What You Do To Me (Unexpected Love) (29 page)

“If the girls had been here, I would have slept on the couch and got up and made them breakfast this
morning.
I would have tried to get to know them. I want to get to know them. I want to be a part of their life as much as I
want to be in your life.” Alex was looking me in the eyes
intently
.

“I won’t let you into their lives, I can’t.” I turn
ed
away from him and head
ed
to the bathroom. I hear
d
Alex behind me. I shut the door on him and lock
ed
it. I walk
ed
over to the shower and turn
ed it on and then I
drop
ped
to the floor and start crying. When I finally pull
ed
myself together
,
I jump
ed
in the shower letting the hot water beat on me. I finally climb
ed out and dried
off, w
rapping myself in my robe that wa
s behind the door. I
exited
and
walked
into my room.

Alex wa
s dressed
and sitting on the bed. He looked
u
p at me
as if
he had
been defeated. “Can we talk about this?
Don’t
I get a say in any of this?”

Tears ra
n down my face, “Alex, no, I can’t. I can’t allow another person into their lives who is just going to leave.”

“Who
said
I would
leave.” Alex stood and took a step toward me, but
he
didn’t touch
me.

“Can you promise you will stay?” I look
ed
at him knowing the answer.

“No, I can’t promise, but I can tell you all I think about is you and the only time I feel at peace is with you. I need you in my
life,
Abby.” Alex’s eyes look
ed
as if
he was hurting, but I knew that couldn
’t be true.

“And when I no longer make you feel that way, then what. Will you stay for the girl
s that aren’t yours?” Alex looked
lik
e I punched him when I said that
. “Don’t answer, because I know the answer. There is nothing more to say on this. We had fun, but it
wasn’t
more than that and it can’t be. You live in LA and I live in small town USA on the other side of the country. I have three girls
that
I need to worry about and you have nothing to worry
about.
Sa
m does that for you.” Alex looked away from me now and I could tell my words we
re cutting him
deeply
, but the truth always hurt, especially when you live in a fantasy world
as
he does.

I quickly grab
bed
some clothes from a nearby
clothesbasket
and walk
ed
out the door. I walk
ed
into Lily’s room to change. When I
emerged,
I head
ed
straight
for the stairs and enter
ed
the kitchen. I start
ed
a pot of coffee and wonder
ed what wa
s going to happen now. I never asked Alex
how long he was in town and I wasn’
t sure what his plans had been.
I went to find my phone so I could call Bruce to see if he could fly
Alex
out
now
instead of when
his original flight was supposed
to leave.

Alex met
me in the doorway. I look
ed up and he had
his bag in his hand. His eyes
met
mine, but I quickly turn
ed
back to the coffee pot. “Would you like a cup of coffee?” I
didn’t
know what else to say. I didn
’t know how to
act. After all
, we didn’t break
up,
because we were never
together, but in a way it felt like we had been
together.

“Sure, my flight out is at eleven, so
I’ll
call a cab and have them pick me up.”  I look
ed
at the clock a
nd it is already 10:20, but I would
have to give him a ride since we
didn’t
have a cab company in town.

“We don’t have a cab
service.
I’ll
take
you after
you have a
cup of coffee. Do you want anything to eat?”

“No, I don’t have much of an appetite. I’ll be good until I hit
St. Louis
tonight.”

We finish
ed
our coffee in silence and when I place
d my cup in the
sink,
Alex
grasped
my hand. “Abby, I don’t want this
…
us
…
to end, not like this. How can you be willing to end it before we even start?”

“Don’t make this harder
than
it has to
be.
I told you, it’s not just me here that I have to worry about. I can’t keep placing people in their lives and
have them leave.
It
isn’t fair to them.”

“You don’t know I would leave.”

I look
ed at Alex
with my eyes burn
ed
into his, “But, you don’t know if you would stay either.”
I walk
ed
out of the
kitchen, grabbed my purse from the hook,
and walk
ed
onto the porch. I hear
d
Alex let out a
sigh, as
he
followed
behind. Walking down
the steps of the
entryway,
I saw
my dad’s car round the corner.
Seriously,
just my luck
.
Could
this poss
ibly get any worse? My dad pulled
in behind my car and the girls exit
ed
,
and the answer to my question was yes, it could
get worse
and it just
had
.

