27. Lexie

Chapter 27

Lexie

I 'd been avoiding Oliver like the plague since our last fight. I knew I couldn't avoid him forever, though, so when he texted me asking to meet him at the cabin, I obliged. I was a bit surprised, however, when Gillian dropped me off and Oliver was sitting on the steps, looking disheveled.

"Oliver?" I walked up to him. "What are you doing?"

"I've been here all night," he said hoarsely. "I need to talk to you, Lex. Please."

His eyes were so big and hopeful, so exhausted and desperate, I couldn't deny him.

"All right," I said softly, walking up the steps and unlocking the door. Oliver followed me inside, sighing in what sounded like relief.

"Lex, I'm so sorry," he said mournfully, and I swallowed hard.

"Sorry? Is that all you have to say to me?"

"My father—" he started, but I cut him off.

"Your father told me that he was the one who told you that I was seeing Tristan. That doesn't matter, Oliver. You never should have believed it."

"He's my father. I thought he knew what was best for me," he insisted. "I... I was stupid and jealous and I'm sorry. I can't tell you how sorry I am."

I crossed my arms over my chest. "What do you want from me, Oliver? Forgiveness? So that we can be friends?"

"I don't want to be friends," he said in a low tone, stepping closer to me. I didn't move away even though my brain was screaming at me to do just that. "You're family, Lex. You always have been."

"You're the one that said you wanted to be friends, remember?" I retort, trying to keep my tone cold but having a hard time doing it.

"It was a stupid thing to say," he said simply, and I snorted out a laugh. "I was acting jealous and not thinking clearly, the same way I was back then, but it's only because I love you so much, Lex."

I froze. That was exactly what Dick would say when he criticized my weight or my clothes or the way I did things. It's just because I love you so much, Alexandra.

"I can't do this," I said as I stepped away from Oliver. "I need you to leave."

"Lex," he pleaded, but I'd made up my mind, my heart aching.

"We can be civil," I continued. "We can co-parent, but we're not friends, Oliver. We never were. And we aren't anything else, either."

"Please." His words were soft, his brown eyes wide and filling with tears. My heart clenched in my chest, but I opened the door and ushered him out.

He kept staring at me from the doorway, and finally, I shut the door in his face.

I leaned against it, sliding down to the floor as I began to sob.

All I'd ever wanted was for Oliver Stanhope to want me. To love me. To be his.

But after all we'd been through, how could that ever be my dream again?

I sat outside on the bench, waiting for the bus. I didn't want to spend extra money on a ride-share app, and Gillian was at her job with her car. My mother had begged me to go to lunch with her and had offered to pick me up, but I wanted to be able to leave if I needed to.

I wasn't thrilled at the idea of having lunch with her but I knew I should give her a chance.

I was nervous as hell. My mom had never been very close to me. She had done everything with my sister. Seeing her again made me feel like the same sad, rejected kid.

When I arrived at Joe's Diner, she was already sitting down. She stood up and waved at me when I walked in and I smiled weakly, sliding into the seat across from her.

"You look great, Lexie," she said. My mother was the person who had given me the nickname and it made my heart clench to hear her say it.

"Thank you," I mumbled. We ordered our drinks and entrees at the same time because we'd been coming to Joe's for years and knew the menu front and back.

"I'm so glad you were willing to meet up," she said, smiling. "It's been so long since you've been close enough to visit."

I nodded slowly. "It's good to see you, Mom. "

"You said on the phone there was something you wanted to tell me?"

I licked my lips nervously. "There is." I put a hand on my stomach. "I think I'm going to move away from Wagontown pretty soon." I put my hand on my belly.

She froze. "What?"

Her face was expressionless.

"I'm due in August," I told her. "I want to have my new life sorted out by then."

"What about Ollie?" she asked flatly.

I drew in a deep breath through my nose. "He still doesn't trust me. I just can't do this with him breathing down my neck. He can come visit our child once in a while if he wants."

"Oliver?" she gasped. "That doesn't seem like him. He was always crazy about you and he has a son now, so he understands what parenting is all about."

"We're not together," I said quickly. "He doesn't love me."

"But you're pregnant. Lexie, how could you do that to him?"

I stared at her. "How could I what?"

"Why would you keep your child from its father? That's just cruel."I sighed. This felt like so many other of our conversations. I felt the old bitterness creeping up."Mom, you just don't actually care about me, do you? You're always thinking of someone else. It's always that I'm inconveniencing everyone else."

" This is going to ruin your life, Lexie."

I stood up, not caring that the food hadn't arrived. "Great, Mom. Really great. Thanks."

"Lexie, sit back down. I?— "

"You don't get to tell me what to do. Not here, and not about this baby," I snapped. "You've never been there for me. Never. When Oliver and I broke up and I cried myself to sleep every night, all you could talk about was how I wasn't doing as well as Gillian."

"Lexie…"

"Stop it, Mom. You don't even know me. You shouldn't even call me by my nickname. I reserve that right for friends."

"Oh, really? I'm the one who named you, aren't I?"

"That's about all you did." I sneered and stalked out of the diner, walking quickly to the bus stop.

Mom didn't bother to follow me. Typical.

