And in time... (17 page)

“Can I?” he questioned before opening the “I love Mitch” cover. Hearts and
I love you
’s plastered the cover.

“Yes, you can look at it.”

“You’re okay with it?”

“Yes, it was a long time ago.”

Cory flipped the first page to Bernie and Alexis about six or seven. They had their arms around each other and were sitting on a fence, smiling, both with missing front teeth. The picture made them both laugh.

“Middle school,” Alexis explained. The photo of her in a blue and white cheerleading outfit with her hands flipped on her cocked hips. Cory smiled and continued until he reached the photos of her and Mitch. She hadn’t seen them herself in years, but she was pleasantly surprised at her feelings. Cory made all the apprehension disappear. She didn’t feel hurt and betrayed by the good-looking football player in the photos anymore. She didn’t feel anything. Photos of Bernie, Alexis, Mitch, and their friends, having fun and being teenagers covered the last few pages. 

“Mitch was the high school sweetheart?” Alexis said in a sigh. She didn’t really talk about this. She never did. She wasn’t one to wear her heart on her sleeves. Burying it, sweeping it under the rug, that was her way of dealing with things she didn’t want to face. Her eyes shifted to little Riki, talking to the animals and then to Cory’s hand on her leg.

“How long did you date?”

And the questions begin.

“I was almost through with college when we broke up.”

“It must have been bad.”

“It was, but I made it through.”

“Bernie told me you were hurt pretty bad and that you shut the whole world out and stopped living.”

Alexis shook her head, annoyed at her obnoxious friend’s big mouth.

“What else did she tell you?”

“That’s it. She was just informing me that she would slice my throat if I hurt you.”

“That sounds like Bernie.” She laughed, unable to be mad at her anymore. “I did not stop living. I poured myself into my work and then when Mr. Tate died and left me this house, I poured myself into this place, and I wouldn’t have had it any other way.”

Mr. Dog left Riki’s side with a growl when he heard the noise. The growl turned into a ferocious bark when they heard the car doors close. “Hush!” Alexis yelled.

Once again, the rain had stopped, leaving puddles and raindrops on every outdoor surface. Bernie and Paige were climbing the few steps when Alexis opened the door. They were laughing about something Alexis was sure she didn’t want to know about, something about batteries and humming.

“Me have a go down dare,” Riki insisted when she spied the umbrella.

Alexis scooped her up. “This is Bernie and Paige.”

“Cory, she is adorable,” Bernie praised.

“Of course she is, look at her daddy.”

“Ha, ha. I hate to burst your bubble, but you have nothing on her. She should be on our studio walls.”

“Leave it to Lex, I’m sure she will be,” Cory countered. He was right. Alexis had already thought about it. Riki would make the cutest guinea pig ever.

“Me git down,” Riki said. She squirmed from Alexis’s arms with one quick twist. She was determined to go to the yard with the umbrella. Cory grabbed her shoes inside the door and slid them on her feet. He held her hand and helped her down the steps, knowing it was best to let her get it out of her system.

“Aunt Lex, you look hot,” Paige said out of earshot of Cory.

“Is it working?” Bernie questioned.

“No…it’s not.” She pouted and they laughed.

“How do you feel?” Bernie asked.

“I’m fine. I can’t even feel the pain anymore. Do you want a beer?”

“No, Paige has to go. It’s Friday night and she has to get to her man. Besides, you need to get back to working on getting laid. Lord knows you need it.”

Alexis looked to see if Cory heard her and, of course, he did. He smiled and shook his head amused at her bold and vivacious friend.

“Don’t you have a game tonight, Paige?” Alexis asked. Her loud-mouthed friend needed to shut her mouth, and changing the subject seemed to be the best way to shut her up. 

“No, Jordan and half the football team got caught drinking last Saturday night. The coach is making them forfeit.”

“Here’s your keys. I’ll see you at the farm tomorrow.”

“Did Travis make it home?” Alexis questioned while sliding the keychain to her pocket.

“Yes, he took Taylor to buy a new water bottle.”

