At First Sight - Nicholas Sparks [72]
The one place they didn’t go was Herbs. After learning what Rachel had told Alvin, Lexie couldn’t fathom the idea of seeing her—not yet, anyway. The night before, Doris had called, asking why neither Jeremy nor Lexie had even dropped in to say hello. On the phone, Lexie assured Doris that she wasn’t angry with her and admitted that Doris had been right to take her to task when they last spoke. When Lexie didn’t follow up with a visit, Doris called again.
“I’m beginning to think there’s something that you’re not telling me,” Doris said, “and if you don’t tell me what’s going on, I’m going to march over to your house and perch myself on your porch until you fill me in.”
“We’re just busy and making sure everything is ready for the weekend,” Lexie said, trying to appease her.
“I didn’t just fall off the turnip truck,” Doris said, “and I know avoidance when I see it, and the fact is, you’re avoiding me.”
“I’m not avoiding you.”
“Then why not swing by the restaurant a little later?” When Lexie hesitated, Doris made an intuitive leap. “Does this have something to do with Rachel, by any chance?”
When Lexie didn’t answer, Doris sighed. “That’s it, isn’t it. I should have known. On Monday, she seemed to be avoiding me, too. Same thing today. What did she do now?”
Lexie was wondering how much to say when she heard Jeremy enter the kitchen behind her. Thinking he was coming in for a glass of water or a snack, she gave him a distracted smile before she noticed his expression.
“Rachel’s here,” Jeremy said. “She wants to talk to you.”
Rachel flashed a nervous smile when Lexie entered the living room, then quickly looked away. Lexie stared at her without speaking. In the doorway, Jeremy shifted his weight from one foot to the other, then decided to slip out the back door so the two could be alone.
Lexie heard the back door close before she took a seat across from Rachel. Devoid of makeup, Rachel looked anxious and exhausted. In her hands, she twisted a tissue compulsively.
“I’m sorry,” she said without preamble. “I never meant for any of this to happen, and I can only guess how angry you are. I just want you to know I didn’t want to hurt you. I had no idea that Alvin had done what he did.”
When Lexie didn’t respond, Rachel brought her hands to her head, massaging her temples. “He called me at home this past weekend and tried to explain, but I was just so horrified. If I’d known, if I’d even had an inkling of what he was doing, I would never have talked to him. But he fooled me. . . .”
She trailed off, still unable to meet Lexie’s eyes.
“You’re not the only one. He fooled Jeremy, too,” Lexie said.
“But it was still my fault.”
“Yeah,” Lexie agreed, “it was.”
Lexie’s comment seemed to stop Rachel’s train of thought. In the silence that followed, Lexie watched her, trying to assess whether she was feeling contrite because of what she’d done or because she’d been caught. She was a friend, someone Lexie had trusted, but then again, Jeremy would have said the same thing about Alvin.
“Tell me how it happened,” Lexie finally said.
Rachel sat up straighter; when she spoke, it sounded as if she’d been rehearsing her words for days.
“You know that Rodney and I have been having problems, right?”
Lexie nodded.
“That’s where it started,” Rachel said. “I know that you and Rodney always saw your relationship differently. To you, he was just a friend, but to Rodney . . . well, you were like some kind of fantasy, and even now, I’m not sure whether he’s ever going to get over you. When he looks at me sometimes, it’s like he really wants to be seeing you instead. I know that sounds crazy, but I felt it every time he showed up at my door. It’s like I was never quite good enough, no matter what I was wearing or what we planned to do. And then, one day when I was running something into Doris’s office, I found Alvin’s phone number, and . . . I don’t know . . . I was feeling depressed