He’d tried to resist her, tried his best to take the high road for five whole days and four endless nights.
Tonight, though. Impossible.
So to hell with the high road. He wanted her. She wanted him. It was only one more night. He needed it—another night, a second night minus all the pain and the sadness. A purely happy night to add to that other night he would never forget.
Really, what could it hurt? He was leaving early in the morning. By Christmas—when the family would no doubt insist they share the cottage once again—tonight would be only a memory. One both of them would do their best to forget.
Yeah. It would all be just fine.
They had to stop at the barn door to give the coat-check guy their tickets. He came back with their heavy coats—and shiny black knee-high rubber boots for her, the kind made to fit over her sexy high-heeled shoes. He thought of that night at the first of the year, of the two of them at the side of the road. She’d had no rubber boots that night. For his sake, she’d gotten mud on her pretty satin shoes.
They left the barn and set out along the dirt road to the circle of small houses, each with a tree shining bright in the front window. The sky overhead, thick with stars, was clear of clouds for once, the same midnight blue as her dress. A crescent of moon glowed down at them.
The road was lumpy, dotted with frozen clumps of mud and dirty snow. They wrapped their arms around each other and forged ahead, laughing.
At the cottage, they waited until they got inside to fall all over each other. He slammed the door behind him and grabbed her. She grabbed right back and shoved her mouth up to his.
He took those beautiful, plump lips of hers, kissing her like a starving man as he ripped off his own coat, dropped it on the floor and shoved hers off right after it.
They left a trail of rubber boots, shoes, socks and coats behind them as they headed for the small square of hallway. Kissing madly, stopping mid-step to pull off some random article of clothing, they grabbed each other tight again, crashing together in another long, hot kiss before taking yet another step.
In the hallway, she fisted the lapels of his suit jacket. Moaning as she kissed him, she yanked him backward through the open door of her room. Halting on the rug beside the bed, she pulled back and demanded, “Condoms?”
“Wallet,” he growled. Unfortunately, his wallet was in the inside pocket of his winter coat, which they’d left back there by the front door. “And there’s a boxful in my room...”
She kissed him again, hard and quick. “You knew this would happen,” she accused. “You came prepared.”
Well, not consciously. Should he confess—or deny it?
Before he could choose which way to go, she gave him a push. “Get the box.”
He did, returning in seconds flat. She hadn’t wasted a moment. He found her sitting on the edge of the turned-back bed. The curve-hugging blue dress was gone. Now she wore only a black thong and a lacy black strapless bra.
He took three condoms from the box and laid them close at hand as she hooked slender fingers under the waistband of his trousers and opened her legs enough to pull him between them.
She tipped her face up to him, her soft mouth curving in a welcoming smile, those velvet brown eyes so deep, full of promise, ready for anything. “Where were we?”
As if she had to ask. His belt, tie and shirt were already strewn back there on the floor somewhere. She had his pants down in a flash. And then he couldn’t wait. He guided his boxer briefs over his straining erection and shoved them down and off, as well.
Crooking a finger at him, she scooted backward.
He joined her on the bed. She laughed and then she gasped as he caught hold of her. They wrestled briefly; her long, thick hair, pinned up on one side in a tangle of dark curls, got loose and spilled all around them. He needed to wrap a big hank of that hair around his hand, pull her head back, take that mouth again...
In a minute. First, he managed to reach around behind her and unhook her bra.
She shoved at him playfully. “Augh, you’re too quick.”
“Don’t worry. I can be slow when it counts.” He planted a hard kiss on those fine lips and threw the lacy bra over his shoulder.
At last, he had both of those beautiful breasts of hers in his hands, where they fit just right.
And in his mouth.
She moaned in welcome as he palmed one and bit the nipple of the other. How had he lasted this long without grabbing her and manhandling her again?
The way she felt, just as he remembered, all silky and strong, pulling him so close, kissing him like she would never get enough.
He couldn’t get enough of her, either—after tonight, it would be even harder than before to keep from kissing her, holding her, making her his again.