“Water bottle?”

“Yes, Lincoln had one at Cub Scouts last Saturday. Travis promised to take him to get one before tomorrow’s meeting. He wasn’t letting him forget it.”

“See you tomorrow, Aunt Lex.”

“See you, Paige. Behave. Don’t be drinking and driving,” Alexis lectured.

“We’ll see you tomorrow, right, Cory?” Bernie called in question.

“That’s what I hear.”

Alexis shook her head at Bernie and Paige arguing over who’d drive. Paige won and she didn’t blame her. Bernie was a horrible driver.

Alexis stared down at Cory, holding his gaze and a long stretch of silence. “What?”

“Nothing,” he replied with a smirk, grabbing Riki right before she jumped into a puddle. He carried her up the steps and placed her on the porch swing, and then moved toward Alexis.

“Just say it. You know you’re dying to,” Alexis accused while crossing her arms.

“Are you trying to get laid?” he asked as his lips met hers.

“That’s a rhetorical question and you’re just being an ass.”

“Ass,” Riki repeated. Of course she did. Cory and Alexis smiled at each other, but ignored it. “Ass, ass, ass,” she said while her head bobbed and she tried to make the swing go.

“It is a rhetorical question, but I still want to hear your answer.”

Alexis spun her body in front of his, forcing him to back up. Cory rested his weight on the banister while Alexis moved between his legs and parted his lips with her tongue. “What are my chances?” she asked, hands sliding up his ribs to bare skin. God, she loved the way he felt beneath her hands. He was so defined, so tight, and sexy as hell.

“I’m still working on that,” he responded. He wrapped his arms around her only to be pushed apart by a jealous little Riki, wanting to be picked up by her daddy.

“Me pway wif a animals,” she said with both hands flat on his cheeks, remembering her newly found toys.

“Do you want a snack before bed?” Alexis asked Riki while she rubbed her back, keeping one hand on Cory’s ribs.

“Me no sweepy,” Riki assured her with a very serious tone, worried she would have to go to bed.

Alexis laughed and pulled Cory’s hand. “Do you want another beer?”

“Are you trying to get me drunk?” he asked.

Riki slid to the floor, and Cory pulled Alexis back to his body. He liked her there as much as she liked being there.

“Maybe.”

“I don’t need to be drunk. I’m intoxicated by you enough,” he whispered while kissing just below her ear.

Alexis squirmed away. Okay, that was absolutely an arousal area. The hot kiss just below her ear sent adrenaline straight to her groin. “Jesus, Cory. We have to stop.”

“Yes. I’ll have another one.” He smirked.

Alexis and Cory continued to flirt while Riki drank a sippy-cup of milk and ate graham crackers with peanut butter. His hand played with her fingers or covered her hand while they sat at the table and listened to Riki babble about Mr. Dog. He was going to sweep wif her. Alexis could engage in three-year-old conversation while trifling with Cory for the rest of her life. Maybe longer. She was in love, already hating the thought of him leaving the next day.  

Riki moved from her chair and onto Cory’s lap. She talked busily while she tried like hell to stay awake. Her head would rest on his chest and she would yawn, only to sit up and tell them something else. Cory rubbed her back and kissed her little head while he attentively heard every word she said.

“I love you,” Cory would tell her every so often. 

“Me wuv you, too, and me wuv Misser Dog. And me wuvs Wexis, too,” she slurred, barely awake. It couldn’t have been two minutes later and she was out. Without a word, Alexis left the table, and then returned, armed with her camera.

“What was that for?” Cory asked while his eyes adjusted, blinking from the flash.

“Get used to it. If you plan on hanging around with me, you’re going to find I always have a camera close by.”

“Can I use it?”

“Hell no. You’re dangerous with a camera.”

“You’re the dangerous one, especially shirtless.”

Alexis refrained from saying how dangerous she could be without pants. She instructed him to follow her instead. Besides, she wasn’t dangerous at all. She hadn’t even done this in so long, she’d be lucky if she remembered how. Cory followed Alexis upstairs and she turned down the bed for Riki. Just like the night before, he managed to get her into a Pull-Up without waking her.

