Chapter Eleven

If He Finally Stands Up For Himself…

In the morning, Lindsay woke up on the couch in Gavin’s living room. The alarm on her phone was ringing and someone was knocking on the front door simultaneously.

Gavin was nowhere to be seen, but Lindsay would be damned if she was going to answer the door at his house a second time.

It turned out to be unnecessary. Gavin was awake, dressed, and answering the door like someone who was well-rested and ready to go.

Marissa was at the door. Lindsay heard her say, “I’m sorry to barge in on you like this, but I need to talk to you one more time.”

“This has to be the last time,” he said, his voice apologetic.

“That’s fine. I just need to have a frank conversation with you. I just need to lay it all out on the table. Can I come in?”

“If you insist,” he said.

If Lindsay had been smart, she would have taken their conversation at the door as a cue that she should get out of the living room and literally go anywhere else in the house. Except she only had enough time to stand up before Gavin led Marissa into the living room.

The blonde woman stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Lindsay. “She spent the night again?”

“I know you’re not comfortable with this situation, but I have to tell you that Lindsay and Oliver were goofing around the day we took you back to Victoria. She’s not with him. She’s with me.”

“And you let her spend the night?” she asked again in horror.

“Yes. I did.”

Marissa stared at him. “You never let me spend the night. Why her? What’s so great about her? Why did you shut me down?” she blurted angrily, obviously past caring if she looked pathetic. She was so desperate for answers that it didn’t matter anymore who saw her at her worst. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I know,” Gavin said softly.

“I didn’t do anything wrong,” she said again, raising her voice. “If I didn’t do anything wrong then why didn’t you love me?”

“I don’t know,” Gavin said, keeping his voice low and steady. “I don’t know why I didn’t want you, not really, and not ever. I don’t know. There’s nothing wrong with you, except that I didn’t. I’m sorry. I don’t have a better explanation.”

Lindsay did not want to be there. She did not want to be in the middle of Gavin and Marissa as they had their last talk. She checked her phone. If she had been at her apartment when she woke up, she would have had plenty of time to get ready for work at ten, but since she was at Gavin’s, she had much less time. She hadn’t even told him that she was working that day.

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She sighed and found Oliver’s number on her phone. She put it to her ear. Gavin and Marissa were still dramatizing their break-up as Lindsay waited for Oliver to pick up the call.

When Oliver finally picked up the phone, he answered with a cheerful, “Hey, Beautiful.”

“Hey, O-lover,” she called back, hoping that her playfulness won points with him. “Listen, I stayed the night at Gavin’s, but Marissa is here and they’re having a row. I’d sell tickets, but I took a job at the clothing store under my apartment. I have to be at work by ten. Is there any chance you could borrow Ricky’s truck and give me a ride back?”

“Your head must be splitting open,” he remarked dryly. Apparently, he could hear the two of them going at it in the background of the call. “I’ll be there in a jiffy. But I need a favor in return.”

“At this moment, I would promise you my firstborn child,” she agreed.

“Great. See you soon!”

Lindsay hung up to see that she had somehow managed to get Gavin’s attention during his fight with Marissa.

“Who did you just call?” he asked. Since he was angry with Marissa, he was directing that anger toward Lindsay.

“I called Oliver. I can’t be here. I need to be at work by ten.”

“You’re working today?” The anger had not dissipated.

“Yes. I have to work today.” She put her fingers in her hair. “Do you think yesterday’s shower will hold or do I need another one?”

“Wait. Why are you working so much?” he blurted, holding his hand in Marissa’s face as though his hand was capable of asking his ex-girlfriend to wait.

Lindsay rolled her eyes. “I told you. I have lived an irresponsible life up until now and it is time to pay the piper.”

“But if you work this much, you’ll be no good to me tomorrow at the hotel.”

“That’s where you’re wrong,” she said, making her way past the two quarrelers and arriving at the front door. She stuck her foot in her boot and did up the laces. “You won’t notice a thing. I’ll work just as hard as before. After all, you’ve been so kind, making sure I had enough to eat last night and letting me sleep as long as possible.”

“Wait. You were concerned about not having enough to eat?”

Lindsay winced. Leave it to him to pick up on that part of her dialogue. “No. No. It was just nice of you to make dinner last night for me.”

“You made her dinner?” Marissa howled over Gavin’s shoulder.

He put his hand in Marissa’s face a second time.

Lindsay got her second boot on and reached for her coat. “Listen, I’d love to talk more about this. It’s just that you’ve got your own problems right now. How about you clean your own house before you tell me how to clean mine?” She pointed at Marissa as if she couldn’t stand the hypocrisy of his criticism. “If I don’t work well enough for you on Monday, make sure to tell me. I can’t lose that job.” She opened the front door.

“When do you finish work tonight?” he asked, putting a hand on the door to stop her from closing it in his face.

“Five.”

“Can I call you?”

“Of course,” she said pleasantly.

As Lindsay predicted, Oliver was coming around the corner in Ricky’s truck. He pulled into the pine needle driveway. Lindsay ran up, turning briefly to wave at Gavin before yanking the door open and vaulting into the truck. She waved again from the passenger seat.

That was the best moment of that morning. Gavin stood on his front porch, watching Lindsay disappear from sight. The look on his face was annoyance, helplessness, and discouragement. And Marissa was there to see it. She stood next to him, eyes on his face.

Maybe she finally understood what Gavin had been telling her, that she never had a chance with him.