Theirs (14 page)

“Eww, was she kissing both of those guys? What a slut!” Rusty notices two girls who had been dancing not too far away from them staring in their direction. They had spoken loud enough for them to hear which had probably been their attention. He’d hoped Alex was too occupied to hear them but it was apparent she did she pulled away from Cash.

Sure their relationship was unconventional but the rudeness of the two woman staring at them was unnecessary. What worried him most about this situation was that it would send Alex spiralin
g back into a web of self-doubt.

It was on the tip of his tongue to tell those
busybodies
, to mind their own damn business but Alex spoke up before either he or Cash could. “J
ealous?” She asked with a smile
on her face before planting another kiss on Cash’s lips and then turning to Rusty and doing the same.

The two women rolled their eyes before walking off.

“I’m really sorry about that, Alex.” Cash gave her a hug.

“Don’t apologize for those idiots. They’re probably just mad that I have two hot guys with me.”

“Are you sure?” Rusty asked just to make sure. She had earlier expressed her concerns about what the people in Bradfordville would say when they made their relationship public, yet here they were miles away from there and they were still catching flack.

“Of course I am. I’m not going to let them ruin our day. I’m in great company and the music is fantastic.”

“Uh, we’re really going to have to discuss your taste in music. This is pure garbage.” Rusty wished he was wearing earplugs.

“You should expand your musical palate beyond country and jazz. Come dance with me.” She took both their hands.

Rusty looked at his brother who seemed just as reluctant as he felt. “Aww, come on Alex. How do you even dance to this crap?”

“Easy. Just move your body to the music.”

“What if we don’t feel like dancing,” Cash asked.

She pouted. “Well, you don’t have to dance if you don’t want to, but if you
’d like
I’ll give you both a private dance later tonight.”

A smile curved his lips. He glanced at Cash who grinned right back. “Well, what are we waiting for?” Rusty asked. “Let’s dance.”

Chapter Thirteen

Cash didn’t think this week could get any worse. It was bad enough that they had to cut their visit short with Alex, but some potential investors had changed the date of their visit, but one of their biggest clients was threatening to pull out and go to a competitor who promised to manufacture their products at a cheaper rate. To top it all off, they website had gone down. Rusty and his team had been working around the clock to not only get it up and running
but to put in security measures so that something like this wouldn’t happen.

The chances of them getting on the road anytime soon didn’t look good. That would mean they would have one less day to spend with Alex. Every weekend for the past six months he and Rusty had made the drive up to see her even if it was long and exhausting. But seeing her had always made the trip worth it. His
frustration
, however,
was mounting because he thought by now that Alex would at least consider visiting them. Cash believed when
she finally saw the chang
e that Bradfordville had gone through it would make her more open to moving. Yet every time he or his brother bought the subject up, Alex would either change topics or make up an excuse.

They had promised to give her all the time she needed and Cash intended to honor it, but it seemed Alex was just content to stay in this limbo state indefinitely. It gave him doubts, not of his love for her but of her feelings for them.

After reading through a new contract that had been drawn up for the client they managed to preserve, he signed it and placed it in the courier envelope to go to his lawyer. Cash was relieved to finally be done with the day.
Now all he had to do was go home and pack up. But as he headed to the driveway, his
cell
phone
rang. He saw that it was Rusty.

“I’m on the way home to pack, don’t worry.”

His words were met with silence.

“Rusty? You there, man?”

“Yeah, uh. It doesn’t matter, I’m not home right now. It doesn’t look like we’ll be able to leave town for the weekend.”

After the week he’d had, this wasn’t what Cash wanted to hear.
Something had to be wrong because Rusty had been as eager to spend some time with Alex as well. “What’s going on?”

“I got a call from one of the nurses at the retirement community. Miss Ida Mae had a stroke. They had to rush her to the hospital. I’m at the hospital now and I’m waiting to hear back from the doctor to see if he can give me any information on her condition since technically I’m not a relative. Her son is her next of kin but he can’t be reached and Alex…I’m not sure how she’ll take the news. She’s not exactly receptive to the topic of her grandmother.”

“Fuck,” Cash muttered. “Our names are on her paperwork to contac
t us in
case
of an emergency. That should count for something shouldn’t it?”

“You would think, but without formal power-of-attorney papers, our hands are basically tied. Maybe I’ll talk
to
the hospital director, I believe he used to be a friend of Dad’s. That might get us somewhere.”

“You do that, in the meantime,
I’m just getting to my car so I’ll be there shortly.”

“
Do you want to give Alex
a call
or should I?”

