At First Sight - Nicholas Sparks [66]
Alvin held up his hands. “I’m not saying that.”
“It sure as hell sounds like that’s what you’re saying!” Jeremy shouted, not wanting to hear any more. Again the people around him turned to stare; again he ignored them. “And I’ll tell you what!” he went on. “I don’t care what you think I should do. It’s my baby! I’m going to marry Lexie! And I’m going to live in Boone Creek because that’s where I belong!”
“You don’t have to yell—”
“You lied to me!”
“I was trying to help—”
“You betrayed me—”
“No!” Alvin said, his voice rising to meet Jeremy’s. “All I did was ask questions you should have been asking yourself all along.”
“It wasn’t any of your damn business!”
“I didn’t do this to hurt you!” Alvin shouted back. “I’m not the only one who thought you were moving too fast with all this! Your brothers think the same thing!”
The comment made Jeremy freeze for a second; Alvin took the opportunity to press his case.
“Getting married is a big deal, Jeremy! We’re not talking about going out to dinner with her; we’re talking about you waking up for the rest of your life with her by your side. People don’t fall in love in just a couple of days. And no matter what you think, you didn’t, either. You thought she was great, you thought she was intelligent or beautiful or whatever . . . but to suddenly decide to spend the rest of your life with her? To give up your home and your career on a whim?”
His voice had a pleading note, one that reminded Jeremy of a teacher trying to get through to a gifted, though obstinate, student. He could conjure up any number of responses. He could have told Alvin that he had no doubt the baby was his; he could have told Alvin that sending the e-mails was not only wrong, but sinister; he could have told Alvin that he loved Lexie and had loved her all along, and he always would. But they’d gone over all that, and even if Alvin was wrong, he wouldn’t want to admit it.
And Alvin was wrong. About every bit of it.
Instead, Jeremy stared into his drink and swirled it before meeting Alvin’s eyes. With a quick jerk of his arm, he threw the rest of his drink in Alvin’s face and then grabbed him by the collar. Hurtling forward, he shoved an off-balance Alvin back a few steps, pinning him against a column.
He almost hit him. Instead, he brought his face close to Alvin’s, near enough to smell his breath.
“I never want to see or talk to you again.”
With that, he turned and strode out the door.
Twelve
I haven’t heard from him,” Lexie admitted the following afternoon, eyeing Doris across the table at Herbs.
“I’m sure it’s going to be all right,” Doris said.
Lexie hesitated, trying to figure out whether Doris was telling the truth or simply saying what she wanted to hear. “You didn’t see his expression at the house yesterday. The way he stared at me . . . like he hated me.”
“Can you blame him?”
Lexie looked up. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Just what I said,” Doris replied. “How would you like it if you discovered something about Jeremy that made you feel you couldn’t trust him?”
Lexie stiffened in protest. “I didn’t come here to listen to this.”
“Well, you’re here, and you’re going to listen. You came here hoping for sympathy, but when you told your story, I kept thinking about how Jeremy might have seen all this. He sees you holding hands with Rodney, you break your date to spend the evening with Rodney, and then he finds out that you’ve been pregnant before. It’s no wonder he was angry.”
Lexie opened her mouth to say something, but Doris raised her hands to cut her off.
“I know it’s not what you want to hear, but he’s not the only one at fault here.”
“I apologized. I explained everything.”
“I know you did, but sometimes that’s not enough. You hid things from him, not once or twice, but three times. You can’t do that, not if you want his confidence. You should have told him what happened with Trevor. I thought you already had, or I never would have given him the journal.”
“Why did I have to tell him? I hadn’t thought about it