Chapter 220. The Boy is Finally Home
Chapter 220. The Boy is Finally Home
There is a huge red mark on Alexandra’s neck, and she makes no effort to hide it. She wears it openly, refusing to cover it with a scarf or adjust her collar, and when Roxanne notices the looks they receive, Alexandra simply ignores them.
“Are you seriously not going to hide it?” Roxanne asks, staring at the obvious red mark on Alexandra’s neck with a mixture of disbelief and embarrassment.
Alexandra barely glances at her reflection in the hallway mirror before continuing toward the front door.
“It’s art,” she replies easily.
“That’s a hickey.” Roxanne hurries after her, panic spreading across her face as she lowers her voice. “Alex, people are going to see it.”
Alexandra turns around with a laugh. “That’s your doing’. Therefore, it’s art.”
Roxanne reaches up, trying to cover the mark with her hand, but Alexandra catches both of her wrists before she can manage it. She holds them gently, laughing as Roxanne struggles to pull free. “Stop laughing!”
“I’m not ashamed of it.”
“I am!”
“You shouldn’t be.”
Alexandra’s laughter fills the entryway as Roxanne gives her an exasperated look. To the two of them, the whole thing feels harmless, another private joke between lovers, no different from the countless little gestures of affection they have fallen into during their time together.
They don’t notice the way Madelyn has stopped in front of the house and is staring at them. Her eyes moved from Alexandra’s hand around Roxanne’s wrists to the visible mark on Alexandra’s neck. There’s something about the way they look at each other that feels different from what Madelyn has been told.
She glances toward Samantha, who is gathering her things near the door. “She’s not her stepmother, is she?” Madelyn asks quietly.
Samantha pauses and looks at her. For a second, she seems tempted to laugh, but instead she gives Madelyn a knowing smile. “You should have asked her that yourself, not me.”
Before Madelyn can ask anything else, Samantha walks outside toward her truck. “Come on,” she calls over her shoulder. “We’re getting that boy home.”
Madelyn looks back at Roxanne and Alexandra one more time, clearly unconvinced. Then she hurries after Samantha, already carrying a dozen new questions with her.
Meanwhile, Alexandra doesn’t explain herself, and she certainly doesn’t answer any questions. She just let people see and wonder, and that makes Roxanne really concerned.
There’s something almost amusing about how unconcerned she’s, while Roxanne feels increasingly embarrassed every time someone’s eyes linger a little too long.
Today, Caleb is finally well enough to return home, which means Robert can stop spending his days at the hospital and begin focusing on the ranch again. After everything that has happened, Roxanne is relieved to see her brother recovering and even happier that her father will finally have one less thing weighing on him.
They’re driving toward the hospital when Alexandra suddenly speaks. “I’ll go find myself a hotel after this,” she mutters, her gaze fixed through the windshield.
Roxanne turns toward her, startled. “Why?”
“Your father is home now.” Alexandra’s voice remains soft. “I don’t want people talking nonsense about him and me. I’m still his sister-in-law through my marriage to Brandon.”
Roxanne frowns. “But you haven’t done anything wrong.”
“I know that.”
“Then why leave?”
Alexandra finally glances at her. “Because people don’t always need the truth before they start talking. Your father is already dealing with enough. He doesn’t need the whole county whispering about his brother’s wife staying under the same roof.”
Roxanne reaches across the space between them and takes Alexandra’s hand. “I’m coming with you.”
Alexandra gently squeezes her fingers. “Stay for a while. Let Caleb feel your presence in the house. He has been through enough, and I think having you there will make coming home easier for him. After that, we can go back to New York, or we can stay for another day or two. It’s your choice.”
Roxanne leans back against the car seat, considering her words. She knows Alexandra is right. As much as she wants to leave Texas with her, she also knows that Caleb needs his sister, especially after everything that has happened.
“Okay,” she says quietly. “I’ll stay.” Alexandra gives her hand another gentle squeeze before returning her attention to the road.
Roxanne watches the passing landscape through the window, feeling a strange mixture of relief and sadness. She had spent years building a life away from this place, but now that she’s finally back, she realizes there are still parts of her family she doesn’t want to leave behind so quickly.
For now, she needs the time with them. And perhaps, more than she wants to admit, she needs to feel like she still has a place in the family she left behind.
\-
Caleb practically bounces with excitement the moment he realizes Roxanne is still coming home with them. His face lights up, and he immediately starts talking about everything he wants to show her once they get back to the ranch.
Roxanne watches him with a smile, touched by how much her presence means to him. Then she looks toward Alexandra. Without saying a word, Roxanne mouths, “Thank you.”
Alexandra understands immediately. She gives her a small nod and a soft smile. She knows Roxanne needs this time with her family, even if it means giving her the space to stay in Texas a little longer.
Madelyn watches the exchange from nearby. Her eyes move between the two women, noticing the understanding passing between them. There’s something about the way Alexandra looks at Roxanne that feels different from the way a stepmother might look at her stepdaughter, but Madelyn still has no proof of anything.
She keeps the thought to herself.
Meanwhile, Robert walks beside Alexandra toward the administration office to settle Caleb’s hospital bill. They’re almost there when Robert notices the red mark on Alexandra’s neck.
His expression immediately changes. “Are you hurt?”
Alexandra glances at him, then follows his gaze toward her neck. She rolls her eyes and laughs lightly. “I got shot.”
Robert stops walking, he turns toward her with complete seriousness. “You what?”
“It’s nothing, Robert. Don’t worry about it.” She casually pulls the collar of her shirt higher, though the mark is still partially visible.
Robert stares at her. “Was it Amelia?”
Alexandra looks at him in disbelief. “Poor man. Perhaps he hasn’t had sex in a while,” she thinks, fighting the urge to laugh at the absurdity of his conclusion.
“No. It was a rubber bullet. Just a scratch.” She gives a small chuckle. “A direct hit would have put me in the hospital, though.” As she held her neck.
Robert continues staring at her as if he’s trying to decide whether she’s joking. Alexandra sighs. She had fought with Amelia, yes, but Amelia had never shot anything at her.
The woman’s weapons had always been insults, manipulation, and whatever cruel words she could throw at someone. Somehow, Robert still manages to make the situation sound far more dramatic than it actually is.
“Let us just pay the hospital bill, get Caleb home, and you can focus on fixing your divorce,” Alexandra says, a little more annoyance entering her voice. “How does that sound?”
“Oh, right.” Robert finally remembers why they walk into the hospital administration and quickly continues walking.
Alexandra follows beside him, shaking her head. While Robert remembers Brandon once telling him that Alexandra has very little patience when people waste her time, and judging by the expression on her face now, Brandon was absolutely right.