Page 28 of The Leaving Road

“Uh, earth to Lex?”

“Hmm…” she responded on a sigh.

“Can we talk about that?”

“Nope.” Then she turned and walked upstairs.

Chapter 18

Magnolia

Much to our enjoyment, the rest of our belongings were delivered on Sunday night, so we spent most of the night and all of Monday putting everything away. Monday evening, when we were getting our bedrooms all set up, Lexie’s phone kept pinging and bringing an instant smile to her face. I figured now was as good a time as any to bring up Jace.

“Is that Jace?” I asked while hanging her hundreds of little black dresses.

I mean seriously, how many dresses does someone need?

“Yes, it is.”

Clearly, she wasn’t going to give me much information without a little prodding. “Lex…the guy’s married.”

“Don’t remind me. Okay, fine,remindme.” She plopped down on the bed, clearly frustrated.

“Are you ready to talk about it now?”

My usual confident friend was nowhere to be found; instead, she looked unsure of herself, and that made me uneasy and immediately unhappy with whatever the situation was.

“Lex, come on, please?”

“I don’t know all the details. He had asked me out at the grocery store. I reminded him of his wife, and he said if I could find her for him, he’d finally be able to serve her divorce papers. I still said no, because hello, I’m no homewrecker. That’s when I started complaining about the dusty house, and wine, and how there were no hot single men available as I was looking at two taken ones.”

“Okay…so, he’s trying to get divorced?”

“No, I mean, yes. But at the same time, notreally.”

“I’m going to need you to elaborate because, I gotta tell ya, I’m so lost, it’s unreal.” I flicked her leg to continue.

“He had a summer fling a fewyearsago with an out-of-towner, fell madly in love, swearing she was the one. They had a quickie wedding one weekend in Vegas. One day he woke up to a note saying she needed to experience more life first, and she’d be back. That was two years ago. He has divorce papers drawn up, but he’s never put much effort—or any effortat all—into finding her, and he still wears his wedding ring. That doesn’t sound like someone who’s looking to get divorced, Mags. It sounds like someone who’s waiting for the past to come back.”

I could feel her thoughts from here, and I could almost feel her sadness penetrate the air around me. I saw the way she looked at him, like he hung the stars and moon.

“There’s something about him, babes… I can feel him before I see him, you know? It’s almost like it’s magnetic, and I barely even know him.” She frowned.

Oh, did I know that feeling… I’d felt it for someone once before.

“What does he have to say about the divorce? Clearly, you guys are messaging… Have you talked about it much?”

“No, I told him to get a divorce and then we could talk. We are firmly in the friends-onlycategory. If he’s serious enough about wanting to pursue anything long-term, then he’ll hunt her down and serve her.”

“I understand, and I support you not being a homewrecker, but I’d support you the other way too, you know? This doesn’t sound so black and white.” I laid down next to her and pulled her close in hopes that she felt more comfort.

“It is for me. I don’t fuck with married men, Mags.”

Now wasn’t that the truth. Lexie’s dad had cheated on her mom for years; hell, he had a whole separate family. She has two twin half-sisters around her age that she’s never seen or spoken to. Once her mom found out, she packed up, left with Lexie, and started over.

He’s tried to contact Lexie over the years, begging for forgiveness. Her mother met her current husband Rob, and they’ve been happily married for years. Rob treats her like a queen, same with Lexie. She calls him dad, and you’d never know she wasn’t his biologically.

“You want some hot chocolate? The rest of this can wait.” I got off the bed before she answered, knowing chocolate was a magical cure for everything.

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