“I’ll call her, just work on getting any information you can on Miss Ida Mae.
Hopefully
,
this
is
something she can recover from.”

Cas
h slammed his fist on the roof o
f his car in frustration. He wished he hadn’t tempted fate by thinking the week couldn’t get worse. Once he was on the road, he pushed the Bluetooth on his dashboard to call Alex’s number.
It took her several rings before she answered.

“Hey Cash, I was just getting out of the shower. Are you and Rusty on your way? I have a special surprise for you when you get here.”

He could hear the excitement in her voice which on
ly
compounded his disappointment. ‘”Actually that’s why I’m calling. We’re still in Bradfordville. Looks like we’re not going to make it this weekend.”

“Is everything all right? You sound a bit stressed.”

“It’s been a rough week.”

“Did you get everything squared away at the factory?”

Cash tried to call Alex at least three times a week just
to
fill her in on what was going on with him while Alex shared what she was up to. The last time they spoke, which had been briefly, he’d explained what was going on with the company. “There’s still some kinks we need to work out but that’s not the reason. Actually, it’s about your grandmother.”

“What about her?”

“She had a stroke today and I’m not sure how serious it is. I mean, it probably is because of her age, but I don’
t know
how
this will affect her recovery or if she’ll even pull through at all. I’m on my way to the hospital and
I hope to
obtain
some more details when I get there.”

“Oh.”

He was surprised that was her only response.
“Is that it?”

“What do you mean?”

“I just told you that your grandmother just had a stroke.”

“I know, but what exactly do you want me to say?”

“Say you’re sorry to hear
this or that you’ll
finally come down to see her.”

“You just told me about it. I’m still processing it, Cash. Besides, what good would a visit from me
do if she’s in the hospital?
You said yourself that you don’t know what shape she’
s in. What do you want me to say?”

“I don’t know what I want you to say but it sure would
be
nice if you sounded like you actually gave a damn.”

“Of course I care. That’s a horrible thing to imply.”

Cash realized this conversation was getting out of hand but the longer he spoke to Alex who didn’t seem to
be
affected by her grandmother’s condition the more annoyed he became. “I wasn’t implying anything. All I said was you sounded like you’re uninterested. Look, I don’t want
to
argue, but I’m already really stressed right now and I’d like to see you. Come down to see us. We need you.”

There was a long pause on the other end.

“Alex?”

“What?”

“Did you hear what I said?”

“Yes.”

“And?” he prompted.

“I can’t.”

“You mean you won’t.”

“No, I’m saying I can’t. Don’t put words
in
my mouth.”

“You
r
grandmother is sick and all you can say is you can’t. It’s not like you have anything planned now since you were expecting
us to come up. Being in a relationship means some give and take and
all
I’m asking
,
is for you to come down for the weekend.”

“I’m just not ready to see her, you know that.”

“Even after the letter?”

“Especially after the letter. I still have some things to work through.”

“It’s been six goddamn months,” Cash roared losing his temper. “You said yourself that you would come see her. Considering her condition, you might not have that much time left. But that aside, if you can’t be there for her, be there for use. I understand your relationship with Miss Ida Mae was rocky, but Rusty and I cared about her. She was more of a maternal figure to us than our own mother.”

“It’s just…you don’t understand.” She said the words so softly that Cash had to strain to hear her.

“You’re right. I don’t. Enjoy the rest of your weekend, Alex.” He pressed the button
cutting off the conversation. He was more annoyed with himself for losing his cool but he was angry over the fact th
at she wouldn’t even consider
taking the trip to see them. Cash didn’t mind the
seven
-
hour
drive to see Alex every weekend. He actually looked forward to it because he didn’t mind driving and Rusty made an excellent traveling companion. Their road trips had become one of the things they actually looked forward to by the end of a long work week.

He
would walk through fire for Alex if she asked and he knew Rusty would
do the same, but he wondered what she would sacrifice for them when she couldn’t even be bothered to come visit them when they needed her
. By no means was he even close to considering giving up on her but it didn’t bode well for their future if this is what they had to look forward to.

<><><><><>

“
When you called me
, I knew it was something serious
but damn, I didn’t things were this bad. You look a mess.” Georgia
with a big brown paper bag in her
arms
looked Alex up and down and shook her head.

Alex figured she didn’t look her best but she didn’t think she looked that bad. Sure her eyes were swollen from crying she’d thrown on her most comfortable pair of sweats and tied a satin scarf over her head to protect her hair, but she didn’t think she looked like a complete slob. “Gee thanks. Way to kick a girl while she’s down.” She moved aside enough to let her girlfriend inside her apartment.