“Mommy, guess what Papa bought us at the store?” I look
ed at my
dad,
who shrugged his shoulders at me. He wa
s always spoiling them.

“Let me guess
…
candy
…
no a puppy, no I’m not
sure, so
you better tell
me,
” I
said,
with a made up smile on my face and
a
fake expression in my voice.

“
Mommy,
” they were all
laughing. “Papa bought us the new Barbie movie you told
us
we couldn’t have until ou
r rooms were
cleaned,
” Lily said
with a huge grin on her face.

“Really, he did, maybe Papa should clean
your rooms now.” All the girls we
re laughing at
that
.

“Hey, are you the gu
y from the computer?” Lily looked
at Alex suspiciously.

“I think I
am.
Do
you like to sing and dance
to the songs I sing?” Alex bent down
to Lily’s level when
he talked
to her.

“Yes, but I like Katie Perry better, but mommy always wants to watch your videos, so we take turns
.
” Out of the mouth of babes
I tell you. I never knew what she’d
say.

“Is that so?” Alex said
looking at me. “I was hoping to meet you before I left. I
brought
you and your sisters something and I think you can share it with your mom, bu
t only if you want.” Alex started
to unzip his bag.

“You brou
ght us a surprise?” Lily squealed
while jumping up and down. “Twins, twins the computer guy brought us something.”

Alex laughed
at Lily’s name for him. “How about you call me Alex and I did bring you something. I know how much you love your dance parties, so I brought you an iPad downloaded with some of the best music and videos out right
now. Even Katie
Perry’s,
”
he
said
while he
winked at Lily. Lily reached
up,
squeezed
his neck
in a hug.
The
twins walk
ed
over and hug
ged
my legs. I look
ed
at
Alex and Lily and my heart was hurting. I couldn
’t believe Alex bought the girls a gift. Something he didn’t have to do at all
, but watching him with Lily made me realize this wa
s something she
would
never have, a male figure in her life like this.

“Can I list
en to it now? Can
I, Mom
?” Lily wa
s holding it
tightly
to her chest.

“Yes, go inside and have a ball.” I lean
ed
over,
kissed
each o
f the twins on the head and told
them to follow Lily in the house. I watch
ed
as they
disappeared
into the house.

“Dad, can you stay with the girls so I can give Alex a ride to the airport to meet Bruce?” I look
ed at my
dad,
hoping he
could.
I
didn’t
want to
take
the girls along with me.

“Actually, I came to meet the famous Alex that everyone in town is talking about.” I look
ed
at my dad and wonder
ed what wa
s being said. “Don’t look at me like
that, Bri.
Nothing
bad is being said. People are just wondering who the mysterious tattooed man is that is sending the town widow
and most eligible bachelorette
flowers.” I put my head in my hands and realize
d I didn
’t want everyone knowing that Alex was with
me, only to
disappear forever. It would have been simpler
not
to have the questions
when
walking into the grocery store.

“I’m Alex
Morgan.
It’s
very n
ice to meet
you,
sir.” Alex walked over and shook
my dad’s hand.

“
Chuck O’Hare, it’s nice to meet you. So, ho
w do you know Bri?” My dad pulled
his hand away and
crossed
his arms over his chest.

Alex looked at me and I swore I saw
hurt in his eyes, but when I look
ed
again it
was
gone. “I met your daughter in Detroit. She came to my concert alone and I didn’t feel it was
safe,
so I made her hang out
on the stage to watch.” Alex shot
me a smile
and my mind immediately flashed
back to that meeting.

“Really, Bri went to a co
ncert by herself?” My dad sounded
shocked. “And you said your concert? Are you in the band?”

“
Yes,
sir, I am the le
ad singer for
Awakening
.” Alex was soft
spoken and not his con
fident self around my dad. I could feel he was uncomfortable, but I was guessing my dad hadn’t noticed
.

“Dad, I have to get Alex to the plane to meet Bruce. Can you stay with the girls?” I look
ed
at my dad hoping to get Alex out of
t
here
,
the sooner the better.

“No,
I’ll
take him.
That’s
why I brought the girls early. Bruce called and told me about your
guest
and
the time
he was flying out. After everything Bruce said about this guy, I thought I better check him out myself.
” I’m not sure what my dad meant by
that
, but I would
find out later. “I’ll wait in the
car,
so hu
rry with the goodbye.” He winked at
me, and
then walked back to the car and climbed
in.