Starting Over (15 page)

Oh no.
What a nightmare. “So you don’t know where Alex is now?”

“He walked out
yesterday with nothing but the keys to his motorcycle and the
clothes on his back. No one has seen him since.”

Whenever they
argued, he would often take the motorcycle for a spin, claiming it
helped him clear his head. “Maybe he just wanted to get away for a
few days.”

“He withdrew a
large amount of cash from the bank,” Marianne said, crying. “I
think he intends to stay away for a while. Maybe even forever. What
if I never see my son again? What am I going to do?”

What if her
child never met their father? “Why don’t you get James to do some
digging or hire a private investigator?”

“James already
looked into it. Alex hasn’t used his credit cards, and with the
amount of money he took, he won’t have to for a long while, unless
he makes some large purchases.”

Eve’s mind
raced, trying to think of where he might have gone. “Does James
have any idea where he may be? Any spots he talked about
going?”

“I don’t think
he had his passport, so he couldn’t have left the country. James
said the spots they’d ever talked about visiting were outside of
the U.S.”

“I can’t think
of anywhere off the top of my head either. But if I can or if he
shows up here, I promise to let you know, okay?”

“Thanks, dear.
I know this isn’t your problem anymore. I’m just so worried about
him. He was a wreck when he left. He shouldn’t even have been on
that death-trap in his state.”

That bit of
knowledge made Eve worry even more. Her hand instinctively covered
her stomach. The stress wasn’t good for the baby. “Try not to
worry. I’m sure he’ll be back home soon.” At least she prayed he
would.

***

Alex hooked his
motorcycle helmet over the seat across from him. After he left New
York a few days earlier, he’d traded his designer suit for a pair
of faded jeans, black T-shirt, leather jacket, and motorcycle
boots. One thing was for sure—he was done with the corporate life.
He’d covered nearly a thousand miles already, but it still wasn’t
far enough. He needed to get as far away from the memories and
well-meaning people in his life as he could.

“What can I get
you?” a tired-looking brunette waitress asked, her pen poised over
her notepad.

He hadn’t even
had a chance to look at the plastic menu yet. “Uh, just a coffee to
start.”

“You got
it.”

He turned his
cell phone on and it buzzed right away. Why couldn’t they just
leave him alone? He knew his mother felt guilty about selling the
company, but he wasn’t in the mood to discuss it. He needed time
and some distance to gain perspective. When he saw Eve’s name on
the screen, he was tempted to answer, but he knew his mother had
probably put her up to calling. Eve would report back to Marianne,
and he didn’t need her to start a man-hunt.

“Have you
decided what you want to order?” the waitress asked, filling his
white mug with dark brew that looked as though it could keep a
trucker awake all night. Considering the patrons at the small
roadside restaurant, that was probably their objective.

“Uh, just give
me a burger with everything and fries.” His doctor had told him his
cholesterol was borderline high, but he didn’t give a damn about
that. His life was all about instant gratification at the
moment.

“Sure thing,”
she said, scribbling his order on her notepad before walking to the
next table.

“I haven’t seen
you around here before.”

Alex looked up
to see an attractive redhead smiling at him. She was wearing a long
blue tank top with flip-flops, skinny jeans, and barely a hint of
makeup. She was pretty… and young. “Hi.”

“Mind if I join
you for a bit?” she asked. “I’m just waiting for my ride.” Before
Alex could respond, she set her backpack on the seat across from
him. The restaurant wasn’t busy, so if she wanted to share his
table, she was flirting. That was the last thing Alex wanted to
deal with. “Ahhh, it feels good to sit down.” She grinned.

“You work here,
Gloria?” he asked, noticing the name tag pinned to her
backpack.

“Just a couple
of nights a week. I go to school during the day.”

“Hmm, what are
you studying?” He didn’t really care, but being polite couldn’t
hurt.

“I’m a nursing
student. I should graduate next year.” She crossed her fingers and
held them up. “That is, if all goes well.”

Alex grinned
his first genuine smile in what seemed like forever. “Good luck
with that.”

“Failure isn’t
an option,” she said, sighing. “I got a kid to raise, and let’s
just say his old man is a real deadbeat.”

