stuff I shouldn’t have let boil over.”
She gave him a frustrated look before returning to the sink. She tossed the bloody paper towel into the trash can and then washed her hands. But instead of turning around, she gripped the edge of the sink. “Zoe, can you leave us alone for a minute?”
Zoe snuck a glance at Noah before quickstepping out of the kitchen. He had no doubt, however, that she was hovering nearby to eavesdrop.
His mom turned around. “He’s in love with me.”
Noah felt the words like another sucker punch to the face. “He told you that?”
“Years ago. I wasn’t ready for another relationship. It felt like a betrayal of your father.”
“Are you . . . with him?”
His mom shrugged with a heavy sigh. “It’s too late for that now. It’s been too long.”
“But are you in love with him?”
“He’s been here for me in so many ways. But the way he treats you, I . . . I think that has always been what held me back. But then you seemed okay with him, so I never wanted to intervene, especially after you turned your life around. I didn’t know how much tension there really was between you.”
“I didn’t want to tell you.”
“Why?”
“I didn’t want to burden you.”
“You’re my son. Nothing about you is a burden.”
Yeah, that was some bullshit. Noah had been nothing but a burden for a good five years after his father died. He rose from the stool and walked to her. Without prompting, their arms came around each other.
“I’m sorry,” he said, voice thick.
“For what?”
“For everything.”
She squeezed him around the waist. “There’s nothing for you to apologize for.”
“I put you through hell.”
“You were going through hell.” She pulled back and gazed up at him. “But it’s all over now.” She winced as she brushed her fingers over the spot where Marsh’s fist had connected with his face. “We need to ice this.”
“I’m fine, Mom.” He set her back and leaned against the counter again. “Hungry, but fine.”
“You should have brought Alexis. Why was the surgery rescheduled?”
Noah’s breath caught in his lungs. He tried to hide his reaction, but it was too late. He couldn’t hide much from his mother.
She tilted her head, concerned. “Is everything okay with Alexis?”
“Fine,” he lied, dropping another kiss on her head.
He walked to the cupboard to take out some plates. “You can come back now, Zoe,” he called.
Zoe stumbled in as if she’d been standing by the doorway the entire time. When Noah finally left two hours later, his cheek had stopped throbbing even if the bleeding in his chest hadn’t.
He pulled into his driveway and stared at his dark house. He could back out again and drive straight to Alexis’s house and beg her to forgive him.
But he didn’t. Because she wanted space.
Noah walked inside, grabbed an unopened bottle of bourbon, and carried it to the couch.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
“Oh my God, what are you doing here?”
Jessica stared at Alexis when she walked into the cavernous zoning board room as if she’d just flown in on fairy wings.
Alexis took the seat next to Jessica. “I’m here for the meeting.”
“Right. But . . . why?” Jessica looked back to the entrance of the room. “Is Noah with you? Did you decide to stop here on the way to the surgery?”
“The surgery is off. Noah is . . . not here.” Her voice caught on a swell of a goddamned emotion she wanted nothing to do with, so she swallowed it away. “So I figured I might as well come to the meeting and listen to Karen’s bullshit myself.”
Jessica gripped Alexis’s arm. “Okay, what the hell is going on? What do you mean the surgery is off? Since when? And why does ‘not here’ make it sound like you and Noah broke up?”
“I think we did.” Oh, God. The air seeped from her lungs. It still didn’t seem real. She’d gone to bed last night hoping that she’d wake up to discover it was all a bad dream. But it was real.
“Alexis, you have to give me more than that.”
“I can’t. Not right now.” Her voice shook.
Jessica squeezed her arm. “You don’t have to be here.”
“Yes, I do.” Because she had nowhere else to go. Her entire life was suddenly a drifting boat in the middle of rough seas. Every anchor she’d relied on to hold her steady for the past year was gone. Severed.
All she had was her business. So she was here.
At the front of the room, a mahogany half-moon