“Why don’t you do that before she falls asleep?”

“It’s easier this way. She’s not a baby and she doesn’t need a diaper.”

“Does she?”

“Yes, every time. What are you smiling at?” he asked in a whisper.

“You, and the way you are with her. It’s sexy as hell.”

“It is?” Cory questioned, coming to her at the door.

“Oh, very much so. Hot doctor with a little girl wrapped around his finger? Hell yeah, it’s sexy.”

“She definitely stole my heart, kind of like what you are doing,” he said while taking her hand and pulling her into the hall away from sleeping Riki. 

Alexis wasn’t sure how she felt about his last remark. She wasn’t ready to talk about being in anyone’s heart. That was a little deeper than she cared to go at this point in their relationship. She derailed it instead.

“She won’t roll out of bed?”

“No, she has a couple of times but not for quite a while.”

Alexis spun around, startled by Mr. Dog. “What are you doing up here, boy?” she asked. Mr. Dog stopped and let her rub underneath his neck before pushing on the door to where Riki was. Alexis watched bewildered while he spun in two circles and plopped to the rug with a deep doggie breath.

“He never comes upstairs,” she explained in disbelief. Mr. Dog stopped coming upstairs months ago. He had been taking a new medicine for his arthritis—maybe it was helping. Regardless, Riki evidently stole his heart, too.

“Why on earth would you name a dog Mr. Dog?”

Alexis led Cory back down the stairs and explained the name. “I hated him when I got him. I never gave him a name because I didn’t want him.”

“Then why did you get him?”

“I didn’t get him. He was my breakup present from Mitch.”

“You’re kidding.”

“Nope.”

“What happened?” Cory asked, not knowing if he should or not, but he wanted to know. There had to be more to it than what he’d learned. People didn’t take that many years to get over a high school sweetheart. There had to be more to it than that.

“We were young, too young,” she added, sitting on the sofa. Cory sat beside her and lifted one of her legs over his. “I was sixteen, he was seventeen. We both went off to college but not far. We still saw each other on weekends and every chance we got. I had just finished with school and he had one more year because he was playing football. I’d just moved back home and found out I was pregnant.”

Cory’s mouth noticeably dropped and his eyebrows rose, but he didn’t speak. He didn’t speak, wanting her to continue, but he was shocked.

“I told him that weekend and we told my parents together. My father had a long talk with him and before he left, he asked me to marry him. I said yes. I’m sure his proposal had a lot to do with my dad’s persuasion. They don’t really believe in having sex out of wedlock, let alone a child. We planned on getting married at my parents’ house. I spent countless hours organizing a wedding. My wedding. I was so happy, planning my life with Mitch. I was going to stay with my parents until he finished school, and then we were going to buy a house in town.” Alexis shook her head, remembering that time of her life.

“You don’t have to tell me, Lex. I don’t want to upset you,” Cory interrupted while his hand ran up and down her leg. If he’d reading her right, she felt sad about it, and that was the last thing he wanted. 

“I’m not upset, Cory, it was a long time ago. I’ve been over him for quite a while.”

“But you don’t want to do it again?”

Alexis shrugged her shoulders with a sigh. “I’m scared.”

“I swear I would never hurt you.”

“Let’s just take it a step at a time, okay?”

“Yes, of course. What happened?”

“I lost the baby. A week before the wedding. He didn’t care about the baby, and he was happy that we didn’t have to get married,” Alexis explained in low tone while she tried not to sound hurt or sad.

“Are you serious?” Cory asked with turned in eyebrows. What an ass.

“Yeah, the following weekend, the weekend that was supposed to be our wedding day, he sent Mr. Dog to me with a note via one of our friends. The note said he was sorry things worked out the way they had and he thought we needed some time apart. He said the puppy was for the whole baby thing and he hoped it helped me get over it. He even had the nerve to end it with a P.S.—saying he was okay with me waiting for him if I wanted.”