“I heard. It was amazing.” I smiled as I looked at Alex and she ignored me. “Are you feeling any better, baby girl?”
“No.”
“Come on, Lily,” Alex said. “If you stay in there any longer, you’re going to turn into a prune.”
“Now that my dad is home, do you have to leave?” she whined.
“I guess I can stay for a while longer.”
“Okay.” A tiny smile crossed her face.
Alex turned and looked at me.
“Why don’t you go make her some soup while I help her out of the tub.”
“I can do that.”
“I’d rather have macaroni and cheese. Uncle Sebastian’s macaroni and cheese.”
“Seriously?”
“Yes, Daddy.”
“Okay. Let me give your uncle a call.”
I pulled my phone from my pocket and dialed Sebastian.
“Hey, bro.”
“Hey. Lily is sick.”
“Yeah. I know. I carried her from the car to her bedroom when Alex brought her home.”
“She wants your macaroni and cheese. Are you at the restaurant?”
“No. I’m not going in tonight. And tell Lily that her macaroni and cheese will be ready in about five minutes. I knew she’d want it, so I made it.”
“You, my brother, are the best. I love you, man.”
“I love you too and I made a huge pan, so I’ll bring it over and we can all eat.”
“Thanks. I’ll let Lily know.”
By the time I got off the phone with Sebastian, Lily was back in her room.
“Good news. Uncle Sebastian said he’ll be over in about five minutes with your macaroni and cheese.”
“Okay. Does this mean I can’t go to school tomorrow?”
“Nope, you cannot. You are staying home and resting all day,” Alex told her. “I’ll go get you some more water.”
Alex walked out of the room, and I followed behind her.
“Thanks for taking care of her.”
“Isn’t that what you—” she paused for a moment. “No problem. I’m just doing my job.”
She removed the lid from Lily’s cup and placed it under the waterspout on the refrigerator.
“Stay and have dinner with us. Sebastian’s mac and cheese is award winning and to die for.”
“I can’t. I really need to go.”
“Where are you staying?” I asked.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“To me it does, Alex.”
“It’s none of your business where I’m staying,” she spoke through gritted teeth. “You are nothing but my boss, and my personal life is none of your business.”
“Hey. Everything okay in here?” Sebastian asked when he stepped into the kitchen.
“Everything’s fine.” She stormed out.
“I can’t do this,” I said.
“It’s only been a couple days, bro. She’s hurt and angry. Just let some time pass. Consider yourself lucky that all she quit was you.” He smirked.
“Very funny, asshole.”
“Tsk, tsk. No macaroni and cheese for you with that kind of language.”
“Did I hear someone say, ‘macaroni and cheese?’” Sam walked in.
“I sure did, brother. Grab a plate.” Sebastian grinned.
“I saw Alex’s car is still out there. I thought she was high-tailing it out of here the second you get home?”
“Lily asked her if she could stay.”
“How is Lily feeling?”
“Not good. I’m going to take this macaroni and cheese up to her. Did anyone text Simon?”
“I did,” Sebastian answered. “He said he’ll be over in a while.”
I took the bowl of macaroni and cheese up to Lily’s room. When I opened the door, I stopped when I saw both Alex and Lily sound asleep. Setting the bowl on the dresser, I grabbed a blanket from the corner of the room and covered Alex with it since Lily was already underneath the covers. When I went back downstairs, I set the bowl on the counter.
“She changed her mind?” Sebastian asked.
“She’s asleep, and so is Alex.”
“That’s odd for Alex to have fallen asleep. I hope she’s not getting sick.”
“I’m sure she’s not sleeping well wherever she’s staying. She’s probably sleeping in some cheap shitty motel. I’m going to ask Simon to put a tail on her.”
“Don’t,” Sam said.
“Why? I want to know where she’s staying and if she’s safe. Cause I swear to god, if she’s staying in a Walmart parking—”
“She’s not.”
I stared at Sam with a narrowed eye for he knew and wasn’t telling me.
“And how do you know that?”
“Listen to me very carefully. I swear on my life if you even remotely hint that you know where she’s staying, I will come after you. Brother or not. I will disown you. We will no longer be brothers and I—”
“Stop being so damn dramatic, bro,” I said.
“Jesus.” Sebastian laughed.
“I’m not joking. Julia threatened me. I mean really threatened me and she was serious. No sex for two months or until she could trust me again.”
“Damn. That’s harsh,” Sebastian spoke.
“I got your back, brother. If you tell me just so my mind can be at ease, I swear on Lily’s life that I will not let Alex know I know.”
“She’s staying at Jenni’s apartment.”
I let out a sigh of relief.
“Okay. That makes me feel better. Thank you.”
“Let me ask you something.” Sebastian cocked his head. “Why do you care so much? Aren’t you the one who told her that you couldn’t be ‘her perfect guy’ and rejected her?”
“So what? I still want her to be safe.”
“Uh-huh.”
“You think I like what I did?” I spoke in a quiet but stern voice. “The last thing I wanted to do was hurt her. I freaked out. Okay?”
“Freaked out because your feelings are raw and real, and you don’t know how to handle them?” Sam asked. “Been there, done that. Remember? We all make mistakes, brother. Let me give you a piece of advice that a wise man once told me. Mistakes have the power to turn you into something better than you were before. Sometimes we need to make those mistakes to see things clearer.”
“Who told you that?” Sebastian asked.
“Our father.”
I could see Simon walking up to the sliding door.
“What the hell happened?” I asked as he stepped inside with a cut and bruised eye.
“Had a little run in with a suspect. No big deal. I’m starving.”
“Go grab a plate,” Sebastian said.
“Lily told me that Alex makes me happy.”
“I think Lily is right. Do you?” Sam asked.
“Yeah. She is right.” I set down my fork and ran my hand down my face.
“Then you know what you have to do. Stop being a pussy.”
Chapter 35
Alex