Page 92 of Another Love, Another Time
Baxter looks down at the floor. “Three times.”
“Wow,” Aunt Jess murmurs.
Sensing he doesn’t want to talk about it, Aunt Connie changes the subject. “So, have you met Auggie yet?”
“No, he hasn’t,” I cut in, giving Baxter time to get back into the right headspace. “I’m surprised he hasn’t been over yet.”
It’s only been a day, but he had texted me last night saying he was going to sit down with Melissa and ask her to move out. He didn’t text me after, so I’m hoping that went well.
I’m pleased to hear he’s moving in the right direction. Throughout the week, he has hinted that he would like me togive him another chance. Asking her to move out is a step in the right direction.
“Don’t you think it would be good to introduce Auggie and Baxter before the party?” my mom asks.
“I was planning on it. I guess he’s been busy.” I don’t want to say anything to the moms about him asking Melissa to move out. That’s his news.
Speak of the devil. I can see through the front door’s window that Auggie’s waiting outside. I let him in and notice that he’s taking in the changes since the last time he was here. He must have realized the moms were here after seeing their vehicles in the driveway.
I start, “Hey, Aug. This is Baxter. Baxter, this is Auggie.” Baxter walks over to us and holds his hand out to Auggie, who shakes it.
“Nice to finally meet you,” Auggie says. “River has told me all about you. Thanks for taking care of her when I wasn’t there.”
“It really wasn’t hard. This girl is tough as nails.” Baxter wants to say something else, but I know he won’t, not in front of our mothers.
Auggie looks at me. “Yeah, she is. It was nice to finally meet you, but I need to borrow River for a minute to talk about one of our cases. I’ll see you tomorrow. I’ll be over to help with some of the other things that need to be done.”
“No problem. I have my hands full with these three.” Baxter jabs his hand over his shoulder at the three mothers watching our exchange. “And if you want to thank me, bring me some good beer tomorrow. Our girl bought me shitty beer.”
“Will do.” Auggie smirks.
Chapter 29
Auggie
I grab River’s hand and pull her back into the backyard.
“I know you’re out right now, but I need to run something by you. You know when we investigated that lead last week?” She nods. “Well, we had a witness come in. They want to make a statement, but they want to speak with you. I hate to ask, but I feel like if we don’t do this now, we may lose this lead.”
She squeezes my hand. “Let me jump in the shower really quickly and change. It shouldn’t take me more than twenty minutes.” She goes to walk into the house, but I pull her back.
“I asked Melissa to move out last night.”
I can see she is shocked, which makes me realize how much I have failed her. Mackey was right. I need to get my head out of my ass.
Melissa and I still haven’t talked about when she’ll move out. By the time I got home last night, she still wasn’t home. I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders; I’m making the right decision.
“How did she take that?” she asks.
“You worried about me, River?” I tease.
“I’ve always worried about you,” she retorts gently. “Especially when it comes to her.”
“She took it better than I thought she would, but we didn’t get to get into the details. The captain called about this witness, and Ihad to go in. That’s why you didn’t hear from me last night. I was too busy trying to get them to talk.”
She’s smiling. I feel like puffing my chest out, like I’ve done something right for the first time in a long time. I’m going to show her she’s the top priority in my life, even if I have to remove Melissa from my life completely. I know Melissa was there for me, but if I don’t, I will lose River, and I’m not willing to do that. Not again.
I finally feel like the void I felt for the last five years is being filled, and I won’t jeopardize that again. The more time I spend with River, the more my feelings return, stronger even than before.
We haven’t kissed again; I’m taking this at her pace. I want to be intimate with her, but I want to build our foundation on friendship, to repair and rebuild the trust that she needs. I’ll wait until she’s ready. I’m a patient man.
