Conflicted (The Existing Series Book 2) (14 page)

She turned to face him, and I couldn’t contain the instantaneous laughter that escaped me. She had flour all over her face and in her hair, as well as on the front of her shirt. My laughter gained Andrew’s attention, and when he turned and saw his wife covered in flour, his actions mimicked my own.

“What the heck is so funny?” she demanded as she put her hands on her hips.

“Sweetheart, it looks like you’re the one who needs a bath right now,” Andrew explained through his continued fit of laughter.

“I was trying to surprise everyone with cookies. Looks like the cookies will be all mine since other people want to be mean and make fun of the cook,” she said. The timer to the oven went off, and Magdalena grabbed the oven mitt and pulled out two cookie sheets covered with chocolate chip cookies.

“You’d keep the cookies from the children,” Andrew goaded his wife and she fell for it, turning around and throwing the towel at him, sticking out her tongue in the process.

“No, but I’d keep them from the two of you,” she said causing us to laugh even more. The kids looked at us like we were nuts, but picking on her was too much fun.

The doorbell sounded, but I was in no shape to answer it because I couldn’t stop laughing.

“I guess I’ll get it,” she yelled out, both kids running behind her.

“Go into the living room and start watching cartoons, kids. I’ll bring you cookies once they’ve cooled off,” Magdalena said as she went to the door and answered it. The kids’ footsteps veered off and stopped shortly after, letting me know they’d did as she asked.

“I better go see who’s at my door before she scares whoever it is away,” I said to Andrew as I stood and started walking to the door.

“Knowing her, you’re right. You better hurry,” he replied, his laughter starting again as he followed behind me. He followed me closely then veered into the living room to sit with the kids.

I heard the gasp before I saw the person who’d made it.

I walked up behind Magdalena, making the picture look worse, as I stood behind her and held open the door.

The person standing on the other side was just as shocked as I was.

Delaney was here.

On my front porch.

I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that she’d returned, let alone ended up at my home because I was too shocked that she was here.

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t know,” she said as she continued to back up from the doorway. Toward the front porch steps.

Magdalena looked back and forth between the two of us, confused.

“Hi. I’m Magdalena. How are you?” she said, holding her hand out to Delaney. Only she continued to back up. Too close to the steps for my liking.

I moved past Magdalena, the boards creaking beneath me as I stomped toward the woman that left without a trace.

Reaching out with my right hand, I grabbed her just as she stepped back and almost lost her balance. I pulled her back onto the porch and close to me, not caring about how awkward it looked.

She looked down at the porch, her lip trembling. For what, I hadn’t a clue, but I was about to find out. I had way too many questions. Ones that only she could give the answers to.

I couldn’t explain it but seeing her lip tremble did something to me. Pulled at something inside of me, and the anger regarding her leaving diminished. Slightly. I grabbed her other arm and pulled her toward me, wrapping them around her slender frame. Her body sagged into mine and she returned my embrace. Like she needed the hug more than I needed to give it to her.

We continued our embrace and I heard the screen door shut behind us, indicating Magdalena had left to give us the privacy we needed. Well, that I needed. I had so many questions running through my mind, I didn’t know which to ask first.

She sniffled as she moved away from me, turning her back and wrapping her arms around her body.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have come here,” she said barely above a whisper, but not moving.

“How did you know to come here?” I asked, instantly regretting that was the first question I chose to ask her.

“I went to your parents’ house and they gave me your address. I didn’t know that I’d be imposing or I wouldn’t have come. But I didn’t have a way to call and warn you,” she admitted, turning around to face me. Looking into her eyes, I saw the sadness behind them.

“Imposing?” I question, not understanding why she’d think that.

“You and your girlfriend seemed busy. At least it looked that way since she was covered in flour.”

“Girlfriend? Oh, you mean Magdalena?” I said, still sounding dumbfounded that she’d think that.

“She’s not my girlfriend. In fact, her husband and son are just in that front room,” I quickly clarified, needing her to understand.

“Oh. I just thought….”

“You thought wrong. Now it’s my turn. Why did you leave?” I needed to know the answer because I was still baffled that she came back and was standing on my front porch.

