True believer - Nicholas Sparks [128]
“Oh?”
“Never had a reason to. Lexie asked me to come up and visit her while she lived up here, but my husband wasn’t in the best of health and I just never got around to it. Then she moved back. She was quite a wreck back then. I know you probably think she’s tough and strong, but that’s just what she wants others to believe. Underneath, she’s like everyone else, and she was crushed by what happened with Avery.” Doris hesitated. “She told you about him, right?”
“Yes.”
“She suffered in silence, kept up the brave front, but I knew how upset she was. There was nothing I could do for her. She hid it by keeping busy, running from here to there, talking to everyone and trying to make sure they had the impression that she was okay. You can’t imagine how helpless that made me feel.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Because she’s acting the same way now.”
Jeremy moved his food around with his fork. “I wasn’t the one who ended it, Doris.”
“I know that, too.”
“Then why talk to me?”
“Lexie won’t listen.”
Despite the tension, Jeremy laughed. “I guess that means you think I’m a pushover?”
“No,” she said. “But what I’m hoping is that you’re not as stubborn as she is.”
“Even if I’m willing to try again, it’s still up to her.”
Doris watched him carefully. “Do you really believe that?”
“I tried to talk to her. I told her I wanted to find a way to make the relationship work.”
Instead of responding to his comment, Doris asked, “You were married once, weren’t you?”
“A long time ago. Did Lexie tell you that?”
“No,” she said. “I’ve known it since our first conversation.”
“Psychic abilities again?”
“No, nothing like that. It has more to do with the way you interact with women. You carry yourself with the sort of confidence that a lot of women find appealing. At the same time, I had the sense that you understand what women want, but that for some reason you’re unwilling to give yourself completely.”
“What’s this got to do with anything?”
“Women want the fairy tale. Not all women, of course, but most women grow up dreaming about the kind of man who would risk everything for them, even knowing they might get hurt.” She paused. “Kind of like the way you went to find Lexie at the beach. That’s why she fell in love with you.”
“She’s not in love with me.”
“Yes, she is.”
Jeremy opened his mouth to deny it but couldn’t. Instead, he shook his head. “It doesn’t matter now, anyway. She’s marrying Rodney.”
Doris stared at him. “No, she isn’t. But before you think it was her way of pushing you away, you should know that she only said it so that if you did leave, she wouldn’t lie awake at night wondering why you never came back for her.” She paused, letting that sink in. “And besides, you didn’t really believe her, anyway, did you?”
It was the way Doris said this that made him remember his initial response when Lexie first told him about Rodney. No, he suddenly realized, he hadn’t believed it then.
Doris reached across the table and took his hand.
“You’re a good man, Jeremy. And you deserved the truth, which was why I came up here.”
She stood from the table. “I’ve got a flight to catch. If I don’t get back tonight, Lexie’s going to know something’s up. I’d rather she didn’t know I came up here.”
“That’s quite a trip. You could have simply called.”
“I know. But I had to see your face.”
“Why?”
“I wanted to know if you were in love with her, too.” She patted him on the shoulder before heading to the living room, where she picked up her handbag.
“Doris?” Jeremy called out.
She turned. “Yes?”
“Did you find the answer you were hoping for?”
She smiled. “The real question is, did you?”
Twenty-two
Jeremy paced the length of the living room. He needed to think, to work through the options, so he would know what to do.
He ran his hand through his hair before shaking his head. There wasn’t time for indecision. Not now, knowing what he knew. He had to go back. Get on the first plane he could and find her again. Talk to her, try to convince