So what? He was here with her now, free to touch her, to hold her, to lick all her secret places. He planned to make her beg, make her shout his name when it mattered most—which was pretty much constantly, for the rest of the night.
She surprised him, getting one foot planted firmly on the bed somehow, giving a good, hard push—and ending up on top. “Ha! Who’s the boss now?” She got right down in his face, her hair tumbling everywhere, sliding against his cheek, pooling on his shoulder.
He stared in those eyes he occasionally—really, not that often—saw in his dreams, deepest brown ringed in amber. “You’re the boss, Alex,” he answered, deadpan. “Be nice.”
That made her laugh—and gave him the advantage. He rolled until he topped her again. And then he kissed her. He took his time about it, sliding a hand down her hair, getting hold of a nice big handful, wrapping it slowly around his fist. Her scent was everywhere, musky and rich.
She whispered, “West,” against his lips, not pleading exactly—not yet.
He had her hair coiled around his hand now, so he used it, tugging her head back with it, letting his mouth wander over the obstinate jut of her chin, down the silky slope of her throat to the delicate curves of her collarbones.
And lower—though not by much. He couldn’t resist detouring for a bit when he reached those glorious breasts again—two handfuls, just right. He palmed them, sucking one and then the other into his eager mouth as she urged him on with soft pants and hungry cries, clutching his shoulders, walking her fingers down the muscles of his back until she could grab his ass and hold on tight.
She whispered, “Yes!” and then she used the word to beg him a little. “Yes, West. Yes, please... Now, West. Oh, please...”
He got moving again, down over her pretty belly and the gentle slope of her mound, so neatly trimmed, a cute strip of dark hair pointing the way to his destination. Taking her sleek thighs in either hand, he lifted them and spread them wide so that he could get his shoulders between them.
She was already so wet, totally ready. But he wasn’t rushing this. He only had this one more night with her. Everything he did with her needed to be savored, thoroughly enjoyed.
So he savored. In depth. At length.
She speared her fingers into his hair, pulling it, pleading with him. “West, come on. I can’t wait any longer. West, I do need you. I need you now. Please. I need you now...”
He really did like it when she begged. It had happened so rarely in his limited experience of her—right now and on that dark night last January. A man had to seize his moment. Carpe diem, for sure. He took his time with her until she came, pulsing so sweetly against his tongue. He kissed her slow and gentle, nipping a little and then using the flat of his tongue, until she went limp with a long, happy sigh.
And then, well, she tasted so good. And she looked like heaven, spread out on the bed for him. He couldn’t resist making her come again. The second time was quicker, yet equally sweet.
What was it about her that revved him up so high? Strength, maybe? Power. She was a force to be reckoned with. But she was kind at the core. And loyal. There was nothing she wouldn’t do for her sisters, her aunt, her nieces and nephews—for his family, too, now. For all the people her people loved.
A queen. That was Alex. Benign and generous—until she had to be otherwise to protect what mattered to her.
“West.” Her voice was soft now. Her fingers stroked, slow and sweet, through his hair. “West, that was...so good. So, so good.”
He looked up into those eyes of hers, the pupils blown wide with pleasure. Her cheeks and upper chest were flushed a sweet rosy hue. Her hair, in dark tangles, spread out on the pillow.
“So good,” she whispered, her eyes droopy. Sated. “Did I mention that already?”
He scooted up a little and pressed a kiss to the tender flesh of her belly as a soft chuckle escaped her.
“Not done,” he informed her. Resting his head between her hip bones, he traced a slow spiral on the silky skin of her upper thigh. “This will take until daylight, at least.”
She sighed. “What time are you leaving for Seattle?”
“I’m out the door at seven.” After they dropped the rental cars off in Hood River, he was riding home in Payton’s giant nine-seater SUV with Payton, the kids and East. The parents would follow in the motor home. Family togetherness. Nothing quite like it—but that was hours away. “We’ve got plenty of time.”
