Page 18 of The Comeback Road (Leaving #2)

Lexie

Magnolia and Sloan were a normal sight in the morning, but Dexter sitting at the island was weird, and had me approaching with caution. “Okay, fine, you can have the one puppy. But I swear to God, Dex, it’s not a cactus. You cannot forget to water it.”

“For the record, I overwatered it.” He shot her a sheepish look.

“Overweight pets are also a problem,” she bit back at him. But I saw the corner of her lips tip up, and knew she was happy with her decision. It was just another reminder of how everything seemed to be slipping into place for everyone else.

“Magnolia, please, give the guy a break.” I entered the kitchen and snagged the cup of coffee Dexter was holding in his hands, doing my best to plaster a smile on my face and hoping the cup would hide the fact that it was fake.

“Hey! Rude,” Dexter grumbled at me.

“Listen, you want to use my coffee and my cup, you pay the tax.” I lifted the cup in his direction in thanks. “What are you doing here at the ass crack of dawn anyway? Seems a little early to be harassing people.”

He averted his eyes down, then to Magnolia, and the smile I’d been sporting slipped into a frown. “What’s with that look?”

“Well, with uh, with everything going on, Magnolia asked that I take over the renovations for the house. Alone.” He barely got the words out, and I didn’t miss the look he shot her, showcasing his discomfort. Magnolia just stood there, looking at me, trying to gauge my reaction.

“That’s ridiculous. I’m leaving for a work trip anyway. At minimum, it will be a few weeks…and it wouldn’t shock me if it turned out to be more like a few months.” I brought the coffee to my lips as Magnolia let out a sound of shock.

“What? I figured a week, maybe two?” She looked angry at my confession, and even I could admit it wasn’t the best way to tell her that I’d probably be gone for a while.

“Wait, don’t you work for me?” Dexter sat there looking every bit puzzled, but I just ignored him, pointing my words at Magnolia.

“Mags, trust me, okay?” I winked, but her lips were pressed together in the thinnest of lines, and Dexter started looking like he wanted to be anywhere but there.

Finally, when Magnolia realized that she wasn’t going to get more of an explanation, she nodded curtly in my direction.

“I’m not happy about this. It feels…different,” she expressed, worry written all over her.

“You’re being paranoid. It’s like every other work trip I’ve ever been on.

” It wasn’t a lie, exactly. It was just the first time I wasn’t given an option, and that alone sent warning pings up and down my spine.

“Good news. There should be no reason that Jace can’t be here and get things done as well.

” I clasped my hands together. Dexter and Magnolia both shot me varying looks of worry.

I rolled my eyes at both of them, doing my best to put their minds at ease.

I didn’t have time to placate them. I needed to get out of there—not only for work, but for myself.

“Sloan, feel like chiming in?” Magnolia shot daggers out of her eyes, but he just kept reading the newspaper. “If I thought that anything I said would sway Lexie, I would. She’s a big girl, babe, let it go. It’s work.”

I had to hand it to Sloan; he had no problem telling Magnolia exactly how he was feeling about any situation, even if it pissed her off.

I swear, those two lived to fight and lived to make up even more.

Old house, thin paper walls. “But she doesn’t need to work,” she shot back at him.

And while financially that might have been true…

“Everyone has to work, Magnolia. Money literally makes the world go round.” She huffed out in frustration, knowing it was a conversation she was going to lose because she’d never let them in on the fact that I was a millionaire, even if it served her purpose.

Magnolia threw her hands up in frustration and stalked out of the kitchen.

“She’ll get over it.” Sloan went back to reading his newspaper.

I couldn’t help the guilt I felt at keeping the secret to myself.

There were certain legal hoops I had to jump through before I could explain my job to people, and I didn’t want to put anyone I cared about in danger.

So, I had elected to keep that part of my life a secret, and it always seemed to work fine.

Until then.