I closed my eyes tightly against the tears but they started to fall anyway. I called the only person I could think of that might help me. I couldn't get on the bus while sobbing.

"Hello?" Tristan answered, and I choked back a sob.

"Can you come pick me up from the bus stop near Joe's?" I managed, my voice shaking and thick.

"Lex, of course. What's wrong?"

"Just please come get me," I pleaded.

"Of course. Be there in a minute."

Tristan hung up the phone and I broke down, putting my head in my hands and sobbing into them.

He arrived within ten minutes. He ushered me to the car, opening the door for me.

"What happened?" he asked when he got into the driver's seat.

"I had lunch with my mother," I deadpanned, and Tristan snorted.

"That'll do it."

He knew how much my mother and I had fought when I was a teenager. At least my dad mostly ignored me. My mother was always criticizing me. God, when I thought about it, Dick was the same way.

Everything I did was always under scrutiny.

"How are your parents?" I asked, trying to change the subject. But I already knew that Tristan and his parents didn't get along, either.

He shrugged. "I guess they're doing okay. I don't speak to them anymore."

I took in a shaking breath. "I'm beginning to think I never should have started talking to Mom again."

He nodded. "I can understand that."

"Could you take me to the Pig? I need to pick up my check."

"Of course," he said easily, smiling at me. "You know, Oliver called me."

My eyes widened. "He did?"

"Yeah. We had a beer together. He apologized to me," he admitted.

"That's... that's crazy," I murmured. I didn't think Oliver had it in him to admit he was wrong, to Tristan, of all people.

"I forgave him," he said quietly. "And I think you should, too."

"Tristan," I started just as we arrived at the Pig. I put the rest of it on hold because he wanted to come in with me to order food. I realized I was starving since I had left Joe's before my food came.

I knew I looked terrible, my eyes puffy, but Raoul didn't say a word. He just smiled at me as Tristan and I sat down at the bar.

"What'll it be?"

"A ginger ale and ten wings. With sweet potato fries, please," I ordered quickly .

"Sure thing, sweetheart. I'll put it under your employee discount." He looked to Tristan. "And for your boyfriend?"

Tristan laughed. "Not a boyfriend. Just a best friend." He put an arm around my shoulders and squeezed before ordering himself a burger and regular fries along with a soda.

He still had his arm around me when Oliver came out of the office. He froze when he saw us, and my heart started to pound.

I had no idea what he would do. I had to admit, it scared me to death the way he went after Tristan last time. Dick was a violent man beneath the surface, and he'd been scary at times, too.

I didn't want that for me and Oliver, I didn't want to be afraid of him.

To my relief, Oliver just smiled and walked toward us, sitting next to Tristan.

"The Three Musketeers, back together again," he said happily, glancing at me for a brief second.

I sighed in relief. He was acting civil about this, even like we were all friends again.

I felt Tristan tense up when Oliver first approached but he quickly relaxed when Oliver sat next to him.

"I can't believe you bought the Pig," he groaned. "You took out all the dank and dive out of this place."

"Isn't it so much better, though?" Oliver replied.

"I miss the dank," Tristan teased, and Oliver laughed out loud.

God, it was good to see them like that. It made my heart soar. I hadn't seen Oliver and Tristan together as friends in so long.

"When am I going to be Uncle Tristan?" he asked, smiling at me, and I put a hand on my stomach .

"August."

"I can't wait. A summer baby."

I groaned. "I'm going to be so big and miserable in the heat."

"I'll make sure the air conditioner is working great by then," Oliver said. He cleared his throat. "Speaking of that... there's an issue with the breakers at the cabin. I'd like to take a look, if that's okay. I figured you'll be coming back from your sister's place soon, to start preparing the nursery and stuff."

Tristan stared at Oliver, grinning. There was some telepathic connection going on between them and I narrowed my eyes.

"What are you two up to?"

"No good," they said in unison, like they always did before, and we all laughed.

We ate and chatted for a while, teasing Tristan about his love for old vinyl albums and even older cars, then started throwing out baby names.

"What about Adam?" Oliver asked. "After my grandfather."

"That's perfect," I breathed, smiling at him. He smiled back, causing that dimple in his cheek to pop out.

"If it's a boy, that is," I said. I looked away, flushing. I couldn't help that I was still so attracted to him.

I cleared my throat. "I should head home," I said.

Oliver sighed. "Yeah, me too. I need to pick up Trent."

"How's his fever?"

"Much better, thanks," Oliver said, giving me a little half-smile.

Tristan looked between me and Oliver. "Am I interrupting something? "

"Absolutely not," I said at the same time Oliver replied, "maybe."

I groaned and stood up. "You're not interrupting a thing, Tristan," I said, glaring a little at Oliver, his face falling. I felt a little bad and softened. "Let me know when you want to look at the breakers. Can I get my check?"

"Oh. Yeah, of course," Oliver muttered. He headed to the office then returned with my paycheck. After another round of goodbyes, Tristan and I left the bar, heading back to the cabin.

We sat on the porch for a while, catching up, and it felt like old times all over again. I was getting back some of the things I lost all those years ago, and it felt good.

The only thing missing was Oliver.

But could I forgive him?