He heard her sigh. She traced the tip of her finger down the bridge of his nose. When she touched his lips, he nipped at her. She giggled like a kid, delighted and free.
And suddenly, he was aching for her, wanting her, needing her.
Rising up, he grabbed for a condom, got rid of the wrapper and rolled it down over his ready length.
She reached for him. He went into her outstretched arms, his breath catching as she pulled him close, one arm easing between them, finding him, guiding him right to where he wanted to be.
“Alex.” A push of his hips and he was there—surrounded by heat and wetness, her body tight and yet giving way, letting him in. “Alex...”
She made soft sounds, hungry, eager sounds. He buried his face in the fragrant curve of her neck. She wrapped her legs around him, pulling him tighter, closer, until he filled her completely.
Holding him, surrounding him, she gave herself up to him. He pulled back enough to watch her eyes as he wrapped his arms around her and rolled them, ending up on the bottom, giving her the control.
“Yes,” she whispered, her hair falling forward as she sat up and folded her legs under her. Tucking her calves close to his sides, skin to skin, she rode him. Her body rocked him as she moved on him. She tossed her head back, all that glorious hair falling in dark coils over the flushed skin of her breasts, along the smooth, strong lengths of her arms.
“I’m close,” he warned.
“Wait. Please...” she begged so sweetly.
“Can’t. Uh-uh. No way...”
She bent close and kissed him, her lips soft. Hot. Inviting.
He took her face between his hands and kissed her right back, spearing his tongue in to meet hers. They groaned together, the sound an echo of pure pleasure inside his head.
“Oh, West.” Her breath on his face, her lips brushing his as she instructed, “Like this. Just like this...”
Holding on by a thread, he caught her lower lip between his teeth and bit down—not too hard, just enough to bring another desperate, needful cry from her, to push her right to the edge. “Now, Alex,” he commanded. “Come, sweetheart. Come now...”
And she did. With a low cry, she threw her head back and let go. Somehow he held out until she hit the crest. After that, it was all over. He lost it completely. Surging up into her, he let go, too.
Sometime later, she flopped down on top of him with a long, happy sigh. He wrapped his arms around her. There was peace, for a little while.
Then, carefully, he rolled and took the top position. With care, he withdrew and got up to dispose of the condom.
When he returned, she was sitting on the edge of the bed, still naked, grinning. “I was just thinking about ice cream,” she said.
He put on sweats and she grabbed a robe from the back of her bedroom door. They went out to the kitchen, sat at the island and shared a pint of Ben & Jerry’s chocolate chip cookie dough.
Revived, they returned to the bedroom and reached for each other. He needed to make love to her again. And again. They only had this one more night and he refused to waste a single moment.
Sometime before dawn, she fell back against the pillows with a groan. “I’m just going to shut my eyes for a minute...”
He pulled her close and kissed the top of her head. “I wore you out.”
She punched him lightly on the arm. “Braggart.” And then she yawned. Her eyes fluttered shut.
And her breath evened out.
He turned off the light and shut his eyes, too, but not for long. At six, careful not to disturb her, he left the bed. For a few minutes, he crept around, trying to be quiet while he gathered up his clothes from the rug and in the tiny square of hallway and out in the main room. Before he cleaned up and got dressed, he pulled her door shut to keep from waking her.
By 6:55 he was showered, packed and ready to go. He took his big suitcase and laptop out to the main room, leaving them by the front door. Now he debated—leave a note to let her know how amazing she was? Or wake her up and say goodbye?
He hated to wake her, but the note seemed—what? Not enough?
Yeah. That.
He tapped on her door.
“It’s open.”
He pushed it inward to find her sitting against the headboard, the covers drawn up over those fine round breasts. She looked rosy and sleepy, her hair every which way. His dick twitched in his pants.
She asked softly, “On your way out?”
Damn. He was out of control when it came to her, aching to rip off his clothes and jump right back in that bed with her all over again. Why? He’d spent hours last night crawling all over her. He should be more than ready to be on the move. “Yeah. I need to get over to Payton’s.”
