Page 29 of The Comeback Road (Leaving #2)

Lexie

Thanksgiving

The past few weeks hung over my head as I sat at the kitchen table while Luke frantically checked timers and oven settings to prepare a Thanksgiving meal for us.

Zed sat on a bar stool critiquing his methods, while Laurel hung behind him, taste-testing everything.

As for Randolf, he couldn’t care less about the food nor the holiday.

He just got started on the expensive vodka Luke had taken out, muttering about withholding the goods.

I distanced myself more, if that were even possible, after the conversation with Zed left me reeling.

I hated to admit that maybe I was scared to complete the mission because completing it meant that I had a choice to make.

Do I go back to Rockland? Or do I find somewhere else to set down roots?

The thought that I had possibly prolonged someone’s suffering for my own personal gain was like a festering wound.

It grew day by day when I couldn’t figure it out.

And now? Now, it was infected. Even the slightest movement had me wincing.

I knew I was close —so close—but there was something I wasn’t understanding. Something important.

I was losing myself in my task at hand, and by doing so, I was cutting off the people who cared about me.

Magnolia especially. I had to bite back the guilt every time I saw her name on my phone screen.

I’d kick her ass and probably go searching for her if she pulled that shit on me.

But Magnolia—and Rockland—was a distraction, and one I couldn’t afford.

I hadn’t known the gritty details before I left, and if I had, I would have prepared her better.

Hell, I would have prepared myself better.

Talking to Magnolia meant I had to deal with the Jace of it all, and I wasn’t ready for that kind of distraction.

And that’s what it was, a distraction —again, one I couldn’t afford.

At first, Jace’s texts were confusing. Until I put it all together through the context clues of his messages and my brief conversations that I had with Magnolia before I stopped answering.

Jace was indeed single. Papers signed, filed, divorced .

I remember the anticipation I heard in Magnolia’s voice from one of our brief phone calls before I stopped answering.

“Jace, uh…well…he’s divorced. I thought you’d want to know.

” I remembered her sounding hopeful, like that bit of news changed everything.

I remembered the small flicker of hope that bloomed before it was crushed by the reality of how he had just tossed me away without a second thought.

The months we spent laughing in corners while Magnolia and Sloan were finding their way back to each other.

We had texted and plotted ways to bring them together, and how he was there when Magnolia almost got hurt.

He knew of mine and my mom’s struggles. I had confided in him when he overheard a particularly tense phone call between us after I continued to ignore my father and sister’s attempts at reaching out.

She thought I was being stubborn, that I’d regret not having a relationship with them.

So, our once close relationship had become strained.

Jace just listened. He didn’t judge, didn’t falter.

Just listened. I fell in love with him then, hard .

And he discarded me. He still picked her first. It didn’t matter that he had changed his mind; his first pick wasn’t me.

I couldn’t let that go. I wouldn’t be anyone’s second choice ever again.

And the heartbreak that followed wasn’t loud. It was consuming, distracting .

The bickering around me was making it hard to continue to tune everyone out, so I decided to tune in. It was a holiday, after all…

“If you check that turkey one more time…” Luke sent a warning hiss toward Laurel that had her throwing her hands up.

“I did not spend all morning fixing your mistakes for you to overcook it,” she snapped back while pulling it out of the oven. “Now we can put the cherry pie in, and it can…”

Cherry Pie…

“Say that again?” I heard the words fall from my lips, but I was being transported back in time to a memory that I’d never considered important until then. “Say what? Put the cherry pie in?”

The memory rolled through me from my subconscious.

“Do I have to be here?” I groaned at Luke. “I hate these benefactory dinners or whatever you call them.”

“Don’t worry, it’s just for show. We have to rub elbows and fake some smiles sometimes, and you’re pretty to look at. Plus, what else did you have going on tonight?”

I scoffed at him. We both knew I had nothing better to do, that I’d probably be curled up on the sofa with snacks and a Netflix marathon.

He pulled me into the lobby of the hotel, where the shindig was happening.

With light pressure on my elbow, he guided me past the guest service desk with a brief smile and a nod, down past the glass elevators, across a sky walk, and down a flight of stairs into a large conference room that was far above my caliber.

The white marble floor reflected the lights of the chandeliers that hung throughout every open space.

