"Talk to me, Lexi," she said, holding me close.
I reached for the tissues and wiped at my eyes. "It's Drew. I saw him tonight with Laura…kissing."
"All right."
"I'm... Since he got here, we've been..." The words wouldn't pass my lips, and my cheeks heated at the thought of what I was going to tell my mother.
"Do you love him, Lexi?"
I didn't answer her question. Instead, I buried my face in her shoulder as the tears started to pour again. "I just can't do this, Mom. I need to get out of here," I said, instantly stopping the crying and turning to resume my packing.
"Lexi." Mom grabbed my arm, but I pulled away from her touch. "Alexa, stop right now!" she gritted through clenched teeth. "Do you love him?"
I slowly nodded my head, embarrassed at how stupid I had been getting involved with him in the first place. I dropped the shirts that were in my hand and turned to face my mother.
"You can't assume things; you need to hear him out. Perhaps it isn't what you think."
"I know what I saw, Mom," I barked back.
"No, you think you know what you saw. Alexa, let me tell you something, and you can do what you want with this advice. You need to hear him out. What if he feels the same way for you? What if you don't give him the chance to let him explain to you what you saw and you just leave? What if you walking out on him breaks him completely? He has been hurt in the past by woman walking out on him. Not only by Laura, but his mother as well. I know Drew. I have known him his whole life, and I know he doesn't and never has entered any kind of intimate situation with a woman if he didn't feel there was something there. You need to remember that you are as important to him as the rest of this family, Alexa."
"But we haven't been intimate," I lied, trying to swallow the embarrassment I felt at saying those words to my mother.
"Lexi, one thing I am not is stupid. I've seen the way the two of you have been looking at one another. A person would have to be blind to not know that you are lying. Please give me just a little credit."
I locked eyes with my mother and thought for a moment. Mom made sense, but a large part of me was terrified that if I did hear him out and it didn't end in my favor that I would be ruined.
"And what if it was what I saw."
"Well, it's better to know where you stand than to leave now and wonder about it forever. Plus, I think it’s best that you stay home here."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"Just what I said. Lexi, you have been on the run for the past three years now, floating in and out of different chapters of your life. When things get tough, you pick up and you’re on your way again. I noticed it started the day grandma passed away."
"No."
"Yes, it did. Grandma passed, and a week later, you were on a flight to Australia. You worked there for a bit, got involved with a surfer, and when that went south, you moved to Italy. You came home only once that year for thirty-six hours, and then you took off again. It's a pattern that you have. Just like now."
I looked at my mother and felt the tears building again. I remembered what I saw in that window tonight, and the urge to run was even greater than it had been before. "I can't stay, Mom. I can't bear to hear him say he wants her instead. Now please leave me in peace to pack my things."
Chapter 25
Drew
I pulled awayfrom Laura's lips and shook my head. "We're over, Laura," I said, placing my hands on her shoulders.
"Drew, please. Don't make a scene. Just hear me out."
"I have heard, and now there is nothing more for me to hear. We’ve been over for a long time," I said, reaching for my jacket.
"I'm sorry. I just think we deserve to give us another chance."
"There isn't an ‘us’ anymore, and it wasn't just the fact that you left me at the alter. The feelings that we had for one another left years ago. You know I wasn't even that upset that you didn't show up that day. What plagued me the most waswhyyou didn't show."
Laura looked down to her hands and inhaled deeply. "I guess I was afraid I might be missing out on something. I mean, when I think about it, I have been with you since I was sixteen."
"And now..."