Let's Be Crazy (Oh Captain, My Captain Book 4) (14 page)

Lexie

“Okay, Mommy. I’m all done.” Sadie looks over all her Hello Kitty invitations. She hand wrote every one of them on her own. I did help spell a few names, including Ashton’s.

“You did a wonderful job. I’m so proud of you.”

“Can we deliver them today?”

I smile. “Sure. Grab your coat.”

Our first stop is Mom and Dad’s house. Sadie smiles the whole time and even asks Dad if he would bring worm cookies. I shake my head, but he promises that he will. Then it’s off to Aunt Tiff’s place. Tiff has barely spoken to me since the day at the graveyard. That was almost a month ago. She looks confused when she opens the door until Sadie hands her the pink note.

“Aunt Tiff, will you come to my birthday?”

“Look at that. Did you do this all by yourself?”

Sadie giggles. “Mommy helped.”

“Well, I won’t miss it for anything in the world.” She hugs her tightly.

Tiff cuts me a look as we are getting ready to leave, but she never says a word. I miss my friend. However, I’m not going to change my mind. Sadie is my priority. Brooke’s house is next on the list. When we knock on the door, no one answers. I decide to text her.

Brooke: We’re at Ashton’s house.

Me: I’ll talk to you later then. Sadie wants to give you something.

Brooke: Come over here. It’s fine.

No, it’s not.

“Mommy, where’s Reed and Miss Brooke?”

“They’re over at Mr. Ashton’s.”

“Yes, let’s go over there. I can give them all of theirs.”

I want to scream, “no’, but I smile and nod. I have been able to avoid Ashton at all costs. We haven’t spoken, texted, and I’ve not even seen him on TV. My heart is racing when I pull into the driveway and see his large black truck. I don’t want to see him. I don’t want to be around him, but I don’t have a choice at this moment.

“Come on, Mommy.” Sadie is already out of the car and running to the front porch.

I get out of the car and follow her as she knocks on the door.

“Hi, Sadie.” Reed opens the door.

“Reed, stop opening the door without me,” Ashton growls behind him.

I stop breathing when I see him. I can’t believe how good-looking he is..His hair is longer since the last time I saw him. His arms look larger, but it’s his eyes that stare at me the longest. They seem sad. The glint of happiness isn’t there anymore. His jaw is set when he narrows his eyes at me.

“Hi, Mr. Ashton.”

“Hi, Sadie. You can come in.” He cuts me another look, and I’m not sure if I should come in or not. The last time I was here, we had sex. The greatest two days of the past seven years of my life.

“Hi, Miss Brooke.” Sadie waves to Brooke, who’s sitting on the couch.

“Hi.” Her smile is bright, but I can see it seems forced.

“I want you to come to my birthday.” Sadie runs and gives them each an invitation.

“More glitter,” Reed groans when he opens it. Ashton pushes on his shoulder.

“Well, Reed and I will be there,” Brooke promises.

“What about you, Mr. Ashton?” Sadie’s eyes are wide, hoping that he will be.

“Um,” he clears his throat. He bends down to her level. “I’ll have to check my schedule, but I promise I’ll get you an awesome gift.”

Reed bumps Sadie’s shoulder. “Told you.”

Sadie nods.

“What are you talking about, Reed?” Brooke stands and walks over to the kids.

Reed’s eyes go wide, and Sadie looks down at the ground.

“Sadie,” I say more firmly.

“I’m ready to go home, Mommy.” She runs over to me and takes my hand. “Please.”

I nod, even though I know that something is wrong. “Thanks for letting her stop by.” They nod, and we head out the door.

Once I get in the car, I realize that I’ve been holding my breath. Sadie buckles up in her booster seat, while I try to compose myself in the front seat. I rest my head in my hands, trying to regain normal breathing. When I raise my head, Ashton is on the porch looking at me. My heart feels like it’s breaking as I study his eyes staring back at me.

I start the car and spin out of the driveway back to my house. Once we get inside, I race to my bedroom, fall onto my bed, and cry. I cry because I miss his arms around me. I cry because I miss his kisses. I cry because it’s Ashton I miss. I cry because Tiff’s right, I will be alone.

~ ~ ~

“Oh my God, is this party ever going to end?” I groan to Tiff standing next to me.

The Steinbergs’ sweet-sixteen event is finally here and has been going on for three hours. Thankfully, they only booked us for four. Tiff shrugs.

“Please, talk to me,” I beg her.

“Are you talking to Ashton?”

“You know I’m not.” Even though I want to.

“Then I’m not talking to you.” She looks straight ahead.

“Your parents called Sadie last night. They’re excited for her party. I mean, they haven’t seen her since this summer.” Sadie always goes down to visit them.

“Yes, I know. I do talk to my parents.” Tiff’s voice is hard.

I nod and give up talking for her the rest of the night. Once the party is over, and we are done, I head to my car. I’m ready to go home and relax. I send a quick text to Brooke. Sadie is over at her house playing with Reed.
 

Brooke: Had to go into the hospital. They’re at Ashton’s house.

No, no, no. I shake my head. I can’t go over there again, but there’s no other way to get Sadie.

Crap.

I drive over to his house, and when I pull into the driveway I do my best to give myself a pep talk.

You made your choice, and this is what you want.

Yep, all of that is lies, but Sadie needs my attention. She is number one in my life, and I can’t be losing that focus.

I knock on the door and pray that Sadie is all ready to leave. This way I can grab her and leave. I don’t want to be lingering around staring or drooling over Ashton.

“Hey.” His hazel eyes greet me at the door.

I give him a small smile.

“They’re in the middle of a movie. Come on in.”

I nod and step into the house.

“Hi, Mommy. We’re having a campout again.”

“That looks like fun.”