And the dimmed lights only added to the room, creating almost a sensual environment.

It was disarming, and a little bit charming.

“Wow. This is nice.”

Luke just hummed his agreement next to me. “I’ll drop you off at the bar. There are some people I need to see.”

I just nodded in agreement because what else was I going to do? Might as well get some expensive booze out of this.

I settled on the stool. “Champagne?” the bartender asked.

“I was thinking of something stronger. Got any good tequila back there?” I inquired, not at all aware someone had sat down next to me.

“My kind of girl,” a melodic voice spoke next to me. I almost fell out of my stool as I whipped my head in the direction of it.

“Jesus, I didn’t see you there.” I probably looked at her half crazed.

I could have sworn no one was sitting there.

She just tilted her head at me in assessment, and my god, she was gorgeous.

But there was something lurking underneath that had my skin buzzing with awareness.

Something was screaming at me that she was someone I didn’t want to underestimate.

I just continued to stare at her as if she had me entranced. It was unnerving, but I still couldn’t bring myself to look away. I was beginning to question if I was attracted to her…Then, she grinned at me, and there wasn’t something quite right about it.

“My name is Collette, but my friends call me Lettie.” She held her hand out for a shake, and I couldn’t help but take it.

Her grip was firm, unyielding. As she pulled me into her, I couldn’t help the tingle of fear that was starting at the base of my spin.

Who is this girl? But I kept my gaze locked on her, my own grip just as strong and eyes refusing to submit, which only made her grin turn feral.

I could feel the sweat on the back of my neck start to pool.

“Collette, play nicely,” a harsh voice lashed out from behind us, and she pulled me a little bit closer before letting my hand go.

“Ah, Cherry, you ruin all my fun. Let me guess, you’ve been sent over here to make sure I’m behaving.

” She pulled away from me fully, giving a glance at the girl behind her.

I was sure a camera crew was about to pop out because both girls were drop-dead gorgeous.

“I was just making a new friend, isn’t that right?” She tossed a shrug at her companion.

“Lexie,” I told them both. And while Lettie was grinning at me like a cat who caught the canary, Cherry was observing me with caution.

“Tequila?” I asked them, and while Lettie squealed with delight, Cherry only agreed with a curt shake of her head.

As the night went on, the more we drank, and the more we talked. While a part of me felt like I had been trapped in some kind of web, the alcohol bled through my warning sirens so they were more like faint little bells in the distance. Easy to ignore.

“So, tell me, Lexie, what brings you to one of these get-togethers? I’ve never seen you before.”

“I’m here with a friend.”

“Ah.” Lettie brought the tequila to her lips and gulped it back without even a wince.

“And you?”

She looked over at Cherry, who had been annoyingly quiet the entire time. “She’s the brains, I’m the muscle.” She laughed, and I couldn’t decipher if she was being serious or not.

“Brains?”

“Tech genius. Whatever you want to call it.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Coder?” I asked Cherry. That finally got her interested, and the curves of her lips tipped up. It seemed like she almost smiled at me. “Something like that.”

Lettie cackled from next to me. “I can’t believe she let you get away with asking her that. Why doesn’t she get the annoying spiel of how beautiful it is and blah blah?”

Cherry just glared at her counterpart, but I wanted to actually hear it, “Tell me.”

“Think of it like my name,” she said lowly.

“Good code, impeccable code, clean, shiny, attractive. It should have an alluring surface, but it’s layered.

The body of it is sweet, unseeming, the logic of the code, it lies here, the functions, the algorithms, well crafted, efficient—before we get to the pit.

Simple from the outside, enough to entrap you so you overlook the core.

And before you know it, it’s a tree, taking root in everything, invading, impossible to ignore. ”

I whistled. “A cherry of a code.”

“A cherry of a code,” she said matter-of-factly back to me.

“A cherry of a code,” I whispered.

“No, a cherry pie.” Randolf’s gruff voice brought me back to those around me, and he pointed the bottle of vodka at me that he was just drinking straight from the bottle.

“No, you don’t understand. I just figured it out.” I kicked back and out of my seat, laughing, while everyone stared at me like I had lost my mind. And maybe I had. “It’s a cherry of a code! We have to go. I know how to get in.”

I looked at Luke as I said the words.

I know how to get in.