“Really? You
have a kid?” She barely looked old enough to drink.

“He’s two. His
name is Jacob. You wanna see a picture?” Before Alex could respond,
she pulled out her phone and flashed her screen saver.

Alex took the
phone so he could get a closer look. “Oh wow. He’s cute.” Jacob had
dark brown hair and big green eyes. His skin was lightly tanned, no
doubt from playing outside, and his denim shorts showed off a
skinned knee. Alex couldn’t help but think if he and Eve had the
baby she’d wanted, he might look a lot like that little guy. “He’s
really cute.”

“Thanks.” She
smiled when Alex handed back her phone. “My name’s Glo, by the
way.” She wrinkled her nose when Alex raised an eyebrow. “Okay,
it’s actually Gloria, but that’s so old-fashioned. Don’t you
think?”

“I don’t know
about that.” Alex laughed. “It reminds me of one of my favorite TV
shows when I was a kid,
All in the Family
.”

She said,
“Never heard of it.”

Alex dropped
his head into his hand dramatically. “The youth of today… you guys
don’t know what you’re missing.”

She laughed at
his reaction. “You can’t be that old.”

“Gee thanks,”
he muttered, lifting his head to look at her out of the corner of
his eye.

“I’m guessing
thirty.”

“Guess
again.”

She looked out
the window at his custom chopper. “Thirty-five, tops.”

The bike made
him feel younger, more carefree, and he was grateful for that.
“Thirty-eight.”

“Hmm, you look
good for your age.”

Alex smiled as
the waitress set his plate down. “Thanks.” Even though he hadn’t
asked for Glo’s company, talking to someone who didn’t have any
preconceived ideas about him was nice.

“You want
anything, Glo?” the waitress asked.

“Nah, my dad
should be here to get me in a bit.” When the waitress walked away,
Gloria unapologetically reached for a French fry from Alex’s plate.
He smirked and slid the plate to the center of the table so they
could share. “My car’s in the shop again,” she explained, adding
ketchup to Alex’s fries. “It’s a hunk of junk. It’ll be nice when I
start making real money so I can get a new set of wheels.”

“You and your
son live with your parents?” Alex reached for his burger. He hadn’t
had much of an appetite since he left home, but it was finally
coming back with a vengeance.

“For now,” she
said, wrinkling her nose. “They help me out with him, you know,
watching him while I work and go to school, but it’ll be nice to
get my own place.”

“I bet.” Alex
had left home to go to college and never looked back. He loved his
parents, but he longed for his own space and privacy. As a college
kid, he’d wanted to have sex without worrying about his parents
walking in on them. “So, can you point me in the direction of a
decent hotel?” He realized her version of decent and his may
differ, but as long as he had a pillow and a soft bed, he wouldn’t
complain.

She looked him
up and down, sizing him up. “Depends what you’re looking for. My
daddy has a cabin not too far from here. He uses it mainly for
hunting and fishing.” She laughed before popping another French fry
into her mouth. “And when he needs to get away from my mama. He
says goin’ there all by himself is like therapy. You kinda look
like you’re trying to get away from something. Am I right?”

Alex was
surprised by her insight. “Just finalized my divorce.” The appetite
he thought was returning fled again at the mention of his failed
marriage.

“I kind of
wondered about that,” she said, gesturing toward his gold band. “I
didn’t think your wife would let you roam around the countryside
all by your lonesome.”

“Oh yeah? Why’s
that?” he asked before forcing himself to take another bite of his
burger.

“For an older
guy, you’re hotter than hell.” She giggled at his shocked
expression. “Don’t worry, I’m not making a play for you or
anything. Just stating a fact.” Alex continued eating instead of
taking the bait. “I take it you didn’t want the divorce?”

Reaching for
his water, he said, “No, I didn’t.”

“So, why’d you
go along with it?”

“It’s what she
wanted.”

“Was there some
other guy in the picture?” she asked, lowering her voice and
leaning forward.

Alex thought
about Dan. He knew he wasn’t the reason Eve wanted the divorce. If
he knew one thing for certain, his wife was faithful. “No, nothing
like that. We just grew apart, I guess.”

“You guess?”
Glo frowned. “That’s a crock, if you ask me, when people say they
just ‘grew apart.’”

