Page 20 of The Leaving Road

Wednesday 8:43 A.M.

Lance:It was good to meet you yesterday, looking forward to Friday.

Wednesday 3:45 p.m.

Lance:Hoping this is the right number and you didn’t give me a dud.

Lexie and I were elbow-deep in cleaning; plus, I had seen Sloan at the diner that morning, so I took the afternoon to sort through what he had said. To be honest, I wasmad.How dare he lie about how his mom felt?Coward.How dare he think a few nice words would make me forget years of pain. I had grown enough to know that my leaving wasn’tjustabout Sloan—but Sloan was the catalyst for my depression. I had sunk so far deep into my loneliness that if it weren’t for Lexie, I’m unsure where I would be right now. How do you forgive someone for that?Easy,you don’t. I huffed in annoyance just thinking about it. A small part of me was thinking I should find Lori and have a conversation with her, but even thinking about it made my anxiety spike.

Lexie looked at me like I was crazy. “Wait… You waited a whole day to respond to him?”

Thursday 8:45 A.M.

Magnolia:Right number. I am also looking forward to Friday.

Lance:Thank God, I can honestly say I’ve never been so anxious to receive a response.

Magnolia:It’s your lucky day, then.

Lance:I’m hoping Friday is my lucky day.

I remember being a little put off by his response but shook it off.

Lance:I can stop by at 6:30. I should look at the work you need done before our 7:30 reservation.

I thought about telling him that I would meet him there, however, that didn’t make much sense since hedidhave to come look at the house.

Magnolia:Sounds good.

He already had my address based on the business meeting we had earlier this weekend.

Lexie handed me back the phone without saying much, which was unusual for her.

“Cat got your tongue?”

She waved me off. “No, not at all. Just thinking about what I’m going to dress you in tonight.”

Please, nothing sparkly,I silently prayed to whoever might be listening.

Chapter 14

Magnolia

“You look perfect!” Lexie shrieked. “And just in time!”

I had been sitting here for the better part of two hours while she plucked, polished, and curled what seemed to be every part of my body.

“Did you shave your legs?”

“Lex, I’m going todinner;I’m not sleeping with the man.”

“That didn’t answer my question. Did you shave your legs?”

“Yes…” The doorbell interrupted us, and I quickly glanced at the clock. Lance was twenty-five minutes early.

“Well, eager beaver, is he? I picked out a dress for you, it’s on your bed. I’ll answer the door while you get changed.”

Lex left the room, and I looked over at the bed, finding a little black dress. It was shorter than I would have liked, but now I understood why she asked if I shaved my legs. It went mid-thigh, had spaghetti straps with a heart-shaped neckline, and the back didn’t dip very low, so I knew I would be comfortable. I guess Lex wanted me to show off my tattoo, which started mid-thigh and wrapped around my back. I usually tried to keep hidden. Not that I was ashamed of it, but because it was big, and everyone always asked me the meaning behind it and I never wanted to share.

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