Forgetting Yesterday (17 page)

“Right now,” he repeated, “I can’t stop thinking about the way you seduced me after breakfast.”

My eyes popped open and I laughed again. “Me? Oh, no. I clearly remember it was you that…ah, uh…”
What was I saying
? I couldn’t remember as his very deft fingers, pushed my bra aside and set to work on me.

Oh, right.

This morning.

After breakfast.

Maybe I had been the one to tug him back to the bedroom. But he was the one who completely took control. He’d yanked up my borrowed t-shirt as he’d laid me across his bed. He had done things with his tongue that I’d only ever heard my girlfriends gossiping about.

Jason had liked sex, but it had always been very one-sided.

I had already learned that Alex liked to give just as much as he liked to take.

I had never known the kind of blissful edge that Alex had driven me to, time and again. As his fingers wedged their way into my shorts, I realized I might be coming close to that edge again, very, very soon.

I gasped, pulling in a breath. He jerked away from me, a devilish grin on his face. “I suppose this isn’t the time or place.”

I nodded but I knew I wore a crestfallen expression as my gaze swept over to the trail. We’d probably hear someone coming. Probably.

He laughed as he pulled me to my feet. In one smooth movement, he whisked the blanket up and began shoving it into his pack.

“What are we doing?”  I asked, my voice still breathless.

“Going back to my place,” he said in a low voice. “If I can make it that far.”

I bit my lip, holding back a grin. I wasn’t sure
I
could make it that far. I suddenly envisioned us pulling over on some back, country road. The area was riddled with them. A country road could grant just enough privacy to rip that man’s clothes off. The thought made my heart pound.

The moment he had the cooler zipped up inside, I darted toward the trail. “Race you to the bottom!” I called over my shoulder.

“Oh, you are so on!” he growled from right behind me.

“I think I’m about ready to get out of here,” Claire said. “How about you?”

As it turned out, she and Dottie had gone to the craft fair while I’d watched over the shop. Once it was closed for the day, I’d met them here. By the time I arrived, Dottie had been ready to head out. I’d taken some time to walk through, letting Claire give me a rundown of what they’d accomplished.

We’d also managed to hit up the smoothie stand, the soft pretzel stand and then, just because some junk food seemed in order, we’d each gotten an order of cheese curds.

Now I’d been here for a few hours and I was ready to call it a day.

I nodded. “Yeah, I’m ready to head home.”

“Maybe we could stop for some Chinese take-out,” Claire suggested.

I laughed. “Are you still hungry?”

She shrugged but didn’t deny it. “We’re on our own tonight. I, for one, do not feel like cooking. In fact,” she said as she fanned herself, “it’s so blasted hot I’d be happy to go home, pull the curtains, crank the air conditioning and veg out on the couch. I’m sure we can find some chick flick to watch.”

Alex was out o
f town, on another fishing trip. Sean was busy with a bachelor party. Claire and I had a quiet girls’ weekend planned.

“That sounds good. There’s a stack of romantic comedies just calling my name,” I joked.
I was ready for some air conditioning too. It was so hot out, I was sure I could feel the make-up melting right off my face. I was glad I’d pulled my hair back but it did little to stave off the heat. Having been here for so long, I was ready for a cold shower.

We began to weave our way through the crowd, stopping periodically to check out something we had missed, or to wait for a cluster of people to get out of our way. We were almost to the street when Claire gave me a nudge.

“Isn’t that Morgan?” Claire asked.

I lifted my gaze and scanned the crowd.
Morgan glanced our way at the same moment. She hesitated before a smile crawled across her face. She nudged the woman she was standing next to.

From where I stood, I couldn’t see what booth they were checking out.

Morgan raised her hand in a wave. Claire and I waved back. I was about to continue the short distance to the street but Claire nudged me again.

“They’re coming over here.”

I glanced over my shoulder and slowed my pace because she was right.

“Hey you two,”
Morgan said as she pushed her way past a group of chatting women. “What a surprise to see you here.”

I wasn’t sure why it was all that surprising but I wasn’t about to comment. I’d only met her a few times and she’d always been nice enough. Possibly too nice. So nice, I was suddenly wondering if it had all been an act. Because now, her gaze skittered over me and the look she wore was anything but friendly.