“Right, like
you have so much life experience?” He knew it wasn’t fair to take
his anger out on a smart-mouthed kid offering her opinion about his
personal life, but she was making herself a target. “How the hell
do you know what it takes to make a marriage work?”

“I’ve watched
my parents go through their ups and downs,” she said, seeming
unfazed by his reaction. “They’ve been married twenty-five years.
Separated a time or two, but they always found their way back to
each other. Course, they had me and my younger brother to think
about it. Maybe that’s why they tried so hard to make it work. You
and your wife have any kids?”

“No.”

“That’s
probably why it was so easy for your wife to cut you loose.”

Alex clenched
his teeth, thinking it was about time to end their conversation so
he could finish his meal in peace.

“Did y’all want
kids?” Glo asked, popping the last fry into her mouth.

He figured the
only way to get rid of her was to answer her questions. “She did.
Me? Not so much.”

“How come?” she
asked, crossing her arms. “You’re not one of those guys who’re
afraid of commitment, are you?”

“I got married,
didn’t I?”

“Yeah, but
having a kid together takes it to a whole different level. If
you’re a decent guy, unlike my ex. Is that what scared you?”

“I don’t know.”
He pushed the plate aside, wiping his mouth with a paper napkin. He
stretched one arm across the back of the bench seat and regarded
his companion. She reminded him of Tonya—nosy, opinionated, and
sassy. Maybe that’s why she was so easy to talk to. “I told myself
I wasn’t ready to have a kid because my career took me away from
home so much.”

“But you think
that was just an excuse?”

“I don’t know.”
He’d been thinking about that a lot lately, wondering how he would
have handled the situation if he had it to do over. If they had
gotten pregnant and the marriage fell apart, negotiating custody
would have complicated their lives further. Perhaps he’d sensed it
was too late to salvage their marriage and that’s why he wasn’t
excited about the prospect of bringing a baby into the equation. “I
guess it doesn’t matter now, does it?”

“You still love
her though.”

Alex didn’t
know how she could read him so easily, but it was kind of
unnerving. “Yeah, I do.”

“She still love
you?”

“Yeah, I think
so.” He knew she did. He saw it in her eyes the last time they were
together, which had made walking away from her for the last time
the hardest thing he’d ever had to do.

“Then you’re an
idiot for letting her go.”

Alex stared at
her, unable to believe her audacity. “Haven’t you ever heard that
saying about loving something and letting it go, kid?”

Rolling her
eyes, Glo said, “Give me a break. You don’t really believe that, do
you?” She jumped when a car horn sounded. “There’s my daddy now.”
She raised her hand, beckoning him inside. “You can talk to him
about the cabin if you want. He’s not using it right now. He’s too
busy with his trucking business to get away.”

Alex watched a
big, burly man with a pot belly hanging over his belted blue jeans
jump out of a dirty pick-up truck. He was wearing a baseball cap
and a plaid shirt and didn’t look much older than Alex. Having
babies right out of high school must run in their family.

“Hey, Daddy,”
Glo said, smiling at the scowling man. “I want you to meet a new
friend of mine.” She must have realized she hadn’t even asked his
name because she gave Alex a pointed look, begging him to rescue
her.

“Alex…” He
considered giving the man his last name but thought better of it.
He’d withdrawn cash because he didn’t want anyone to track him
down. “Nice to meet you.” He stood to shake the other man’s
hand.

“Jim Reynolds,”
he said, offering more of a glare than a smile. He glanced at
Alex’s helmet on the seat next to Glo. “That bike out there
yours?”

“Yeah.”

“Sweet ride. I
used to have a Harley, but my wife made me sell it when the kids
came along.” He smirked. “Damn near broke my heart.”

“I can see
why.” Alex placed his helmet on the seat next to him and gestured
to the seat next to Jim’s daughter. “You got a minute? Glo tells me
you might have a place to rent?”

“The cabin,”
Glo said when her father frowned. “You said yourself it’s a shame
to leave it sitting like that.”

“I don’t know
if I’m ready to rent it to a stranger,” Jim said, sliding into the
seat next to Gloria. “No offense, but I don’t know you from Adam,
man.”