Slow No Wake (17 page)

“God, no,” I said. I looked at Serenity, “Or should that be Goddess no? Anyway, I am not sleeping with Brad. He got together with my sister. And I have never and would never sleep with Mr. LaRoche.”

Trinity grinned. “I noticed you didn’t deny sleeping with Daniel.”

Now I was the one grinning like a cat that ate the canary.

Serenity leaned in and asked, “So, is Daniel as good as I imagine he would be? That man is fine.”

“Oh, yes,” I said.

“Lucky, bitch,” Trinity said. “Oh, and thanks for taking care of Brad for us. We owe you one.”

“Make that two,” Serenity said.




T
om caught me in the hallway on my way back from the restroom a few hours later. “Can I see you in my office, when you have a chance, Lexie?”

I gulped. In my gut, I knew that Tom knew something and was going to confront me about it. I hoped for the best but also braced myself for the worst.

I knocked lightly on Tom’s door and then poked my head in. “You wanted to see me?” I squeaked.

“Come on in and have a seat,
Lexie,” he said as he closed a case file on his desk.

I sat down in a seat across from him. I could feel my heart start beating in my chest, I was so nervous.

“Have you worked much with Mr. LaRoche?” Tom asked as he leaned back in his chair. He tried to make himself look causal but I knew his questioning was anything but.

I gulped. I didn’t want to lie, but I didn’t want to divulge too much unnecessary information. I also realized I didn’t know how much he knew.

“No, not yet,” I answered. If my heart didn’t calm down soon it was going to beat right out of my chest.

Tom raised an eyebrow. I had a feeling he was asking questions he already knew the answer to. “I know Daniel and Ed are roommates,” he said.

I tried to swallow, but my throat had become so dry the act was difficult.

Tom’s gaze grew stark. “And I have a feeling Ed’s face has something to do with you and Daniel.”

Busted.

I glanced down at my hands, which I was now wringing in my lap.

“I’ve been very pleased with your work so far, Lexie,” Tom said. I could hear an implied
but
in there somewhere and I braced myself for the inevitable. I had an awful feeling he was going to fire me on the spot.

“But I also remember what it was like to be in my 20s and negotiating dating relationships.”

When I looked back up at Tom, his face had grown a bit more compassionate. “I’m sorry,” I blurted. I didn’t want to cry in front of my boss, but I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes. “I know I shouldn’t have gotten involved with a co-worker. I understand if you want to let me go. I just hope you’ll consider keeping my sister as a volunteer. She seems to enjoy it, and it gives her a sense of pride that I haven’t seen before.”

Tom rose from his desk, walked around to where I was seated and took the chair next to me. “That’s not what I’m saying,
Lexie. I don’t want to fire you. I’d like for you to stay. I also hope Daniel will stay. I just don’t want any further incidents like what happened to Mr. LaRoche. As much as he may have deserved it—and I’m not condoning violence, or saying that Daniel did it—we cannot tolerate that type of behavior in our employees, even if the incident did take place off of work property. As much as I may disagree with some of Mr. LaRoche’s personal choices, no one deserves to be beaten like that, especially a teacher.”

I nodded in agreement. I didn’t want to tell my boss that for a variety of complex reasons, Eddie allowed himself to be beaten. I was just happy that I still had a job and my boss didn’t seem too concerned about my dating relationship with Daniel.

Tom rose. “Well, I know your caseload is filling up and you’re very busy, so I’d better let you get back to work.”

“Thank you, Tom,” I said as I rose and headed for the door.

“Daniel’s a good guy,” Tom said right before I exited. “I think you made the right choice.”

***

A
t lunchtime, I got a text from Daniel:
Meet me at my car at noon.

Okay
, I texted back and did as I was told.

“Get in,” Daniel said when I arrived. I hopped into the passenger seat without question, even though I was a little curious what he was up to. He got into the driver’s seat and we took off down the road a few blocks. He pulled into a quiet residential cul-de-sac and parked.

“What are we doing here?” I asked, half to him and half wondering aloud.

“I don’t want to lose the bet,” he answered as he leaned over and kissed me. “We’re technically not at work, so I can put my hands all over you, which I couldn’t wait to do, by the way.” He leaned in and gave me another kiss.

“This really isn’t fair,” I said when we took a breath. “I think you should buy me that Italian dinner.”

He kissed that sensitive place on my neck and it immediately sent shivers through me. “Maybe we should come up with a new bet,” he whispered in my ear before he sucked on my earlobe.

“And what’s that?” I managed to squeak out right before I shivered again.

“How about the next one to go in for a kiss buys the dinner?”

“Okay,” I said as I tilted my head and tried to read into his eyes.

He grinned. “What?”

“Is this a trick?”

