5. Lexie

Chapter 5

Lexie

W hat the hell had I been thinking? Why would I have hooked up with Oliver Stanhope, the guy who put my heart in a blender when I was eighteen? I groaned as I rushed out of the hotel and padded barefoot down the street.

I was absolutely starving, so I decided to go into the local grocery store. Maybe if I stood near the deli looking sad, someone would buy me some chicken. The wings and fries we'd eaten last night were long gone and my stomach rumbled.

I stood quietly by the deli, thinking that I was going to have to call Gillian, as much as I didn't want to. Hers was the only phone number I'd remembered, and I hoped that it was still the right one.

I had one more night in the hotel and I did not want to see Oliver again.

I had to get the hell out of Wagontown before I got my heart broken once more.

As I stood there, an older woman peeked around the corner .

"You okay, honey?" she asked, walking toward me. As she got closer, her faded blue eyes lit up. "Is that little Alexandra Tripp?"

"Lexie," I corrected, narrowing my eyes as recognition washed over me. "Agnes?"

She smiled. "The one and only."

Oh, great. Of course the next person to recognize me in Wagontown would have to be Oliver's maternal grandmother, who he'd practically lived with during the summers.

"You look so great!" I exclaimed, and she did. Her gray hair was long and braided, and she had lost some weight.

She blushed. "You do, too. You grew up so pretty. All that dark hair!" She paused. "Are you here visiting Gilly? She just came in this morning for some steaks. I wondered what the special occasion was."

I shook my head slowly.

Suddenly, I started to feel emotional. I'd had such a long day yesterday, running from my own wedding, and then hooking up with Oliver...

Tears began to fill my eyes and I couldn't stop them from overflowing.

"Honey," Agnes said gently, leading me into a back office. "What's wrong?"

I spilled everything as I sobbed, leaving out my night with Oliver. Agnes listened patiently, an empathetic expression on her face.

"You poor thing," she said quietly. Then she stood up, leaving the room, and returning with a big plate of chicken and dumplings.

I dug in as soon as she handed me the plate. I couldn't help myself. It was delicious and comforting, creamy and soft, and it instantly made me feel better .

"I wish I could offer you a place to stay, but I live in a senior community living center, and they don't allow overnight guests," she said regretfully. "But if a job opens up at the grocery store, I'll call you." She paused. "Do you have a phone?"

I nodded, wiping at my mouth with a napkin she gave me and handing her my phone. She squinted down at it for a moment before putting on her reading glasses and entering her information. She then called herself to save my number in her phone. Pretty savvy for a seventy-year-old woman.

"Agnes, I can't pay you for this right now, but?—"

She waved her hand. "I'm always happy to feed the hungry. Especially someone Ollie used to care about so much." She looked at me curiously. "Have you seen him?"

I stood, ignoring the question. "I should go. I need to call Gillian."

Agnes nodded, standing up and pulling me into a warm hug. I wanted to cry all over again.

"Thank you so much," I whispered, and she smiled at me, giving me one more squeeze before letting go.

I walked out into the parking lot, trying to get myself together before calling Gillian.

"Hello?" she answered on the third ring.

"Gilly?" I said shakily.

"Who is… oh, my God. Lexie? Is that you?"

"It's me," I said, as a hitching sob came from the other end of the line. I felt a wave of guilt rush through me.

"Lexie," she whispered. "I've been trying to find you for so long!"

"You... you have?"

"When we lost touch, I tried and tried to call you. Where are you? Are you safe? "

"I'm in Wagontown," I admitted, tears filling my eyes again. "At the Stop ‘n Go. I'm in trouble, Gilly."

"I'll be there in ten minutes," she said, and promptly hung up the phone.

I sat down on the curb, watching cars drive by as I waited for Gilly. There weren't many.

As promised, Gilly pulled up in a little red Volkswagen about ten minutes later. I stood, squinting to see her through the window. She parked on the street before getting out and running to me, hugging me so tightly my ribs ached.

"Lexie," she sobbed, tears rolling down her face. Her eyes, green just like mine, were full of fondness. "I'm so happy you called."

I hadn't expected that kind of reunion and I wasn't sure how to feel. I suppose I should've been flattered but all I felt was guilt.

"Please, get in. Do you have any luggage?"

I shook my head. "It's... kind of a long story."

"Good thing we have plenty of time."

We drove to her home, which was a little two-bedroom townhouse up on the hill near the water tower. I told her everything along the way. I even told her about Oliver, unable to hold back.

"Jesus, Lex, you've had a rough couple of days."

"You're telling me," I groaned as we walked into her townhouse. It was nice, with pictures of me, Mom, Dad, and Gillian hanging up over the fireplace. I felt even more guilty upon seeing them.

"Lexie, why didn't you call me when he started acting like that? I would have sent you a plane ticket home and have picked you up from the airport."

"I didn't want to bother you," I mumbled, not able to tell her that I'd always felt like I was in her shadow, how she'd always been the golden girl and I was the black sheep.

She stared at me, frowning. "Lex, you wouldn't have been bothering me. I would have been happy to see you, like I am now."

"I'm happy to see you, too," I lied, allowing her to give me another big hug. Maybe I shouldn't be so cruel to Gillian. After all, it wasn't her fault that she was so favored and spoiled.

She finally pulled away and headed into the kitchen, returning with two glasses of white wine.

I took my glass and sipped it gratefully.

"So what are you going to do about Oliver?"

"I don't want to talk about Oliver," I muttered. "I just want to chug this wine and go to sleep. This couch seems comfy."

"No way," Gillian argued. "I have a perfectly good bed in the guest room. It's only a twin, but?—"

"It sounds wonderful," I interrupted her, finishing my wine in a couple of gulps and handing her the empty glass. She took it, smiling at me.

"I'm so glad you're home, Lex."

I didn't have the heart to tell her that I really wasn't home, not for good, anyway. Truth be told, I didn't know where home was anymore.

I thought I might struggle to fall asleep in an unfamiliar place, on a tiny, narrow bed, with feelings of guilt and shame choking me, but I found I could barely keep my eyes open as I snuggled under the covers.

As soon as I fell asleep, I instantly started to dream. Or should I call it a nightmare?

It was more like a memory .

"This isn't working," Oliver snapped. "We're always fighting, and after you did what you did ? —"

"I didn't do anything, Oliver!" I pleaded, clutching at his shirt. He pushed me away, his lips curling into a sneer.

"Like hell you didn't! I saw you and ? —"

"You don't know what you saw, Oliver. You flew off the handle like you always do, and now you're blaming me for something I didn't do!"

"You lied," Oliver said, his voice low, almost a whisper, and the hurt on his face was palpable as he looked down at me. "Just go."

"Oliver—"

"Go!" he yelled, his brown eyes filling with tears. I left, running full tilt across his parent's yard and hopping the fence, sobbing like my heart was broken, because it was.

I woke with a start. I couldn't stay here any longer than necessary. It was around six in the morning when I woke, and I knew that I had to get something going. I needed to go look for a job.

Gillian was thankfully still asleep when I woke, and I felt only a little bad about stealing a pantsuit from her clean laundry basket. She used to steal my clothes all the time when we were teens.

I was going job hunting. In a town like this, being a local meant a lot, and, well, technically I was a local. For now.

God, I had got to get the hell out of Wagontown.