Page 82 of Fight For Us
Mia:Why don’t you ask Wes?
I licked my dripping cone and responded.
Me:Ask Wes what? He’ll have to help Lilly with her project.
Mia:Ask him to be on Alex’s family tree :)
Mia:You are married… it wouldn’t be that weird.
I could do that. But would Wes be uncomfortable? I’d never want to put him on the spot.Finishing my cone, I finally answered back.
Me:I’ll talk to him. But… I don’t think that’ll keep Alex from asking questions. And I haven’t told Wes everything yet either. I don’t know if I’m ready to open up like that. Not yet.
Mia:I understand. Crap, I gotta go. Sorry, am walking into a meeting. See you in class later?
Me:Yeah I’ll be there.
I snapped a pic of the kids with their ice cream and hit send.
Me:BTW Cone Cove is amazing… you weren’t kidding.
A few minutes went by before she replied.
Mia:OMG JEALOUS!
“Ready to go kiddos?” I asked once I slipped my phone back into my purse.
“Can we go to the beach?” Lilly asked.
“No, not the beach. The arcade. Please, Mom. I’ll do extra chores.”
“How are you going to do chores in your cast?” Lilly asked, hand on her hip. “Wait, nevermind, I want the arcade, too. Pretty please, Olivia. I’ll do his chores and extra.”
I laughed at how they totally outnumbered me, but in the best way. “Okay, arcade for an hour. Once I’m out of cash, that’s it.” I looked at Alex. “No begging for more credits.”
They whooped and got up to toss their trash while a wave of gratitude washed over me.
Wes had taken a rare Saturday off to go look at houses and Alex was going with him. In his words, he needed a house picking wingman. I would have gone too, but I had plans with Lilly for our girls’ day.
I watched from the bathroom vanity as Wes ran a brush through his hair and grabbed a baseball cap, putting it on backwards. That was new and I didn’t hate it. Not at all.
“Has Lilly talked to you about the big project they have at school?” I asked, putting on some mascara.
He wrapped his arms around my waist from behind and kissed my neck. “No, I don’tthink so. Why?”
“It’s kind of a big deal. Worth a chunk of their grade. It’s a family tree project.” And the pit I thought had left was back in my stomach.
“Sounds cool,” he said. “Except that her unfortunate mother’s side will have to be included.” He grabbed his deodorant from the counter and swiped some on under his shirt. I loved the smell… Cedar and sandalwood.
“Yeah, about that. I wanted to talk to you about something.” He capped his deodorant and turned to me, studying my face with his deep eyes.
“Anything,” he said.
“You know how I told you Alex’s father has never been in the picture?” He nodded and I went on, that stupid pit feeling like it weighed a ton. “Well, that’s not the full story.”
I focused my gaze on my tube of lipgloss, turning it around in my palm. “I’m listening, Tiger.”
Sighing, I finally met his gaze. “The truth is, I don’t know who he is.”
