Page 27 of The Comeback Road (Leaving #2)

Lexie

September

Okay, computer, it’s you and me. I cracked my knuckles and neck before diving in, only to be interrupted by the rest of the team sitting down on all sides, not realizing I was in the middle of something.

“You almost didn’t blow up today,” Luke said, and gave me a hopeful grin.

“Does almost really count when it comes to being blown up?” I shot back.

“What counts is that you’re getting better, faster. We might actually have a shot at this.” He looked around at all of us. “We have a lead on another location, but…” I saw the way his eyes flicked to me. They showed pity, concern .

“You don’t think we are ready. You don’t think I’m ready.

” He was right; I wasn’t. I couldn’t help the itchiness that settled over my skin.

I felt like there was something I was missing.

The program I was trying to disable, even though it held horror behind its walls, was a masterpiece.

Delicately put together in moving pieces that were remarkable.

One wrong move, and the entire thing collapsed.

It was as if it answered only to its master, its maker, and I was neither.

“We have time,” Luke stated firmly.

“It doesn’t feel like it.” I grabbed the laptop, unwilling to sit and have that conversation anymore. The more we talked, the more time was wasted, the more days ticked by that I was no further along.

My phone pinged from the corner, and I knew without looking who it was going to be. Like a glutton for punishment, I moved to grab it.

Jace: Can you believe how fast they grow up?

I clicked on the photo attachment, and couldn’t help but smile at the picture of Sweet Potato and Pie.

They were in that odd stage where they were all legs, little bodies, and floppy ears that didn’t exactly make sense.

My heart clenched at the reminder of Rockland, of my almost home.

Or my current home. I hadn’t quite figured that out yet.

Magnolia blew up my phone as well, but the more she tried, the more I felt myself retreating into the distance I had placed between us.

I needed to focus on the job—that was the excuse I told myself.

I didn’t need the distractions of anything or anybody else.

And every time Magnolia called, she wanted to talk to me about Jace, and said it was important.

But after the third time I hung up on her, she got the memo.

Now, I didn’t answer her calls at all.