She nodded. “Have a safe ride home, West.”
“Thanks.” He gulped. “Alex, I...”
“Say it.” She gazed at him through lazy, satisfied eyes.
“I left the key in the utility drawer.”
“Okay...”
“Also...”
“I’m listening.”
“I loved it,” he said flatly.
One of her eyebrows hitched up and she looked at him sideways. “You don’t sound like you loved it.”
“It’s only...”
“What?” Now she was the one speaking with zero inflection.
“Well, we shouldn’t have. We broke our own rule. I feel pretty bad about that.” Did he? Really?
Not in the least.
But he did feel strangely desperate.
The truth came at him like a runaway train. I don’t want to go.
What in the ever-loving hell was happening here?
He’d never been the guy who didn’t want to go. “We just have to be...smarter, that’s all.”
She wore a thoughtful expression—and even that turned him on. “Smarter,” she repeated, frowning a little.
Why did she have to look at him like that? She was driving him crazy, sitting there in the tangled bed, naked under the covers, her hair all over the place, looking all kinds of hot and cuddly and...right.
“West.” The frown vanished. It morphed into a slow, drowsy smile.
He folded his arms across his chest to keep from reaching for her, to stop himself from jumping back into that bed with her.
Lazily, she yawned and slowly brought up her hand to cover her mouth. He just stared. She was yanking his chain, he knew that. He resented her for doing that.
At the same time, well, she could yank his chain all she wanted. As long as she let him...
What?
Hold her again, kiss her some more...
Spend half the day, at least, tucked up nice and cozy, together with her in bed...
She chuckled. “What’s on your mind, West? You can tell me.”
“Well, I should get going, get over to Payton’s.”
She put a on a pouty face, really hamming it up. “And here I was hoping for a Christmas affair...”
He blinked and all the air fled his lungs. Was she serious?
She’s messing with you, fool, he reminded himself yet again. You’re acting like a spoiled frat boy and Alex Herrera has no patience for jerks.
She might be playing it seductive and teasing, but underneath the teasing he saw...
What?
Annoyance? Anger? Exasperation?
He wasn’t quite sure what to call that look on her face. But she was not happy with him and he couldn’t stand that. His mind spun like a hamster on a wheel as he tried to figure out how to salvage this situation.
The doorbell rang.
And he copped out. “Uh, that’ll be Easton. I have to go.”
She stared at him way too steadily now. “Have a safe trip home, West.” Icicles dripped from every word.
“Thanks.” Spinning on his heel, he made for the front door.
Alex didn’t move a muscle. She heard the murmur of male voices from the other room, followed by suitcase wheels bumping over the threshold and the sound of the front door clicking shut. For a minute or two more, she hesitated, sitting absolutely still until West’s car started up outside.
Only then did she burst into action, shoving back the covers, leaping from the bed. Grabbing her robe off the back of the door, she pulled it on and wrapped it around her as she scooted to the window.
Between the shut blinds, she watched West’s rental car pull to a stop in front of Payton’s cottage. Easton jumped out and climbed in the other rental car. With Payton’s big SUV leading the way, Easton falling in behind her, West behind him and the Wright parents’ motor home taking up the rear, the caravan of vehicles set out.
Once the motor home disappeared from sight, Alex sank back to the bed and buried her face in her hands. “Dear God in heaven. I can’t believe I said that. A Christmas affair?” A whimper escaped her. “What is the matter with me?”
Nothing is the matter with you, she sternly reminded herself as she yanked at the belt on the robe to tie it nice and tight.
It had been a great night. The best night. And this morning, West had flat-out pissed her off. She didn’t need his apologies. He could stuff his regrets right up that fine ass of his.
And when he showed up for Christmas, he could damn well sleep in the motor home with his oversexed parents or get a room at the Heartwood Inn.
She fell back across the bed with a sigh.
Okay, just possibly she was being too hard on him.
Last night had been intense, to say the least. Maybe he’d freaked out a little bit—same as she had just now.
