Page 104 of Heartache & Playdates
That was another gut check. The fact that Lina knew about Trent meant that Peyton had thought he was important enough to tell her about him.
“Yes, I mean. No. Yes, it is from him but I’m not keeping it. I’m not engaged.”
I could see Lina looking between us and the elevator doors opened, and we all walked off. The last thing I wanted to do was make the first time that we were all together awkward, so I knew I needed to forget about what I was feeling and deal with it later. This wasn’t about me.
I smiled at Lina and Peyton. “It’s a beautiful ring.”
“It’s not—"
“Well, well, well little lady!” A man’s booming voice interrupted her. “Peyton, not the quarterback, don’t you have a beautiful family!” A man wearing a Kangol and a cigar in his pocket bellowed.
“Oh, it’s not—” Peyton repeated, but this time to the man.
“I’m Hugo and this is Felipe.” Hugo motioned to a small statured man wearing a bright green checkered shirt and very large silver belt buckle.
“I’m Maddox and this Lina.”
“You must be the man who put that rock on her finger,” Felipe assessed. Wrongly.
That one felt more like a shot to my nuts. Talk about putting salt in a wound.
“No, sir. I’m not.” I wish I was.
“Oh, sorry about that.” Felipe apologized. “You just look like y’all belong on a Christmas card or in one of those frames that you buy from the store.”
Hugo and Felipe stood smiling at us, and it was clear they were waiting for an explanation as to what our relationship was, but I had no clue what to say.
“Peyton and Maddox are my birth parents. We’ve just recently been reunited. They were high school sweethearts,” Lina summed it up in three concise sentences; something neither Peyton nor I had been able to articulate.
“Oh, well isn’t that the sweetest thing!” Hugo put his hands over his chest.
“Good seeing you guys!” Peyton smiled and walked around them.
“You too, young lady. Say hi to your grandmother.”
When we reached the exit to leave Lina stopped. “Is it okay if I wait here for you? I sort of wanted to ask Nick about his podcasts.”
“Um,” I felt odd about leaving her here.
Lina must have seen the worry in my face, because she reminded me, “I’m twenty.”
“Right. Okay, yeah.”
She gave both Peyton and I a hug before bounding back toward the elevators.
As we walked outside, neither of us said a word until we got to my car. I opened the door and as she started to get inside, I asked, “Is that my shirt?”
She looked up at me and smiled sheepishly. “Um, yeah, I sort of borrowed it the morning I left. I can give it back to you. Not now, but you know, after I get other clothes.”
“No, it’s okay. It looks better on you.”
She licked her lips as she got inside the car and as I rounded the hood and got behind the wheel, I tried not think about how fucked up it was that she was wearing my shirt with another man’s ring on her finger.
“I’m not engaged,” she stated firmly. “I was having drinks at a bar with some people I work with and Trent showed up and put the ring on my finger and left. I didn’t say yes. I swear! Then I had more drinks and woke up this morning and couldn’t take it off. Then I found Nonna in bed and…” she started crying and out of habit I reached out and put my hand on her leg.
“It’s okay. You don’t have to explain. I know. It’s okay.”
She wiped her tears as she looked out the window. It had clearly been a long day for her. I didn’t want to upset her more. She said she wasn’t engaged and I believed her.
