When Least Expected by Allison B. Hanson Page B

before,” she said, trying desperately to keep him talking.
    â€œAs long as he pays me to develop the site, I can’t be responsible for how many hits it gets.” He smiled.
    God, she loved his smile, the way it warmed something deep inside her.
    â€œI’ll be sure to take a look.”
    â€œBecause I made it?” he asked.
    She nodded, feeling kind of stupid.
    â€œYou’d do that, wouldn’t you?” he asked.
    â€œJust because you don’t make something tangible doesn’t mean it’s not worth seeing,” she said, like she always had.
    He laughed and nodded. The silence returned.
    â€œI’m sorry about dinner last night. You shouldn’t have left,” she said.
    â€œWell, you shouldn’t have felt the need to leave either.”
    â€œStill, they’re your parents.” She pointed out.
    â€œAnd they love you more than me.”
    â€œThat’s not true.”
    â€œI think it is. Besides, I didn’t leave because you were there. I remembered something I had to take care of.”
    â€œYou couldn’t even say good-bye?” she asked.
    â€œApparently, it’s rubbing off,” he said. She twitched at his comment. Had he heard her and his mother discussing Meeghan? Shit.
    â€œI need to apologize to you, Lex,” he blurted out.
    â€œNo.” She didn’t need to know what for. He didn’t owe her anything. He had married a happy girl who loved him dearly, and he’d ended up with a depressed shell of a person who barely noticed anything about him other than his sperm count.
    â€œYes, I do. Please just let me say this.” She waited, knowing she couldn’t jump out of the car. “I’m sorry about bringing Meeghan to the viewing, and for whatever she might have said to you that was inappropriate. It wasn’t her place to stand there next to me. I’m not saying I expected you to do it, but I should have offered. I should have known you were hurting. I should have helped with that.”
    â€œIt’s okay. You have a new life now. I’m . . .” She wanted to say she was happy for him, but she couldn’t force the words out. “. . . dealing with that. I can understand why you would have wanted her there with you.”
    â€œI appreciate that. It still wasn’t right.”
    Lexi suddenly wondered what Meeghan thought of this arrangement. Granted, she was elated the girl wasn’t with them, but surely Meeghan didn’t approve. Not when she’d been so pissed just seeing them in her car together at Kelly’s house.
    â€œIs Meeghan okay with this?” she asked.
    â€œIt’s fine,” he said rather abruptly.
    â€œShe’s fine with you spending the weekend alone with your ex-wife? She didn’t even seem comfortable with me in a room with you and a hundred other people,” she said.
    â€œIt doesn’t matter.”
    â€œIf you wanted to bring her this weekend, I could have stayed at that little hotel in town or something.”
    â€œLex, I said it doesn’t matter. We . . . broke up.”
    â€œOh. I’m sorry.” She was. A little. Just because she never liked to see him sad.
    He nodded but didn’t seem to want to say anything else. They went back to silence for a while until it became unbearable again.
    â€œSo, when was the last time you were up here?” she asked him, bracing herself for his answer. He had most likely brought the new girl up to the cabin in the past six months. That was to be expected, and she wasn’t going to cry.
    â€œHmm. I guess the Christmas before last, when you and I came up.” Her heart relaxed. “You?”
    â€œI was up with Jimmy last fall. We went hiking to look at the leaves changing.”
    â€œI’m sorry I missed that,” he said sadly.
    Just then her ears popped from the pressure as they climbed farther up into the mountains. Some things couldn’t change, like