She would try not to hold it against him. So much of the time she’d spent with him the past few days had been great. He’d helped her, he really had. Their talks had her feeling so much better about herself and her future. She owed him for that.
Plus, well, the look on his face when she’d offered to be his lover just for the holidays?
Priceless.
She sat up, laughed and flopped back across the wrinkled sheets again.
Okay, fine. He’d pissed her off, but she still liked him. A lot.
And maybe a few weeks from now, when he showed up for Christmas, she wouldn’t say no to him taking the back bedroom for the holiday.
And here I was hoping for a Christmas affair...
All through the long ride home, as his nephews bickered, demanding potty breaks and/or french fries every half hour, West stared blindly out his side window and thought about Alex and that offer she’d made him.
Did she mean it even a little?
Or was she only mocking him for making an ass of himself over last night?
Alex...
He grinned out the window as they crossed the Columbia River into Washington State. He’d had a really good time with her.
And not just last night, either.
He liked how strong and capable and honest she was. He couldn’t get enough of the way she put it right out there. She was a powerful woman.
And yeah, he was more than a little intimidated by everything about her—but not intimidated enough to stop imagining the great time they could be having if he’d only had the presence of mind to jump right on her offer of a holiday fling.
“Hold that thought,” he should have said, and then informed East that he wouldn’t be driving home with the family, after all.
True, she might have laughed in his face if he’d taken her seriously. So what? He should have gone with it anyway, just on the off chance she’d meant what she said.
A french fry hit him on the cheek—thrown by Penn, who cackled in delight at his own bad behavior and then instantly became contrite, complete with sad, puppy-dog eyes. “Oops. Sorry, Uncle Weston.”
“Settle down, back there,” commanded East from the front seat.
West ate the french fry. “No harm done.”
Alex put on her reindeer pajamas and went back to bed. Why not?
Thanksgiving had been action-packed on so many levels. A day or two lazing around wouldn’t hurt. She got up at eleven, ate a sandwich and thought about West’s suggestion that she adopt a pet. Vaguely, she recalled that Heartwood Animal Rescue had regular pet adoption drives. Would there be one over the holidays?
She looked online and marked the date—this coming Saturday. She might not be having a hot holiday affair with her sister’s husband’s brother—but at least she could find a puppy to love.
At two, as Alex snoozed on the sofa still in her pj’s, someone knocked on the door.
“It’s open!”
Auntie M, looking like a small, gray-haired, female Paul Bunyan in a red plaid Pendleton jacket, black watch cap and old jeans tucked into rubber boots, breezed in and marched right to her. “What’s the matter, honey?”
“Just enjoying my sabbatical from real life.”
Auntie M dropped to the edge of the sofa and put her cold hand on Alex’s forehead. “No fever.”
“I’m fine. As I said, I’m taking it easy.”
“You can talk to me.” Swiping off her watch cap, Auntie M dropped it on the coffee table. “You know that.”
“I do know that. It’s one of the multitude of things I love about you.”
Her aunt bent close and peered at her through squinted eyes. She smelled of hay. She’d probably been out at the horse barn or maybe the rescue barn where Josie currently housed an ancient mule and a family of goats. “You can tell me anything.”
“I realize that. But since I’m fine, there’s nothing to tell.”
“How about some coffee?”
“You want some?” Alex sat up. “I’ll—”
“No, no.” Auntie M gently pushed her back down. “Stay right there.” Auntie M rose and tucked the sofa quilt in around her more securely. “I’m completely capable of making us coffee—or tea? That sounds good, too.”
“Tea sounds perfect.”
So Auntie M hung up her Pendleton and made them tea. As the tea was brewing, Josie appeared. The three of them sat at the table with their cups of Earl Grey and a box of shortbread cookies Alex had bought when she stocked up the pantry. She told them that she’d marked the pet adoption on her calendar.
“You’re getting a pet?” Josie seemed mildly stunned.
“Well, yeah.”