“I had to get away. It wasn’t right for me to lean on you. You don’t even know me. Plus, I had to figure things out. We lived together, but I couldn’t afford that apartment by myself and our lease was nowhere near up. I just had a lot to figure out, and I couldn’t do it from here.”

“So why not let me know you were leaving? Why not say goodbye? Leave contact information?” I fired question after question off at her, wanting all the answers at once.

“Because it was hard enough to leave him in the ground, let alone leave him not knowing if I’d return. I don’t even know why I’m here. I just couldn’t stomach the thought at being across the country in California and him being here. It’s crazy. I sound crazy.” She stumbled through the answers nervously.

Stepping closer to her, I moved the piece of hair that had fallen over her face, letting my fingers linger on her cheek. The chill in the May night air had caused her cheeks to be cool to the touch.

“You don’t sound crazy. You sound like you’re grieving, and the only idea that made any sense or you felt comfortable doing was returning to a place your boyfriend loved,” I reassured her, hoping that I wasn’t the one who sounded like the lunatic.

“Thank you for understanding. It took longer than I thought to pack everything up and get things sorted. I didn’t realize there was so much to do when it came to moving. It’s not like I’d done it a hundred times, but I’d never moved across the country before.”

Wait. What? Moving?

“You’re moving here?” I asked, needing the clarification.

“Yes,” she whispered as she turned away from me and sat down on the front porch step.

I went to sit down beside her, but the door creaked causing my attention to be diverted to the noise instead of Delaney.

Shit.

I’d totally forgotten about Magdalena and Andrew. I was such a horrible host.

Magdalena stood in the doorway, trying not to interrupt by remaining quiet.

“I’m sorry I left y’all in there. I’m a horrible host,” I said, feeling even worse than I sounded.

“Oh hush. We don’t care. The kids were just playing. But Grace is looking pretty tired and is asking for her daddy to put her to bed. I’d do it, but she said she wanted you. Well, demanded rather,” she said with a laugh.

That didn’t surprise me at all.

“I’m going to go ahead and go,” Delaney said as she stood.

“Go where?” I asked.

“The motel on route twenty-nine,” she clarified.

“Why don’t you just stay here tonight? It’s dark and you don’t know the mountain that well. I’m actually shocked my dad didn’t follow you to make sure you didn’t get hurt while driving over here. I have a guest room that you can sleep in tonight,” I almost insisted. She didn’t need to stay there, at least not tonight, especially since I had the room here.

“I can’t impose more than I already had. I just wanted to come here and apologize for leaving the way I had and let you know that I’m back. We can get in touch in the next few days.”

“I insist,” I said as I pulled out my phone from my pocket and checked the time. It was a little after nine. I really didn’t want her driving down the mountain at this time of night.

A chuckle from behind me caused me to turn my head and glare at Magdalena.

“You might as well not argue with him. He’s relentless. I’m Magdalena by the way,” she said as she walked over with an outstretched hand to introduce herself to Delaney.

“Delaney. I’m so sorry for intruding on your evening,” she said as she shook Magdalena’s hand.

“Oh please. Don’t you worry anything about that,” Magdalena reassured her.

“Go grab your bag and come on inside. I’m going to tuck Grace in, and I’ll be right out. The living room is off to the left after you come into the house,” I said, looking at her one last time before I walked to the door, going inside and not looking back so I could tuck in Grace.

“Who’s ready for bed?” I asked as I walked into the living room. The commotion between Liam and Grace instantly ceased, both looking over at me frowning.

“I ready, Daddy. Can Liam stay the night?” she asked, poking out her lip and walking over to me.

I looked over to Andrew, hoping my silent plea for help was noticed, only he held his hands into the air, signaling that he wasn’t in this conversation.

“We’ll see. How about we go get your teeth brushed then you can come out and ask Magdalena. I don’t know what they have planned for tomorrow. But we’ve got great plans. Only you have to go to sleep to find out what they are.” I loved telling her that. She always went right to sleep because she couldn’t wait to find out the surprise.