I couldn’t help but wonder why she’d bothered to come over to talk to us. Especially since she didn’t seem to be paying any attention to Claire, who knew her far better than I did.

“This is Kara,” she paused and a smirk settled onto her face. “
I’m sure you’ve heard of her.”

I realized she was looking specifically at me, not Claire. I glanced at Claire. She looked as confused as I felt. She gave me a small shrug.
Maybe Morgan was confused. Perhaps she’d forgotten I was new in town and I hadn’t met very many people yet.

My gaze scoured over the woman in front of me. She was petite, several inches shorter than me with long, wavy red hair, a flawless complexion and amazing green eyes. While I never considered myself homely, this woman was truly a knock-out.
While I was frazzled and overheated, she looked cool and put together.

“I’m sorry,” I said, trying to keep my voice polite. “Am I supposed to know you?”

Kara smiled demurely while she let Morgan speak.

“I’m sure Alex has mentioned the love of his life to you,”
Morgan said.

Ah. The
ex-fiancé. It was clear that Morgan wanted to get a reaction out of me. I was not going to give her the one I assumed she was expecting.

“Right,” I said with a nod. I turned my attention to Kara and gave her smile. “I
have
heard about you.”

Morgan looked smug. “I was hoping he’d mentioned his fiancé to you.” She waved a dismissive hand my way. “Sorry, ex-fiancé. They were together for so long. Sometimes I still have a hard time remembering that they aren’t together anymore.”

“Well, it has been more than a year since they broke up,” I pointed out, though I knew she was well-aware
of that consequential fact.

Morgan
nodded. “I’m sure they’ll be together again in no time. Those two just can’t stay away from each other for very long.”

“Are we seriously having this conversation?” Claire asked as she dug her fists into her hips.

“Morgan,” Kara said, her voice chiding but I was sure completely insincere. “This really isn’t necessary.”

Morgan
turned to her friend. “I just thought it was important to let her know what she’s in for. You and Alex belong together. You always have. You created a life together. That kind of bond doesn’t go away.”

A
life
…?

Did she mean a
baby
?

I felt my heart topple in my chest. Claire’s hand slid around my elbow.

Kara frowned at Morgan. “I don’t think Alex would appreciate you talking about our baby,” she muttered, clarifying my tangled thoughts.

A baby.

“He probably didn’t tell you about the baby, did he?” Morgan asked.

I was too shocked to say a word. My expression answered for me.

Morgan smiled cruelly at me before spinning on her heel.

The two of them scampered away like little rats.

“I had no idea that girl was such a bitch,” Claire muttered, her expression was as stunned as I felt. It melted away into a look of concern. “Did you know about this?” she asked me quietly.

I numbly shook my head.
I knew he’d been engaged but that was the extent of it. I’d shared that little bit of information with Claire last weekend. I knew they’d been apart for over a year. But the rest of it…? I’d had no idea. I hadn’t even known his ex-fiancés name.

I realized that I had known that there had to be more to the explanation than what he’d told me. A whole lot more. I began mentally chastising myself for not demanding more details. I should have, the day at the state park. I’d known there was more but I’d just let the subject drop.

I had to wonder if he would’ve been willing to share if I’d pressed. Or would’ve he found a way to skirt around the issue?

“He has a kid?” she asked.
Her expression was incredulous.

I still couldn’t speak so she tugged at me until I took a step and then towed me toward the parking lot. I tu
mbled into her passenger seat. Dark spots swam before my eyes, making it hard to even think.

I had never felt so blindsided in my life.

“He didn’t tell you?” she asked.

I shook my head. “Not a word. I mean…I knew he was engaged. He did tell me that much.” I thought back to that night. The night he’d mentioned Kara was the night I’d told him about Jason. It would’ve been the perfect, logical time for him to talk to me. “I guess he didn’t want me to know about the baby.”

“Maybe he just didn’t want to scare you off,” she suggested.

“I’m more scared off by the fact that he
kept
something so huge from me than I am by the fact that he has a kid.”

My mind went back to that night. He’d told me they had a major difference of opinion. Had he not wanted the baby? Had he left her because of the baby?

My stomach flipped over unpleasantly. What kind of guy would do that?

A nagging little voice told me the same kind of guy that wouldn’t mention his child to his new girlfriend.