He shook his head as he leaned in and gave me another kiss. “But you just lost the bet,” I said when we broke.

He grinned. “I know. It was worth it.”

“I have a feeling you wanted to lose the bet.”

“And what would give you that idea?” he asked as he leaned in for another kiss.

***

A
few days later, I was returning from a walk on the beach when I saw Eddie putting boxes in the back of a pick-up truck.

“You’re moving out?” I asked. I couldn’t hide the surprise in my voice. “Daniel didn’t tell me.”

Eddie’s face was healing fairly well but he still had the remains of a cut over his right eye and one on his lips.

“Yeah, it was kind of quick thing. Ricky’s roommate knocked his girlfriend up, so he moved out to live with his baby mama and Ricky asked me if I wanted to move in.”

“That sounds like a Jerry Springer episode,” I said.

Eddie gave me his dimpled smile. I could feel my heart skip a few tiny beats.

“You know you got the better man,” Eddie said.

“I know,” I replied.

“He loves you to the moon and back. Don’t ever break his heart.”

“I will never break his heart.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.”

Eddie bent down, grabbed the last box and placed it in the back of his truck. “I remember the first time I laid eyes on you, you were moving in. I think I fell in love with you somewhere between moving your sofa and bedframe.”

I tried my best to stifle a sob.

Eddie’s gaze met mine. “They say if you really love someone, above all else, you should want to see them happy. You and I both know I could never make you truly happy. But I know Danny can.”  

He reached down and closed the back of his truck. Then he grabbed me and gave me a big hug. “Goodbye,
Lexie,” he whispered.

I wiped the tears from my eyes as he jumped into his truck and started the engine. I gave a quick wave as he drove away.

FOURTEEN

Zenith

(Nine Months Later)

Hannah and I stacked the last of the moving boxes near the front door. Everything was ready to be loaded into the moving trucks when the guys arrived.

“I’m sorta gonna miss this place,” Hannah said, taking one last look around the duplex.

Because my sister started seeing Brad as soon as she arrived, she decided to stay in Florida. She moved into the apartment with me and together we got the place fixed up fairly nicely. Well, as nice as anyone could fix up an old wreck like the duplex.

“But will you miss the bad plumbing, the black mold and the paper thin walls?” I joked.

“You have a point.”

The front door was propped open, so we saw when Brad pulled up with a small box truck. He hopped out and gave my sister a big hug. “Are you ready, my love?” he asked.

Hannah gave him a big smile.

Brad asked my sister to move into his house, which was a big step for both of them. The rationale he gave was that he lived close to the community college, so it would be easier for Hannah to commute to her classes. For all the issues people had with Brad, he was a different person with my sister. And my sister was a different person with him. They brought out the best in each other. My sister told me that Brad had motivated her to go back to school so she could have a career. She decided to sign up for a course in radiology to become an X-ray technician.

Brad and Hannah began loading her stuff into the box truck and a few seconds later, Daniel arrived with a small moving van. We were moving into a house he rented across town. He jumped out of the van and gave me a kiss on the cheek. “Excited?” he asked.

“And nervous,” I replied. “The last time I lived with a guy, it didn’t exactly work out.”

Daniel tucked a stray hair behind my ear. “You have nothing to worry about. I’m completely and totally devoted to you.”

“I know.”

He kissed me then said, “Now let’s get your stuff moved into our new place.”

With the four of us hauling boxes and furniture, it took less than an hour to get everything packed. I noticed Daniel standing by the mailbox. He removed a square beige envelope and handed it to me.

“That’s strange,” I said. “I had the mail forwarded.”

The four of us looked down at the envelope in my hand.

“It doesn’t have a stamp or postmark,” Brad observed. “Someone must have stuck it in your mailbox.”

Now overwhelmed with curiosity, I tore open the envelope. Inside was a wedding invitation. My throat went dry when I saw who the groom was: Ed LaRoche.

“Eddie’s getting married,” I managed to squeak out.

Then I noticed who the bride was: Christina Matthews.

“He’s marrying Miss Matthews, our English teacher?” I was in a state of shock. Never in my wildest imagination did I ever picture Eddie getting married.

“Joey-G told me they’re getting married in a few weeks,” Daniel said.

“W-why so fast?”
I stammered.

Daniel, Brad and Hannah all smirked at the same time.

“Let’s just say they wanted to have the ceremony before Christina started to show,” Daniel replied.

Brad leaned in and added, “I heard Eddie took Christina into the laboratory supply closet almost every afternoon after school.”

I gulped. A memory of Eddie taking me to that supply closet flashed in my mind. I was surprised when the memory evoked no feelings the way my thoughts always had in the past. It just seemed like such a long time ago.

“You know,” Daniel said. “Eddie always did have a thing for English majors.”

The four of us laughed.