“You can sit here.” Ashton points to the couch, and I sit at the other end from him.

“You’re doing it wrong, Miss Lexie.” Reed stands up.

“What am I doing wrong?”

He tugs on my hand until I’m sitting next to Ashton. “We’re pretending that it’s the ice age like in the movie. Everyone needs a buddy, and you can be Dad’s.”

“Reed,” Ashton sighs.

“No, Dad. It’s the ice age, you don’t want Miss Lexie to be lost, do you?”

I look at Ashton, but he turns away. “Fine.”

“You two can share a blanket, like Sadie and me.” He covers us up and goes back to lie next to Sadie.

My hands are shaking, and I keep them under the blanket. I’m so close to Ashton that I can feel his body heat. It feels like an eternity until the movie ends, and Ashton can’t move fast enough to get away from me.

“All right, Sadie, it’s time to go.”

I quickly gather her stuff and hustle her out to the car. I don’t even make it all the way into the house this time before the tears come.

“Mommy, are you okay?”

I nod. “Let’s get some hot chocolate.” I try to sound cheerful, but it’s hard to do with tears rolling down my face. I quickly make the drink, and Sadie sits at the table. When I set the drink in front of her, she doesn’t touch it at all. “Sadie, do you not like it?”

“Mommy, why do you hate Mr. Ashton? Is it because he kissed you?”

“Wh...what?”

“Reed heard Miss Brooke talking and she said that you kissed Mr. Ashton but you hate him now.”

“I….I…” My mouth is open but no thoughts or words are leaving it. What do I say? What do I do? Why the hell isn’t there a book on this so I can have the answer?

“I’m going to bed, Mommy.”

Sadie slides off the chair and goes to her room. I still can’t catch my breath. The CIA has nothing on small children, that I do know.

Maybe I should call Tiff? No, wait, she isn’t talking to me. What about Brooke? No, that would just be an awkward conversation. I’ll deal with all this in morning after I have a bottle of wine.

~ ~ ~

My head hurts so badly. I’m rubbing my temples, hoping the pounding will stop soon. I wanted to talk to Sadie this morning, but I overslept and was rushing. I’ll talk to her after school.

Tiff walks into my office and slams the door. “We’ve got several events coming up, and we need to to get stuff in order.”

“Fine.” I groan and squint my eyes because the light is killing me.

“You look like shit.”

“Thanks.”

Tiff sits in the chair across from my desk. She starts rambling off events and parties that we need to handle, and I do my best to keep up. We hear the front door open, and someone stomping down the hall. My office door flies open, and on the other side is a pissed off Brooke. Rage is written all over her red face, matching her scrubs.

“What the fuck, Lexie?”

“Um, what?”

“I was called by the school because my son was in the bathroom, crying hysterically, and no one could calm him down. When I get there, my own son can’t even speak to me because he can’t stop crying. I had to drive to the hockey rink and get Ashton off the ice, something I’ve never done before, and do you want to know what happened?”

I shake my head. I’m concerned and hope that Reed is okay.

“He threw up all over Ashton because he still was crying so hard.”

“Oh my God, is he okay?”

“No!” she shouts at me. “He finally was calm enough to tell us that Sadie told him they couldn’t be friends anymore because of you.”

“What? I said nothing of the sort.”

“I don’t what the hell is going on, but what I do know is that Ashton and I have spent a lot of time making Reed’s life as easy as possible. He doesn’t have any friends besides Sadie because everyone just wants to be close to Ashton instead. Whatever happened between you and Ashton is your fault.”

“Amen,” Tiff chimes in. I almost forgot she’s sitting there.

“That’s not true,” I lie.

“Stop with the excuses, Lexie. Ashton is the greatest guy, but my problem right now is my heartbroken son.”

“Brooke, I didn’t say anything to Sadie. Last night, she told me that Reed heard you talking about Ashton and me.”

She sighs. “I’ve tried to be careful what I say, and Ashton too. But everyone can feel the tension, and look at what it’s done. Now, I need to go take care of Reed.” She spins on her heels and leaves.

“Well, you know how to fuck up stuff, don’t you?” Tiff sneers at me.

“Shut up. I didn’t want Sadie and Reed to stop being friends. Sadie is very happy with Reed.”

“Well, you have your wish. You don’t ever have to see Ashton again. Now, Sadie can be as miserable as you are. I bet Tony is so proud of you right now.” Tiff gets up and leaves the office.

I throw down my pen and bang my head on the desk. It doesn’t hurt because it’s already in pain. I want Sadie to be happy. She needs Reed in her life, and she needs that happiness that they have together.

Crap.

I grab my purse and drive over to the school. I tell the office that I need Sadie to leave early. I wait for her to come, and when she does, her face is sad. She looks like she’d been crying too.

Crap.

I take her hand, and we head to the car. My first stop is the fast-food drive-thru. I get a large order of chicken nuggets and a handful of packets of ketchup. While paying for the food, I text Brooke.

Me: Where are you?

Brooke: Ashton’s

Well, of course she is, because Reed needed his dad. I tell her that I’m on my way, and drive to his house. When I pull into the driveway, I help Sadie out of the car. I grab the bag of food and knock on the door. Brooke answers it, and her face isn’t as red as it was in my office.

“I want to see Reed.”

Brooke looks at me, and then Sadie, who is looking at the ground.

“Please, Brooke. Let me speak to Reed.”

“He’s in my bedroom.” Ashton walks up behind her, and his face is almost scary. He doesn’t even look this pissed off on the ice. “But, if you upset him–”

“I promise I won’t.” I pull Sadie with me and head to the bedroom.

Reed is lying in the middle of the bed. He looks so small in Ashton’s huge bed. His face is blotchy, and his hazel eyes are puffy and bloodshot.