Page 15 of The Comeback Road (Leaving #2)

Lexie

There was a deafening silence that followed Raya and I on our walk home.

I wanted to ask her about her dad, but she was far too young to be dealing with those kinds of troubles.

I couldn’t help but walk slightly behind her, and made sure to catalogue everything as we made our way back.

Every sound, every face we passed. Everything.

Once we made it back to the turn off to the driveway, Raya took off toward the house, and I finally felt a bit more at ease, knowing we were on familiar turf.

The anxiety dissipated some more when I realized that Magnolia and Sloan’s cars were there.

“Raya, you can either play inside with the puppies or watch TV, but no going outside without me. In fact, no doing anything without informing me first, yeah?”

“I’d like to play inside.” Her eyes shifted around her, and I knew she was still feeling uncomfortable.

The rage I had felt before was threatening to come back, but I masked it with a smile in her direction.

“Why don’t you go find the puppies? I’m sure they want to play.

” She tore off through the front door. I hoped the seriousness of the afternoon would fade away with puppy snuggles and kisses.

“Dexter would make a great dog dad, Magnolia,” I heard Sloan pleading.

“Didn’t you just tell me that he somehow killed the cactus you bought him?” she shot back at him, a spatula in hand. He huffed in frustration.

“This is completely different,” he mumbled. I felt that pesky twinge in my heart—the one that felt like a festering wound. This is what I wanted.

“Ah! You’re back! Where’s Raya?” Magnolia moved her attention from Sloan to me. She must have seen something on my face because she half tossed the spatula before making her way toward me. “What happened?” she demanded.

“We ran into Raya’s dad. You’ll never guess who it is.

” I proceeded to tell her and Sloan exactly what had happened.

Sloan slid off the bar stool, his face turning red in anger.

Magnolia paced in front of me, muttering curses underneath her breath.

And when I got to the part about Jace, they both stood frozen.

Even though they tried to mask it, they both looked at me with sadness and pity, just like he had.

“We need to call Remi,” I said, not offering them anything else. I just wanted them to stop looking at me like that.

“On it,” Magnolia stated, and started walking out of the kitchen while Sloan kept his gaze locked on me.

“Magnolia still not budging on giving the other puppy to Dexter, huh?” I motioned toward where she just exited, recalling a constant discussion in the house lately.

Dexter had fallen head over heels for one of Peach’s puppies, and I knew he’d already named him.

And for someone who was adamant that they weren’t keeping all of them, Magnolia was reluctant to let go.

A slow smile overtook his face, and he just nodded at me.

My phone buzzed in the back pocket of my jeans, and I pulled it out.

Luke: Marco .

“I have to take this.” Sloan waved me off in reassurance as I took the stairs two at a time to get to my room.

Luke rarely got in touch with me, and that was before I had left for good.

But twice in one day? Never. Something was happening.

Something was wrong. The hammering of my heart was so loud I could have sworn I could see it through my skin.

A sense of something I couldn’t quite put my finger on had started to take route in my gut.

It felt foreign, but it felt like a warning. I put my phone to my ear.

Ring. Ring. Ring.

“Hey,” Luke’s deep tone came through the phone. He sounded as nonchalant as possible, which caused the uneasiness I was feeling to continue to spread like it was running its course through every cell. “The days are long, Lexie. The sunset reminds me of you.”

We need you. The plane leaves at sunset. You need to be on it.

“The sunrise reminds me of you.”

Understood.

“Until then.” The sound of the line disconnecting was my only companion in the darkness of my room, the pounding of my heart, the playlist to my thoughts. I immediately recalled the conversation I’d had with Luke when I told him I was taking myself off the roster as much as one could.

Let’s be clear, you didn’t just leave . If you were needed, you were needed. End of discussion.

“You’ve been a good liaison,” I told him as we sipped our champagne from the crappy cardboard cups they kept stocked in the break room.

“I can’t believe you’re calling it quits.”

I rolled my eyes at him. I’d been recruited in college, but I refused then.

Then, I was approached again after graduation, and was given an offer to be an independent contractor when needed that I literally could not refuse.

Once I sold a few programs, I had stopped taking half the contracts they offered me.

And once Magnolia left, I had a sneaky suspicion she wouldn’t be back.

She was the only family I had, so I knew without a shadow of a doubt, I’d be following her. So, I told them I was done.

And I was, to an extent. As much as anyone was allowed to retire anyway.

“This isn’t a surprise,” I told him again as I sipped the crappy champagne.

“No, it’s just a shame.”

“Lex?” Magnolia’s voice pulled me from my memories and worries. I knew, if I was being summoned, that the foreboding sense I’d been feeling before wasn’t for nothing. It was big.

“In here,” I responded. Even though my voice was barely above a whisper, she heard me just fine.

“Remi’s on her way. Why do you look like you’ve seen a ghost?

Everything okay?” She came all but barreling toward me with worry on her face.

“I’m fine. I just—I just have to go to New York tomorrow to tie up the last of my loose ends.

Tech stuff.” I did my best to smile at her, but it came out as a grimace, and there was no way she was falling for that.

“You’re lying to me.”

I couldn’t help but flinch at Magnolia’s words.

She knew I was, but I also couldn’t tell her anything either.

While we were as close as we could be, there was always part of Magnolia that was disconnected from the world, her feelings tucked away and her walls high.

Since being in Rockland, she was finally becoming more aware of the world around her and the people she cared about.

I had a feeling that my usual excuses were not going to be accepted anymore.

“Mags, can you just trust me? I’ll be back soon.” The lie felt like ash on my tongue, and she must have seen it on my face. Magnolia raised her eyebrows at me in question, waiting for me to be honest. The silence stretched on before she let out a curse.

“I’m not happy about this.”

“Look on the bright side. It came at the perfect time.” I did my best to lighten the mood and smile at her, despite the heaviness in my chest and in the air.

“This doesn’t feel right.” She looked at me as if questioning why that was, and I just shrugged at her.

“It’s no different than any other work trips, babes. You’re being paranoid.”

“Sure. Whatever you say, Lexie.”

The slamming of the front door jolted both of us from our private moment, and my immediate thought went to Raya. I hoped it was just Remi getting there as I tore through my room to make my way downstairs.

As I flew down them, I ran straight into a hard chest.

Jace.