I shook my head. “You know what? The night that
Morgan invited us to The Bear’s Den, Alex seemed willing to go. Until I mentioned Morgan.” I thought back to that conversation. “I think it was as soon as I mentioned her name that he decided he didn’t want to go. He came up with some excuse, it sounded reasonable at the time, so that we wouldn’t go.”

“He was avoiding her,” Claire surmised. “You know, the few times Sean and I have gone out with
them, she’s been really pushy, wondering where you and Alex are. Stupid me, I thought maybe she and Alex were good friends from way back. I thought that was why she wanted to see him. I had no idea that—” She glanced at me as she cut herself off. “Wow, Zoey, I don’t even know what to say.”

I shook my head and blinked hard, trying to press the tears away. “You don’t have to say anything. I’m pretty speechless myself.”

She pulled away from the street and we rode the rest of the way home in silence.

*******

“You know,” Claire said as she gazed worriedly at me, “maybe we should give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he’s a really good dad. He probably wanted to tell you but didn’t want to scare you away. I mean, a kid is a pretty big thing.”

I nodded. She was right. Having a kid was a
huge
thing.

“What really bothers me,” I said as I leaned my head back against the couch cushion, “was his attitude. He told me he left her because they wanted totally different things. But they were enga
ged! He had to have left her when he found out she was pregnant if you think about the timing of it. What kind of bastard would do that?”

Claire cringed. “
I don’t know. But I would guess, considering that
very
planned, over the top confrontation that Morgan and Kara staged, that Kara would be more than happy to take him back.”

I nodded because I’d surmised the same thing. I couldn’t blame Kara. What kind of mother wouldn’t want her family to be together? Especially if the father was someone she’d loved, probably still loved, and had spent that
many years with.

I glanced at my cell phone. It was clenched so tightly in my fist that my knuckles had turned white. I’d tried calling Alex even though I knew it was futile. He’d warned me that the cabin was in such a remote setting that reception was sketchy at best. I knew that because of that, he didn’t bother to even leave his phone on. That didn’t stop me from calling, or from leaving a message asking him to call me as soon as he possibly could.

I decided waiting for him to call was futile. I tossed the phone to the other side of the couch. I was probably going to have to wait until tomorrow to hear from him. I knew he wouldn’t be home until late. Maybe I ought to park myself on his front step so I could demand an answer.

On the other hand, I was so pissed off that the longer I fumed over it, the more I thought that maybe I didn’t want to talk to him at all.

Claire rose from the chair on the other side of the room.

Our planned evening of Chinese food and cheesy movies was long forgotten.

“Let me give Sean a call. He might know something. He’s never mentioned anything but then again, it seems like guys don’t give a second thought to this kind of thing.”

She left the room but I could still hear the muffled sound of her voice.

When she finally returned, she wore a frown.

“Sean didn’t know much. All he could remember was that their wedding was cancelled at the last minute.
He thought maybe even that day. Alex didn’t stand her up at the altar but it sounds like it was damn close to that.”

My shoulders slumped. Everything that I thought I knew about Alex, I was suddenly questioning. I’d thought he was so responsible. I’d thought he was so honest, caring, just a decent kind of guy.

“Did he walk because of the baby?” I asked.

“Sean didn’t know anything about a baby,” she said apologetically. “Kara left town right after. He said he really didn’t hear much about why. He just assumed it was to get away from the whole situation.
There was a lot of talk about how humiliated she was, being a jilted bride and all. Alex got a lot of crap for handling things the way he did. I mean, I’m sure there’s more to the story but to cancel the wedding that late in the game?” She shook her head.

I nodded slowly, suddenly feeling bad for Alex’s ex-fiancé. I could completely understand
her wanting to get away.

“Maybe
,” Claire said softly, “maybe this isn’t how it looks at all.”

I let out a frustrated huff as I turned to her. “I want to give him the benefit of the doubt. But I just can’t imagine how he could explain this away.

“You two just started dating,” Claire said in his defense. “And you have to admit, you two got off to a rocky start. Maybe he just wasn’t ready.”

“And now? I know it’s only been a few months. But at the same time…we’ve been together
for months
!” I started to think that over. I knew where he was most of the time. We spent a lot of evenings together. He also worked a lot. No, I didn’t know where he was every second of every day, but between the time he spent with me, and the time he put in for his company, he had very little time left.