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“For now, I’m here for our family. No matter what happens, Benedict, we’re family. You’ll always be Bentley’s father no matter where our personal lives take us.”
“Andy,”he mumbles.
It isn’t the moment to discuss my relationship with Andy nor admit the whole truth. I respect my husband is in pain, dealing with his life changing in so many ways. I know it wasn’t easy for him to admit his struggles, and there’ll be an appropriate time to discuss our future in more detail. Not here in a hospital corridor.
“You go home, put Bentley to bed. I’ll stay here for a bit longer.”
“Are you sure?” I ask, worried about leaving him. “Eliza is with him.”
“I’m sure he needs his mother at home.”
As I stand up, I grab my purse and sling it over my shoulder. I touch his shoulder gently, letting him know it will be okay. My feet begin to move to the exit when he calls my name.
I turn around to meet his sorrowful gaze.
“I’m sorry about what happened that night in our bed. I should’ve respected your wishes, along with apologizing the next day. It was wrong of me to do what I did.”
My lips curl as I bite down with a nod. “We all make mistakes, Benedict. It’s what we do moving forward that counts.”
Twenty-Four
Andy
“Three, two, one…”
The shot glass tips back into my mouth for the tequila to slide down my throat without the usual burn it’s known for. Perhaps, this is because it’s our fifth round, and the supposedly potent liquor is beginning to taste flavorless.
“I’m done,” Anastasia admits with a head shake, squinting her eyes to open them again.
She’d captured photos of us drinking, posting it to her stories, and yanking my phone off me to share on mine.
“You’re not done.” I push her, calling the bartender back, who warns me this is the last round. That’s what the fucker said two rounds ago. “C’mon, who’ll drink with me?”
“I will.”
The bartender places the shot glasses on the table as Lex takes the one that’s supposed to be for Anastasia. Until now, he’d been nursing a scotch. We clink the glasses, then drink them in one go.
“I feel sick just watching this,” Anastasia complains, covering her mouth. “I’m going to the bathroom. Please send a search party if I’m not back in thirty minutes.”
I watch as Anastasia stumbles to the bathroom in her tight white dress, almost entering the men’s instead, until she realizes when a man exits with an annoyed look on his face. She laughs, not at all embarrassed because she’s beyond drunk right now.
“You remind me of my younger years,” Lex mentions with a fond smile. “I could drink the night away. These days, I’m done after two.”
“That’s not true. You just choose not to drink your troubles away because you have no troubles.” I point my finger at him. “You have a beautiful wife, four smart daughters of which two of them are happily married. Nothing at all is wrong in your life.”
Lex gazes at me with an unrelenting stare. “I’m blessed. I’ll admit that. It doesn’t mean I haven’t had my share of pain. Some things will never leave you.”
When I waited for my plane last night, I was surprised to see Lex boarding the same flight at the airport. Firstly, he has a private jet so traveling on a commercial plane isn’t something he does much anymore. Then, it clicked. The more he tried to explain the so-called business meeting he needed to attend in Madrid, the more I realized he was instructed to babysit me.
Everyone is worried about me. Poor Andy is going off the rails because Jessa is back with her husband. When I left home, Dad had a few words with me, but he’s wise, and I listened with an open mind. Luna didn’t even say goodbye, ignoring me to stay at a friend’s house so she could avoid me. On the other hand, Mom worries about me like I’m some goddamn broken baby bird.
I’m fucking fine.
And the tequila is making life good again.
The bar we found ourselves in is quaint with a chilled vibe. There’s soft music that plays, nothing overbearing or loud. The space is dimly lit with a few sconces on the wall and candles sitting on each table. The crowd is slightly older, missing the usual obnoxious singles group, who create all the trouble when out drinking.
“So, I’m guessing Mom sent you here to watch me, huh? Make sure I don’t do anything stupid like fuck Anastasia into oblivion.”
