Page 27 of The Leaving Road

I looked between the three of them. Lexie was staring at Jace with barely concealed interest, but her eyes were floating to the wedding band on his left hand. Dexter looked like he swallowed a fly, and Jace was looking at me with excitement.

I couldn’t help the smile that crossed my lips. “Hell yeah, let’s do it. Would you guys like a tour and see some of the projects we want done?”

Lexie and Jace both let out their own versions of an excited holler, while Dexter just gave me a half smile.

“Tour time!” Lexie threw her hands up in a clap. I still wasn’t missing the way she kept eyeing Jace out of the corner of her eye, and I knew I would be addressing that with her later.

We walked through my family’s home, pointing out the projects we knew were too big for us to take on, like redoing the fireplace, the flooring that needed replacing, the roof that leaked in one spot. Jace was over enthusiastic, oohing and aahing about how great the place was. Dexter was mainly silent, but I could tell he appreciated the house as much as I did. He ran his hands over parts of the walls with almost reverence. If I were being honest, as personable as Jace was, the way Dexter approached every room was what sold me on them doing the job for us. Our tour ended with us in the living room near the front door.

Jace wrapped his arm around Lexie’s shoulders and tapped her nose. “This seems like the start of a beautiful partnership, ladies.” And even though he addressed us both, all his attention was on her.

I wanted to be furious, because, hello,wedding ring. But he was looking at her with an open adoration and doing it in front of his friend so…what gives?Before I could open my mouth and ask, Lexie pulled Jace to the front door and out to the porch to talk about hanging one of those deck swings. She’s been nagging me about it for days.

You have the dock, you love to sit and think about life, you love it there. I’ve always dreamed of having one of those swings where I could sip my morning coffee or drink my nightly wine. Please, Mags!

I told her she could have whatever kind of swing she wanted, but I was sure that wood needed to be replaced and things needed fixed before that could happen. Thankfully, Lexie realized how dangerous it could be and backed off for a while; however, I knew it wasn’t something she’d let go of completely.

“He’s married,” I whispered, though I was unable to take my eyes off the fact that they were clearly into each other.

Much to my horror, Dexter spoke up from beside me, earning my attention instead of Jace and Lexie. “He’s only married legally, not physically or emotionally.”

“Hmm…I take it you won’t give me any of the juicy details?”

He held his hands up in mock surrender. “Unfortunately, no. Dicks before chicks and all that.”

I cackled. “Isn’t the saying chicks before dicks?”

“Maybe for chicks.” He smirked at me. “This house is magnificent.”

Cue the subject change.

“I always loved it growing up. I’d always imagined I would get married here, start a family here…” I said almost wistfully.

“We will take care of her for you.”

“I think this is the most you’ve spoken to me since we met.” I couldn’t help but address it.

He gave me a shy look; I could tell he was mildly embarrassed I had called him out on it. “It isn’t personal… Lydia and I have been together for a while, and she, well…she’s friends with Cassie. I just didn’t want there to be any unnecessary drama started by us interacting.”

I didn’t have time to mask the confused look on my face.

“Lydia is…well, she’s dramatic. Not that I don’t love her, because the Lord knows I do. She’s almost loyal to a fault, and Cassie is part of her people. I didn’t want to give her any reason to be rude to you.”

I couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for Dexter. It was sad that he had to put himself in a position to be a buffer for his girlfriend.

“Listen, I don’t want to cause any problems. I just met you and Lydia, but my past with Cassie and Sloan is just that,the past.I’m working on building my future, so I see no reason why we can’t have a good, professional working relationship.”

He smiled at me, and I couldn’t help but notice how good-looking he was—not exactly my type, but still.

“That sounds good, Magnolia. I’ll get some estimates drawn up for you and a timeline.”

“That sounds perfect. Do you need my cell phone number?”

“Lex can always text it to me,” Jace said to me from the opened doorway, but he still hadn’t taken his eyes from Lexie.

“I’m sure she can.”

“Well, we better take off and let you ladies enjoy the rest of your Sunday. We’ll be in touch.” Dexter all but shoved Jace off the porch while closing the door behind them to prevent Jace from coming back in. Lexie’s dreamy stare was pointed at the door.

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