“Yay. I love prizes,” she beamed as she skipped off in the direction of the bathroom. She climbed upon her stepstool and reached for her toothbrush. I watched her closely, allowing her the space for her independence. When she was done, she walked into her room and over to her crib, waiting for me to put her in. Forgetting about asking Magdalena if Liam could stay.

“You want a story tonight, pumpkin?” I asked because she usually walked over to the rocking chair so we could have that special time.

“I want story light tonight,” she said as she raised her arms. My mom had found this projector that put princesses onto the wall and she called it her story light.

I put her in the crib and covered her with her favorite blanket, putting it on her face just the way she liked it. I lowered the bed frame and leaned down to give her a goodnight kiss.

“Night, pumpkin,” I said as I raised the bar, making sure it was locked in its place before I turned to walk over to the bookshelf and grab the projector. I put it on her changing table and turned it on, the lights instantly illuminated onto the wall and Grace rolled over to watch.

“Night, Daddy,” she said as I walked to the entrance and turned out the light.

I shut the door behind me and walked into the living room, feeling off since we didn’t have our nightly routine, but feeling foolish over my jealousy for a light.

Magdalena and Andrew had Liam packed and ready to go, as they waited for me to come back into the room. Delaney sat on the opposite end of the couch looking more lost than I’d ever seen her.

“Thank you for dinner. We’re going to my grandparent’s farmhouse for the night since it’s so late. We’ll get on the road in the morning and head home,” Magdalena said as she stood with a tired Liam in her arms. I looked around and all of the toys were off of the floor and in the toy box, and the television was off. That woman needed to learn she didn’t have to clean my house.

“You’re welcome. Y’all can come by anytime. You know this. Did you really clean up in here?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

“You know how she is. Thanks for dinner and the laughs,” Andrew said as he stood behind his wife, leaning down to kiss her on the side of her head.

“That I do. Don’t clean my house. You’re the guest. No cleaning allowed. Sorry for not being in here for the latter part and leaving you alone with the kids. One of you text me when you get to the farmhouse. I hate people driving down the mountain late at night,” I said as I walked them to the door.

“We will. Have a good night,” Magdalena said. She turned to look at me and said, “Remember our promise, Weston? I think you’ve found your answer.” She walked down the stairs, leaving me wondering how she came to that conclusion. I’d have to remember to ask her later. And I’d also have to demand how she could hold me to promising her that I’d try to find my own happiness when we dreamed the entire conversation. Typical woman.

I walked inside once they were pulling down the driveway, locking the door behind me. I went into the living room and Delaney was looking at the picture wall that took me forever to get the way I wanted. I took out all of the pictures that Mackenzie was in so that Grace didn’t have to see them and replaced them with pictures of my family and friends. The one she stared at was one that I knew all too well. It was a picture of me, Davis, Trenton, and Miller right before Trenton left for boot camp and right before I left for college. We were all at a bonfire at Davis’ house and someone said they needed a picture of us, I can’t remember who, but we all made funny faces right before the picture was taken. I got them to email me a copy and found the print version when I was going through photo albums after the move here. I couldn’t resist hanging it, even though it broke my heart knowing he wasn’t here anymore.

I pulled her to me. Looking down at her, there were tear tracks running down her cheeks as she stared at the goofy man that she loved.

“He was always like that growing up. Happy. Even when he was angry, he’d smile. It drove us crazy sometimes because we just wanted to see him mad once. But he never showed his anger. Just smiled and acted goofy all the time. It’s one of my favorite memories, right before we all went our separate ways and had life interfere with our friendship,” I explained the picture as she rested her head on my shoulder.

“Come to think of it, I’d never seen him truly mad either. Aggravated maybe. But never mad. His goofiness is the reason I fell in love with him. It drove everyone crazy around us, but it pulled me to him for some reason. I’m usually the serious one, but that’s how we balanced our relationship,” she said as more tears fell. “I miss him so much,” she admitted as more tears fell and she started to sob. I turned her around in my arms and pulled her back against me, wishing I could hug out her pain, but knowing that she just had to feel it and experience it all in order to fully grieve.