Unfortunately, I wasn't sure how much getting along I could do right then, not when Lexi was insisting on being so rude to me, right there at my own breakfast table. I had a few choice words for her regarding responsibility as well. Regarding her responsibilities to Emma.
But I bit them back and stood up instead, grabbing my jacket off the back of my chair and shrugging into it.
“You've hardly eat
en your breakfast,” Lexi protested, and at that moment, for the briefest second, it was as though she put aside all her other feelings towards me and was strictly focused on my well-being. I filed that away for later consideration.
For now, I just grunted. “I'll grab a bagel to take with me or something,” I said when Lexi looked like she was going to protest again.
Lexi ducked her head, pushing her eggs around on her plate. “Thank you for letting us stay here,” she said again, her voice barely audible.
I nodded curtly at her and strode quickly from the room, forgetting in my haste to even say goodbye to Emma. I wasn't entirely sure why that bothered me so much, but it was all I could think about during my whole drive to work.
Fortunately, once I arrived at the office, the usual chaos, compounded by the potential expansion, was there to greet me, and I didn't have a spare moment to think of anything else.
Chapter Thirteen
Lexi
I smiled over at Emma as we colored side-by-side in one of the books that Janice had bought for the girl. “That's a very pretty flower,” I said to Emma, pointing to the smear of red that she was coloring.
Emma shrieked with laughter. “Mama, it's not a flower,” she said. “It's an apple.”
“Sorry, pumpkin,” I told her. “You're right, of course it's an apple.” I hid my grin, coloring in the sun that she had imperiously told me to color in bright pink.
I still felt a little uneasy about this whole thing, especially the idea that Andrew wanted to keep tabs on my job search. I'd already applied to fifteen jobs that morning, but I still felt guilty taking a one-hour break to play with Emma. That wasn't fair. I didn't want to be one of those mothers whose kid never saw her because she was too busy with work.
For better or for worse, though, that wasn't looking like it would ever be an issue, since I'd have to get work in order for that to be the case. And that wasn't happening.
I was drawn from my gloomy turn of thoughts by the sound of my phone ringing. I rolled to my feet and grabbed it off my bedside table, quickly answering the call when I saw that it was Misty.
“Hey,” she said, sounding excited. “I take it that since you're still not here at my place, things are going well between you and Andrew?”
I glanced back at Emma and then stepped out into the hall. The chances of her overhearing something that she would understand weren't very high, but all the same, I'd rather not have this conversation in front of her. The one with Andrew at the breakfast table had been enough as it was.
“Things went well enough,” I said cautiously.
“Come on, I want more information than that,” Misty said, and I could tell that she was rolling her eyes. “All you said in your message yesterday was that you guys were both exhausted and you were going to spend the night there with him. So, I guess you did that, but what happened next?”
I sighed. “I didn't want to tell you all the details in a message because I wanted to talk to you about this,” I told her. “Andrew has agreed to let Emma and I stay here. Not forever, as he's very quick to add, but at least for a couple weeks.”
“Oh, wow,” Misty said. “That's good, right?”
“I feel humiliated,” I told her. “I had to come crawling back to this guy, this guy who treated me so poorly, and beg him for a place to stay and food for my daughter.”
“It's not like he can't afford it,” Misty pointed out.
“So not the point,” I said, shaking my head. “This just isn't what I want with my life.”
“But this isn't about you, remember,” Misty said. “This is about Emma and getting Emma what she deserves. And she deserves to grow up in a nice home, with enough to eat. You may not like the current situation, but you can make it better. This is just a step towards making things better.”
“I'm trying to be positive, and I'm trying to look at things that way, but it's difficult,” I told her. “I'm also not sure what's going to happen long-term. I haven't told Emma who Andrew really is, and I don't plan to, not yet. Andrew says we can stay for a couple weeks, while he goes on a business trip, but after that, he wants us out of here. He's talking about getting us settled in a nice place in downtown and getting Emma set up at one of the best daycares in the city.”
“That all sounds great,” Misty said. “You haven't said no to him, have you? I know you have your pride, but all the same, that offer is too good to pass up.”
“I don't really know what it entails, though,” I said, feeling pained. “When I first showed up, Andrew told me that if I was just here to try to squeeze money out of him, he would tie this thing up in court for years and make sure I didn't see a cent from him. I can't afford to have that happen. What if he gets us all set up and then decides that he's spent all the money that he's willing to spend on us?”
“I highly doubt he'd do that to you,” Misty said.