Josie blinked at her. “I’ve just never seen you as someone with a pet.”
“I’m not the walk-out-on-your-job-because-of-a-fortune-cookie type, either.” She made a face at Auntie M. “Or the lie-around-all-day-in-your-reindeer-pajamas type, for that matter.” She sat back and pointed at herself with both thumbs. “But look at me now.”
Josie squinted at her, just as Auntie M had done back there on the sofa. “Are you okay?”
“Fabulous,” she replied much too enthusiastically.
Her sister and her aunt exchanged worried glances. Auntie M said gently, “So much has been going on. We haven’t spent enough time together.”
Alex waved her hand in front of her face. “Don’t be silly. There’s been at least one family event per day since I got here.”
Josie caught Alex’s waving hand, laced their fingers together and gave her a nice, loving squeeze. “Ax,” Josie said, using the name she used to call Alex back when Josie toddled around in diapers just learning to talk. “Come to dinner at our house tonight.” Josie smiled at their aunt. “Auntie M and Ernesto are coming, too.”
“Love to,” said Alex, with a big smile—though a tiny part of her wouldn’t have minded whiling away the evening lying around in her pajamas thinking about having sex with West.
He was just that good at it.
Come to think of it, West was good at a lot of things—including distracting her from the rudderless dinghy that had somehow become her life. She should have appreciated him more while he was here.
That night at the Halstead house, Alex got to hold Davy, who immediately filled his diaper with a serious load. Hazel jumped up and whisked him away.
“Hey!” Alex called to Hazel’s retreating back. “I diapered your stepmom, you know.” Or maybe she hadn’t. She and Josie were only two years apart. “And if I didn’t, I definitely changed the diapers of your aunt Payton...”
“I’ve got it, Aunt Alex,” Hazel called over her shoulder and disappeared down the short hallway that led to the baby’s room.
“Everybody loves Davy,” said Ash with a nonchalant shrug. “We even compete over who gets to change him.”
Alex concentrated on enjoying the evening. Josie made a mean pot roast and Alex really loved seeing how happy her middle sister was with Miles, the girls and the baby. After dinner, they played Monopoly. That went on forever.
They were finally wrapping up when her phone buzzed with a text. She took it out way too eagerly, thinking it might be West—and then remembered that she’d never even gotten his number.
How could that be? She’d shared the cottage with him, spent a spectacular night in bed with the guy—two, counting the night of her sister’s wedding last January—and yet somehow, they’d never thought to exchange numbers.
She glanced at the screen and saw it was someone she’d worked with at KJ&T, one of the associates. As she put the phone back in her pocket, she saw that Auntie M was watching her.
“Everything okay?” her aunt asked.
“Good, yeah. Just a friend checking in. I’ll get back to her later...”
The wind was up and snow was falling when she rode back to Wild Rose with Ernesto and Auntie M.
Inside the guest cottage, she turned on the fireplace, put her Christmas pajamas on and texted back her former colleague, Rita Sevigny.
Hey. Happy slightly late Thanksgiving...
Alex! I was out last week. Just heard today that you left KJ&T. Talk?
She wasn’t close to Rita, but she liked her well enough. She hit the phone icon and Rita picked up. They talked for half an hour. Rita just couldn’t believe she’d walked out like that—and on the verge of making partner, too.
Alex said only nice things about KJ&T and everybody who worked there. She’d already burned her bridges, no need to talk trash on top of taking a blowtorch to her career. Before she said goodbye, she and Rita promised to get together for drinks after Christmas.
Would they, really?
Alex doubted it. Somehow, her life in Portland seemed a million miles away, like a dream now, hazy and unreal.
She stayed up till midnight streaming Bridgerton. When she went to bed, she couldn’t sleep, so she read several chapters of Payton’s second published novel. At 3:00 a.m., when she finally turned out the light, she was feeling more than a little disgusted with herself. Insomnia was a bad look on her, especially considering that she had nothing to stay awake stewing about. Her life was smooth sailing, all systems go.
