Chapter 12 #3
“Nope. Axel and Maisie are. Apparently there’s some other animated trilogy he plans on watching with the kids. They’re going to stay up in the owner’s suite now that they’re finally moving in. Is that okay with you?”
“Are you kidding? A kid-free night for us and some of our best friends taking care of our them? Uh…yeah. I’m totally fine with it.”
“Excellent.”
They ate and talked, and Annabeth asked if she should tell the truth at school tomorrow about why she wasn’t there today. It was a very mature question, and Lexi sat back and waited to see how Connor was going to handle it.
“Tomorrow’s my carpool day, so I’ll come in and talk to your teacher,” he told her. “But it’s up to you if you want to talk to your friends or even a guidance counselor about it.”
She nodded.
“Can I have more mac and cheese?” Jonah asked.
“Of course! Here, let me get it,” Lexi told him just as there was a knock at the door. She glanced at Connor. “Is that dessert?”
Chuckling, he got to his feet. “Not that I know of, but maybe the gang wanted to surprise us with something. You know they’re not always great with boundaries.”
Her bark of laughter was a little too loud. “Sorry, but…are you seriously picking on everyone else’s issues with boundaries? You? The one who didn’t last even ten minutes with staying away when I arrived here?”
“Well…”
Another knock.
“I need to get that. I’ll be right back.” He walked away, but he was laughing.
She gave her son another spoonful of the mac and cheese, and Annabeth asked for more as well. But when Lexi glanced toward the door, she almost dumped the spoonful on the table.
The Winslowes were there.
Son of a bitch…
“Lexi,” Annabeth whispered anxiously as she sunk down lower in her chair, breaking Lexi’s heart.
Stepping around her, she gave her shoulders a gentle squeeze. “Don’t worry. I’ve got you,” she said softly before walking to the door and joining Connor.
Luckily, he realized what was happening, and the two of them stepped out onto the porch with his parents.
“Good evening, Lexi,” his mother said, sounding nicer than she’d heard in a long time.
Like the way she used to sound before she forced the two of them to break up.
“Mrs. Winslowe, Mr. Winslowe,” she greeted cordially.
“What are you doing here?” Connor asked them. “I thought you’d be long gone by now.”
“We really just wanted to talk, but you haven’t answered your phone all day,” his father said.
“Yeah, I know. That’s because I didn’t want to talk to you. I would have thought it was obvious.”
“Connor, we’re both so sorry,” Mrs. Winslowe said. “For everything. All day we’ve been thinking about what could have happened to Annabeth and…and I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to forgive myself. She means the world to us, and knowing that we scared her to the point that she ran away…”
“Everything just got out of control,” Mr. Winslowe added. “We thought we were doing the right thing, but I guess we lost sight of what was important somewhere along the way.”
That was putting it mildly, Lexi thought.
“You’re damn right you did,” Connor firmly told them. “You already pushed me away with the things you did and the decisions you made, so why would you want to do that to Annabeth? She’s just a child! Do you realize what could have happened to her today? And it would have been all your fault!”
His mother burst into tears again, and as much as Lexi didn’t want to admit it, they seemed legit.
Dammit.
She was weakening, but beside her, Connor was beyond tense. As much as she wanted to tell him to relax a bit, this was his moment. She had hers earlier.
“We’re very sorry, son,” his father said meekly. “All this time we thought we knew best because often we just did.”
“In business,” Connor reminded him. “The two of you are great with business, but I’m not a corporation or an organization. I’m your son. Your child. And I cannot even imagine ever doing to Annabeth what the two of you have done to either of us.”
For a moment, Lexi considered chiming in, but instead she reached for Connor’s hand and simply held it.
“We would love the opportunity to apologize to Annabeth,” his mother said, her voice trembling. “I promise we won’t stay long; we’d just like the chance to tell her we’re sorry and that she has nothing to fear from us.”
Connor looked at Lexi, wordlessly asking what she thought. He looked utterly torn.
However, she could still hear his daughter’s words from this morning, and there was no way she was going to let these people traumatize her a second time in twenty-four hours. Maybe she was overstepping, but she didn’t care.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Lexi began carefully. “Annabeth’s had a very emotional day, and I think this is something that should be revisited in a few weeks.” She glanced at Connor and saw the nod of approval.
Whew!
“Lexi’s right. I think we all need to take a step back and let the dust settle, so to speak. Besides, tonight’s a family night, and you interrupted our celebration.”
Both parents looked at them with interest, but all Lexi could think was, Oh, no. What are you doing, Connor? They were almost gone!
“Oh? Are you celebrating Annabeth being safely found?” Mr. Winslowe asked.
“No. We’re celebrating the fact that I asked Lexi to marry me and…” He paused and looked at her with a grin before returning his attention to his parents. “Actually, the three of us—me, Annabeth, and Jonah—proposed to Lexi. She’s agreed to be my wife. Finally.”
Unable to help herself, she smiled confidently and was ready for whatever snobbish words were about to be thrown her way.
Instead, they both looked at her and smiled.
Seriously?
“We wish you both nothing but happiness,” Mrs. Winslowe said with…
kindness. “We seriously misjudged you, Lexi. You not only love our son, but our granddaughter too, and in a way that Rachel never did. What you did today was completely selfless, and it’s obvious that our granddaughter cares for you very much. ”
“Um…thank you. Yes, I adore Annabeth, as I told you earlier.” She squeezed Connor’s hand. “And your son, obviously. I’m just glad that we’re finally able to start our lives together.”
“We’d very much like to get to know you better,” his mother went on. “When you’re ready, of course. We won’t bother you or pressure you. When the two of you feel you want to test the waters with us again, we’ll be there. And we really hope that you will. In time.”
“Thank you,” they murmured in unison.
They all stood in awkward silence for several long moments before Connor spoke again.
“Well, the kids are inside and we were finishing dinner, so…drive safely and…take care.”
Both parents looked like they wanted to hug him, but he refrained. Although she knew they deserved it, she still felt a little bad for them. They looked small and defeated as they walked away.
“Wow,” she said when they were out of earshot. “That was…a lot.”
“I know. And I’m sorry they interrupted our celebration.” He placed a soft kiss on her cheek. “But let’s go back inside and finish the night strong. I have a surprise dessert waiting.”
She gasped softly. “You do? What is it?”
“One of your favorites,” he said seductively.
And she knew. “Chocolate mousse?”
“Yup.”
“A man after my own heart.”
Playfully, he tugged her close. “I thought I already had your heart.”
“Oh, you do, but it’s nice to know that you want to hold on to it.” This time, she kissed him.
There was a loud crash from inside the cabin, and they knew their ten seconds of romance were officially over.
Opening the door, he asked, “Shall we?”
Nodding, she agreed. “We shall.”