gone through the mail from while she'd been away, she discovered all the nurses at Sun Valley Hospital were getting a modest raise. Encouraged by the news, she did some household budget calculations based on her new salary.
If she was careful, she could pay the high interest loan payment by working just one extra shift in a two week pay period rather than two. Things weren't as bleak as she'd originally thought. And really, after everything that had happened with Sam, it felt good to have a home of her own, one she could afford and be responsible for.
She didn't need Austin's money. Didn’t want or need him to feel responsible for her financial situation.
After cleaning up the kitchen area, she threw together a quick sandwich for lunch, trying to ignore the fine layer of drywall dust covering every other surface in the small house. On the positive side, she discovered the electrical work to bring the wiring up to code had been completed while they were gone, so the house was safe to live in from that standpoint. There were still quite a few drywall repairs to be made, but there was no reason she and Josh couldn't stay there while the work was being done.
No one had ever died from eating drywall dust, had they? She gave her sandwich a dubious glance but then took a big bite.
Maybe living in a construction zone would be uncomfortable but it certainly wasn't impossible. She would just have to do a little bit of extra cleaning every day, that's all.
And if it was lonely without Austin being around, she'd get over it. And so would Josh.
She sighed and put down her half-eaten sandwich. The impact of her rift with Austin on Josh was the toughest to take. No matter how hard she tried to tell herself they would have had to move home sooner or later, it wasn't easy. Josh was too important. He’d come so far, she would hate to see him regress. Regardless of what had transpired between her and Austin, she decided to ask him if he would keep in touch with Josh so her son didn't lose the connection to a positive male role model.
Josh deserved at least that much stability. And she didn't think Austin would refuse, as staying in contact with Josh would fulfill his promise to Sam. Win-win, right? She swallowed hard, reminding herself she didn't need anything from Austin.
The front door to her house abruptly swung open. When Austin strode inside, she jumped, knocking her glass of milk and spilling the contents onto her half eaten sandwich.
She grabbed the towel and quickly mopped up the mess. Stealing herself for an argument she opened her mouth to try and explain, but he swept her into his arms and kissed her senseless.
His mouth wasn't rough or angry but was deeply sensual. So much so it didn't take long for her to melt against him. Her head was spinning when he finally broke free.
“Are you really willing to throw this away?” He demanded in a husky voice.
She took a few steps back, grabbing onto the counter for support while trying to gather her scattered thoughts. She needed to make him understand.
“Austin, the first man I married was based on feelings I thought were love but probably weren't. Sam seemed like everything I wanted.” She sighed. “But things quickly changed, and I learned that a marriage needed more than just affection. I refuse to make the same mistake again.”
“You really think marrying me would be a mistake?” He looked hurt.
“Austin, please try to understand. When my marriage to Sam fell apart, I knew it was because we didn't love each other enough.” She thought about how Austin’s parents had interacted during the time of crisis, the way his whole family had pulled together. She wished she'd had that with Sam, or even with her own family. But she didn't. She hadn't even seen her mother since she'd left home and enrolled at nursing school. The last she had heard, her mother had moved to Colorado with her latest boyfriend. To say she and her mother were not close was a gross understatement. “Sam and I did not have what your parents do.”
Austin was silent for a moment. “Maybe you did marry Sam when you were young, but Sam always seemed to be happy. He never mentioned anything about being dissatisfied with your marriage.”
That surprised her. With the way Sam had chafed against the responsibilities of marriage especially toward the end, she would have thought he'd have confided in his best friend. “I guess I'm glad he didn't say anything to you, but the end result was the same.”
“What result? What happened, Lindsey. Why did your marriage fall apart?” His earnest expression convinced her he really wanted to know.