Tuesday was pretty much a repeat of Monday, though she made herself get dressed before she sat around streaming Ali Wong comedy specials and eating candy canes off the tree. She reasoned that as long as she was dressed, if her sister or her aunt dropped by, she wouldn’t look like a total slacker.
That day, she got two calls from Portland—one from a casual friend and another from a client who couldn’t believe she’d left without reaching out. She chatted with the friend about how she was taking it easy over the holidays. As for the client, she offered confident reassurances that KJ&T would do right by him. During both calls, she kept thinking how far away her old life seemed now. It really hadn’t been that long since she’d walked out on the job. It only felt like years and years.
Dinner that night was at Auntie M’s. Her sister and her aunt watched her too closely all through the meal and afterward, too.
That night, she promised herself she would go to bed early and get up at seven. She kept that promise.
In the morning, after a quick breakfast, she put on a flannel shirt, overalls, the canvas coat she’d had since her junior year at Heartwood High, her old lace-up work boots and a knit hat. Out in the horse barn, she found Clark Stockwell, who had been working at Wild Rose since right after Davy’s birth.
“Hey, Clark,” she said, bending to pet his sweet dog, Big Nose. “Put me to work.”
Clark looked mildly surprised that the lawyer from Portland suddenly couldn’t wait to muck stalls and feed stock. But he didn’t argue. She worked the entire morning. Around noon, she looked up from grooming one of the twins’ ponies to see her aunt striding toward her.
“Lunch at my cottage,” said Auntie M. “Twelve thirty?”
The pony, Deke, snorted and flicked his tail as Alex brushed his flank. “You don’t need to invite me for every meal, you know.”
“Yes, I do. I’m leaving tomorrow.” She and Ernesto were heading back to Salinas for a couple of weeks. They would return before Christmas. “Right now, I want every minute I can get with you.”
What could she say to that? “Same.” They shared a smile. “Twelve thirty. I’ll be there.”
She quickly finished grooming Deke and returned to the guest cottage for a quick shower. Josie’s Jeep was parked at Auntie M’s when Alex headed over there.
The minute she walked in the door Alex knew something was up. From the threshold, she could see straight through to the kitchen. Her aunt and her sister stood at the sink, side by side. They both had that look—like the sound of the door opening had interrupted a discussion, something they didn’t want her to hear.
She pretended she hadn’t noticed anything. Why push it? They would say more than she ever wanted to hear when they were damn good and ready.
They waited until midway through lunch before starting in on her.
Auntie M took the lead, announcing that she’d decided to stick around until after Christmas. Ernesto would return to Salinas alone.
Alex set down her fork with a bite of pasta salad still on it. “You know you want to be with him. And he wants to be with you. Don’t you even waste a minute. Go to Salinas. Come back at Christmas as planned. You won’t be missing a thing here, I promise you.”
Josie spoke up then. “Alex, she’s worried about you—I’m worried, too.”
“Not the worry card.” Alex pushed her plate away. “Please. No, I’m not the most fun anyone ever had lately. But really. I’m doing all right, I really am. I’m getting by, you know, figuring things out...”
Auntie M wasn’t convinced. “You seem downhearted. Especially in the last few days.”
How did they know these things? And if she had to say I’m fine one more time, she just might leap to her feet and run out the door screaming. “I’m managing. I am.”
“Did something go wrong Sunday?” asked Josie. “Since then, you really seem like you’re feeling low.”
Alex glared at her sister. “You don’t want to know.”
“Yes, we do,” they said in unison. It was scary how well her family knew her.
“You keep after me, I’m just going to tell you.”
They only stared at her, waiting. By then, they knew she would give it up. And they were right.
“Okay, it’s like this. You remember my fortune—the one I taped to an index card?”
“Do it now.” Josie put her hand against her heart. “How could we forget?”
Auntie M was ready with the real question. “What, exactly, did you do?”
“Weston,” she said, and watched their mouths fall open in unison. “I slept with West on Sunday night.”