Her cheerful expression fades into a scowl and she rises. “Hudson, what are you doing?”
The man across from her turns to face me, but it isn’t some high school boyfriend or local idiot asshole.
“Alec?” I ask, glaring.
“Hudson.” He stands, smiling and leaning in to give me a hug. He’s happy to see me, but he doesn’t get it. Retracting his reach, he takes a seat again. I can’t look at him. Seeing how happy Mari was with him makes me want to knock his fucking block off, and I’ve never hit a man in my life. It’s not my style. “Whoa. Wasn’t expecting to see you here. You two back together?”
“No,” Mari informs him immediately. “We’re not. He bought a house here. In my hometown.” She emphasizes the last bit of detail as if it fucking matters at this point.
My vision blurs as it passes between the two of them, and for a moment, I think about Audrina and how she’d been screwing my best friend behind my back for months and I hadn’t the slightest idea.
I know Mari’s not mine—at least not any more, but the idea of her and Alec hitting it off … the idea that she might want him over me … fucking kills me.
“Alec came so we could discuss our future,” Mari says.
“Your future?” I ask, teeth gritting. A couple of weeks ago, he was telling her to get rid of the baby because he didn’t want to be a father.
“The future as it pertains to our situation,” she clarifies.
“What, now you want to be some fucking stand up guy?” I spit my words at him. “Now you want to come in and save the day?”
“Hudson, what’s this about?” Alec scratches at his temple. “I’m doing the right thing. I’m doing what you told me to do. I mean, I’m doing it because I want to, but I thought about what you said.” I feel Mari’s stare land on me, but my glare is locked on him. “I’m going to take care of her. Of the baby. That upsets you, why?”
Because I wanted to be there for her.
Because maybe deep down, a small part of me wishes it were my baby she was carrying.
The two of them will forever have this connection, and she deserves better.
No doubt Alec has good intentions, but I’ve known him my entire life. He’s all talk and no follow-through. I can only hope it’ll be different now that his unborn child is involved.
Turning to Mari, I see the hope in her eyes, the relief in her demeanor. I don’t want to take that away from her.
“Forget it.” My shoulders tighten, and I check my watch. I need to grab lunch and get back to the house. The demo crew tore down the old plaster walls last week, and I’ve got an electrical crew coming at one-thirty to get started on bringing everything to code.
I leave.
I walk away, leaving Mari in Alec’s hands.
It fucking kills me, and if he so much as lets her down once, I’m going to kill him.
Forty-One
Mari
* * *
“Do you need a place to stay while you’re in town, Alec?” My mother pours him a cup of Folgers coffee. “You’re welcome to stay with us or we can make some hotel recommendations. There’s a Super 8 just off the highway that’s been recently remodeled. I hear good things. Has a pool and a fitness center.”
“Mom, he’s fine.” I chuckle. She’s going overboard with the hospitality today, treating Alec like the visiting King of England.
“So, Alec, you’re a marketing guy?” Dad asks, crossing his legs wide at the head of the table. “You come up with any jingles or anything like that?”
Alec fights a smile, shaking his head. “I do online marketing. Social media presence. Brand building. Search-engine optimization. That sort of thing.”
“I’ve been thinking about getting one of this Insta-macallits for my company. I’ve got a Facebook page. Think we’ve got about three hundred likes so far? I don’t post anything on there. I wouldn’t even know what to say.” Dad takes a sip of the coffee Mom places in front of him. “What do you say? I’ve never understood those websites anyway. Who cares what I ate for breakfast or what movie I saw last night. Why does everyone need to tell everyone what they’re doing all the damn time?”
Alec laughs. “It’s a bit more complex than that. If we had more time, I’d outline a quick strategy for you. Maybe once I get back to Hong Kong I can send you some notes?”
“Yeah. I’d like that.” Dad nods.
Mom takes a seat next to Alec, resting her chin in her hand as she stares at him. I can tell he notices, but he’s trying to be polite. I’d kick her under the table if I could. She needs to stop.
“I wonder whose eyes the baby will have,” Mom muses out loud. “Alec, you have dimples, right?”
“Mom.” I clear my throat.
“I’m sorry. I’m just excited. Didn’t think I’d get to be a grandma so young,” she says. “How do your parents feel about this? Will this be their first?”
Alec nods. “Yeah, we haven’t really discussed it yet. They know about it. Thanks to my sister. But we haven’t had a chance to really sit down.”
My dad frowns. “Oh?”
“So you’re working in Hong Kong,” Mom says. “What are you going to do if she goes into labor?”
He glances at me. “I plan to come back to the States by the time Mari gets close to her due date. We’ll figure it out. I’ll be there no matter what.”
Checking his phone, he takes a generous sip of his coffee before standing.
“I hate to cut out of here already, but I’ve got a flight out of Omaha back to New York in a few hours, then I’m catching a red-eye back to Hong Kong.” Alec places his phone back in his pocket.
My father rises before walking closer and extending a hand. “This situation may not be ideal, Alec, but I appreciate you stepping up to do the right thing.”
Alec gives him a tight-lipped nod. “Of course. Was a bit of a shock to me, but a good friend kind of put things into perspective for me, and I knew I couldn’t leave Mari like that.”
“I’ll show you out.” I get up from the table, heading toward the front door as my mom wraps Alec in a warm hug.
Once we’re outside, he climbs into his car, and I stand outside the driver’s window.
“Thanks again,” I say.
We spent all day together, trying to figure out the logistics of this entire thing. He says if I wanted to move back to the city, he’d ensure I had a comfortable apartment and that our child would attend the best schools. But with as much as Alec travels, I think I should stay here and raise the baby in Nebraska, where my family can help. He vowed to help me either way.
He also vowed to spend as much time with the baby as possible when he’s stateside.
I hope he wasn’t just telling me what I wanted to hear, but for now, I have every reason to believe he meant what he said.
“Hey, Alec …” I lean into his window. I hate that I’m about to ask this, but I have to know. “What did Hudson say to you that made you change your mind?”
He leans back in his seat, staring straight ahead at my parents’ garage door and the old basketball hoop attached at the top.