Chapter 8 Lexi
LEXI
Aiden and I spend an hour walking the eastern boundary line, and every single marker shows signs of being moved. We try to find the original marker holes, but with the overgrown woods and grass, it’s impossible to spot them.
The Baxter sisters own only a small holding, and smaller landholders split the rest of the eastern boundary.
It doesn’t make sense that one of them would move the entire line. It’s one more thing to ask my lawyer about when I meet him this afternoon.
We still have an hour before the meeting, and Aiden had the good sense to pack sandwiches and a hot flask of coffee.
We eat lunch on the crumbling steps of the house, and I’m not sure which is the better view: the man sitting next to me or the majestic mountain behind him.
Both of them make me feel strange; alive and insignificant all at once, like there’s a bigger power at play here, something I don’t understand.
I don’t believe in fate. My life’s too shitty for that.
But with the brooding mountain looking down on us and Aiden chatting as he pours me hot coffee from a flask, his dimple peeking out of his stubble, it’s hard not to be drawn to this place.
I close my eyes for a moment and let myself dream.
What if Mom didn’t need me back in Jersey?
What if I had finished my studies? What if I didn’t have to work?
What if I could be a carefree girl like my mom was when she came through here twenty-three years ago?
When she met a man and had a fling. Except instead of running, what if I stayed?
The thought hits my heart with a jolt, and my eyes fly open to see Aiden peering at me, and I stand up abruptly.
“Let’s check out upstairs.” I turn away from him and head into the house, shaking off the thought.
I can’t stay. It’s not an option. I’m not passing through like my mother. I have responsibilities and studies, and things to do with my life. I will not repeat her mistakes.
Aiden follows me inside and to the staircase. “I haven’t been upstairs yet.”
The staircase is ornate with a crimson patterned carpet. I put my hand on the banister, about to take a step when Aiden pulls me back.
“There might be rotten wood underneath. I’ll go first.”
I wonder if I’ll ever stop being surprised at his care and concern.
It’s been a long time since anyone has taken such consideration for my well-being.
Certainly not since Mom’s drinking habit became more important than putting food on the table.
Luckily, I was fourteen by then and able to fend for myself.
I lied about my age and got a cash-only delivery job.
I never told Mom, and I hid the money from her so I could buy food.
So when Aiden offers to go up the stairs ahead of me, it hits me more than it should.
He’s kind and protective, and my love-starved heart is falling for him harder than it should.
That was most clear when I became a jealous monster at the mention of the Baxter sisters’ honey cakes.
I never knew I was the jealous type, but then I never knew I was the type to let a man do wicked things to my body after only knowing him an hour either.
I’m learning a lot about myself with Aiden around.
He takes the stairs slowly, testing each step for stability before moving to the next.
“Step where I step,” he tells me as I follow him up.
The floorboard creaks at the top of the landing, and we’re faced with four wooden doors.
“Where do you want to look first?” Aiden asks, and I guess it’s because he’s going to go in first, again protecting me. Although what could be behind the doors to hurt me, I’m not sure.
“That one.”
I point at the closest door, and Aiden opens it.
The stench of animal makes my nostrils flare. In the center of the room is a wire-framed bed, and judging by the torn-up bedding and pile of unidentified animal feces, something has made its home here.
The only other furniture is a chair by the window.
“Must be a spare bedroom,” Aiden says as he pulls the door closed.
The next door is much the same. The third door has a desk with papers that something has chewed through, which means the last door must be the main bedroom.
It’s dark when we open the door, with the thick curtains pulled closed. Aiden opens them, sending dust into the air and making me cough.
An ornate wooden bed stands against one wall. The covers are thick with dust. Thankfully, no animals have moved in here.
I may not have known my father, but I still get an eerie sensation as I enter his bedroom.
There’s a book on the bedside table, along with a pair of reading glasses. A robe hangs over the back of a chair, and a pair of slippers are tucked under the foot of the bed.
Whoever my father was, when he last woke up in this room, he didn’t realize it was his last day on earth. He expected to come back here.
Sadness washes over me for the man I never met. Aiden must see it in my face, because he slides an arm around me and squeezes my shoulders.
“Hey, we don’t have to do this if you don’t want to. We can get a company to clear all this out for you.”
That would be the simplest thing to do. To clear away the belongings of a man I never knew. But he was my father. I’m curious about the man who slept here. Who lived his life in this town. Did he ever think of me? Did he wonder what his daughter was doing as he sat in his house alone?
“I want to take a look around.”
I pull open the top drawer of his dresser. There’s a comb and a box of tissues, and at the back, pushed into the corner, is a leather-bound notebook. I pull it out and run my fingers over the cover. It hasn’t gathered dust like the rest of his belongings.
Opening the notebook, I see writing scrawled across the pages in black ink. My father’s handwriting. It’s neat, written on the lines of the notebook in an old-fashioned style where the letters run together, making it hard to read. I pick up words and phrases.
I saw the hawk again.
Thunder rolling down the mountain.
My father’s thoughts, recording the environment around him. An insight into his world, his careful attention to the local wildlife and weather.
The noise of a car engine has my head jerking up, and Aiden peers out the window and frowns.
“We’ve got company.”
I slip the notebook back into the drawer and cross to the window. A black Audi with dark windows has pulled up next to Aiden’s SUV. The car doors open, and two men in identical black suits step out.
“Maybe the lawyer’s meeting was here?”
Aiden shakes his head. “That’s not Mark’s car.”
He moves toward the door, and I follow him down the stairs, wondering who the hell is coming onto my land.