Frustrated, I slipped my phone in my pocket and headed out. Passing the factory floor, I looked around, wondering how someone had infiltrated my business. So I called Bill back and told him to look into this current mess rather than watch Bexley.
Of course, he was already bitter about just being fired.
“Isn’t that Doug’s job?” he said snidely.
Yeah, except he’s watching me for Dad ... instead of trying to get this all cleared up.
Someone was fucking with my business. It should have been my priority, but Bexley had been waiting longer.
Just as I slipped into my car, my phone buzzed with a text.
BEXLEY: At the Beanery. 30 minutes.
I started my car, feeling like a winner.
Bexley
“Mom, you okay? You look tired,” Piper said as she finished her toast. The kids were home, and as much a salve to my bleeding heart as they were a knife.
And now I looked like shit to meet Aston. I’d wanted to have the upper hand, or at least feel like I did. A quick glance down at my jeans revealed a hole in the knee. Whatever, they’d have to do with my plain white tank and pale blue cardigan.
My outfit echoed how I felt.
Blue. Pale blue. Neither bright nor vibrant. And bland with a gaping hole in the middle of my heart.
“I’m fine, baby. Just a lot on my mind. Don’t you worry.”
“Love you,” she said, her blue eyes blazing back at me, taking me in, deciding whether to believe me or not.
I brushed her dark blond hair behind her ear and kissed her cheek. “Right back at ya, doll. Swear, I’m just tired.”
She seemed to buy it, because then she hollered from the kitchen down the hallway, “Let’s go, Tyler. I can’t be late.”
Poor Tyler, he was slower than a turtle in the morning. It took him longer to pee and brush his teeth than it took Piper to go through her whole teenage-girl beauty routine.
“Coming,” he called, clunking into the kitchen.
I walked the two of them to the bus, the sound of my flip-flops slapping against the concrete mixing with their sibling banter, distracting me from my yo-yoing thoughts.
After waving good-bye, I ran to pee again—it was a bad habit of mine when I was nervous, especially after having kids. Laughing at myself as I pulled up my jeans, I wondered what Aston would think of this. Surely, he’d be turned off.
I wouldn’t be so hot after all ...ha.
I dreamed up a thousand excuses why I couldn’t meet him while washing my hands and grabbing my tote. Then I got in my car.
Wanting to arrive after him, I drove around the block at least ten times, killing time and making excuses not to go at all. Finally, I parked and went into the Beanery.
“Hey,” Aston said huskily, waiting inside the door wearing a navy suit and a light blue shirt.
He looked dapper, except when I took another look at his face. Up close, he appeared about as tired as I felt, maybe even more. For a moment, my heart shattered for him.
“Hi,” I said quietly.
He took my elbow and guided me to the counter. After I ordered a triple Americano and he got a black coffee, he asked, “Something to eat?”
I shook my head. It was awkward and stilted between us. How could I eat?
“Did you take your kids back home?” I asked while we waited for my beverage.