“Mmm, something smells delicious. What were you cooking?”

“I made a lasagna. I hope you’re hungry because it looks like it’s going to be us for the night.”

Alex followed Georgia into the kitchen and put the bag down. The redhead proceeded to pull a couple wine glasses from the cabinet. “Judging from the looks of you, we’re going to need these?”

“That’s a pretty large bag for just a bottle of wine.”

Georgia waved her hand dismissively. “I bought the entire girlfriend emergency kit. I have a bottle of wine and a fifth of the hard stuff. There’s also three different flavors of ice cream, chocolate chip cookies and a bag of salt and vinegar potato chips.
And I have a couple of DVDs of movies about female empowerment. Oh, and of course a box
of tissues. When you called, to say you’d be alone for the
weekend
, I knew something was up. You’ve spent every weekend with your men for the past six months.
Whenever I see you, you have a smile so wide I’m scared your head will split open. But then you call me sounding like your world has ended and as your best friend, I knew it was my duty to come over here and make things right.
First
,
we’re going to eat junk food and drink wine while you tell me what happened. And then I’ll give you advice on how to fix the problem or I go home and get my gun to hunt those mot
herfuckers down for
hurting my friend.”

Alex laughed at her friend because she knew Georgia was dead serious.
Despite how low she felt at the moment
Georgia could always bring a smile to her face. “Uh, I think I
’m
the bad guy in this scenario, no gun fire please.”

Georgia raised a brow. “Really? Okay, now I’m really going to ne
ed the details. Why don’t you pop one of the movies into the DVR and I’ll fix our plates and set everything up.”

Alex sighed with a nod because she knew this wasn’t a request. She didn’t care about either movie so she chose the
first one she picked up. Once she set it up, she turned the volume to low so that she and Georgia could talk.

Once
th
ey were
settled
on the couch with plates in hands and a movie playing that neither one of them were paying attention to, Georgia turned to Alex with a questioning look. “So are you going to tell me why your men didn’t come up this weekend and why you look like it’s the end of the world?”

“Apparently, my grandmother is in the hospital. She had a stroke and I don’t know what her status is right now because I’m too big of a coward to pick up the phone and call Cash and Rusty to ask.”

“Okay, you’re g
oing to need to back up. I’m assuming that whatever was said led to an argument. So
what
happened exactly?”

Alex put her plate on
the coffee table unable to take a bite. “When I tell you, you’re going to think I’m a big jerk.”

“We’ve known each other for a long time now and I’ve never been afraid to tell you when you’re wrong. But even with all that, I’m still your friend so there’s nothing you could tell me that would make me
think less of you.”

“Well remember when I told you that we decided to abstain from sex after that initial weekend?”

Georgia nodded. “Yes, you told me that you wanted to make sure that the bedroom wasn’t the only thing you had in common with them anymore. And I thought that was a good idea.”

Alex had thought so too. She had reconnected with Cash and
Rusty on a spiritual level
that bound her to them more tightly than any physical bond could. They went to concerts, went hiking, took road trips, visited museum
s
and
participated in
all types of activities. Some weekends they’d sit on her couch and bench watch shows on her streaming service. The activity never mattered because whenever she was with them, Alex had a fantastic time. That wasn’t to say that it was easy to keep making love out of the equation. The sexual tension between her and her men was so thick that she’d taken many cold showers to calm herself down. There were a few times when they nearly broke their pledge but somehow they made it through these past few months without a
slip
-
up
. “Well, I decided that enough time had passed and I wanted this to be the we
ekend where we reintroduced sex back into the relationship. I went to lingerie store on
Market Street
and bought all kinds of outfits just for this occasion.”

Georgia crinkled her nose. “You went to Stella’s? They sell the nasty stuff there. You must have meant business.”

Alex nodded. “I
even
bought a crotchless teddy.”

“Wow, you must have really wanted to get some this weekend.”

“You have no idea, Georgia. You have no idea how hard it’s been for us to limit our physical activities together.

“
I can imagine
. When you showed me their pictures I couldn’t figure out how you maintained the strength not to jump their bones.
I’m just surprised it took you this long to come around.
”

“I had to be certain that our relationship was something more than just a sexual thing.”

“But haven’t they proved that by coming to see you every weekend? And the fact that you guys weren’t having sex should tell you something. Most men think with their dicks and if they’re not getting any, they wouldn’t bother. From what you’ve told me, there doesn’t seem to be a shortage of women who wouldn’t willingly take your place but they chose you. Like I said, I don’t understand the logistics of you juggling two hunks at once but it seems like you have something pretty special going for you.”