Too Late To Love Me I Already Left With His Twins (Lydia and Dave) novel Chapter 313

Lydia POV

“Yes.”

“Okay.”

“Don’t be late.”

“You’re the one who invited me.”

“And I’m telling you not to be late.”

I laughed.

“Okay, bye.”

“Bye, babes!”

The call ended.

I stared at my phone.

I should have known something was off.

But honestly, at that point, I was too relieved to have an excuse to get out of the house.

I hadn’t really dressed up in a while.

Not properly.

Most of my days recently had been some combination of comfortable clothes, hospital visits, recovery, conversations with Dave, conversations about Dave, conversations involving the children, and generally trying to figure out what my life was supposed to look like now that my memories were back.

So, for once, I decided to play dress-up.

Just a little.

I opened my wardrobe and stood there for several minutes.

I didn’t want to wear anything too serious.

It was just a walk.

A stroll.

A casual little outing with Anna.

Nothing that required an actual outfit.

Eventually, I pulled out a gown.

Then I stopped.

I looked at it.

It was beautiful.

The waist was cinched in a way that made the entire dress fall neatly around my body. The fabric faded through soft ombré shades, darker at the top and gradually becoming lighter toward the bottom. The neckline dipped into a clean V, elegant without trying too hard.

I held it against myself and looked in the mirror.

“Hmm.”

It was definitely more than a casual stroll outfit.

I put it on anyway.

I didn’t bother with makeup.

I wasn’t in the mood.

Besides, I liked my face without it today.

I brushed through my hair, added a little fragrance, slipped on my shoes, and looked at myself again.

Then I frowned.

Wait.

Didn’t she say stroll?

I picked up my phone and took a picture.

I sent it to Anna.

Isn’t this too much?

The reply came almost immediately.

NOOOO.

Then another message.

It’s perfect.

Then:

We’re going to soak in the sunset at the garden near us.

I stared at the message.

“Soak in the sunset?”

I typed back.

Hmm.

Then:

Where are we meeting?

Her reply came quickly.

Let’s meet at the park.

I stared at the screen for another second.

“Hmm.”

Something about the entire thing felt slightly more elaborate than the casual stroll she’d originally described.

But I didn’t think too much about it.

The kids were downstairs for their piano lessons, and the house was unusually quiet apart from the occasional notes drifting through the hallway.

I grabbed my bag.

As I walked toward the door, I stopped.

Should I tell Dave?

I looked at my phone.

My thumb hovered over his name.

Then I scoffed.

Why would I tell him?

It wasn’t like I needed permission.

Gosh.

No.

He’s not my dad or something.

I almost laughed at myself.

We were together, yes.

But I didn’t need to give him a detailed itinerary every time I stepped outside the house.

I slipped my phone into my bag.

“Let me just leave.”

Outside, the evening air was warm, and the sun had already started sinking lower in the sky.

I paused beside the car and pulled out my phone.

The light was good.

Really good.

I turned slightly and took a selfie.

I looked at the picture.

Not bad.

Actually…

I took another.

Then another.

I was about to send one to Anna when I noticed something in the background of the last picture.

I frowned.

There was a car parked farther down the street.

I didn’t recognize it.

Maybe it belonged to one of the neighbors.

I dismissed the thought.

Anna was waiting.

I ignored the thought almost immediately and booked a cab to the garden.

I still wasn’t back behind the wheel yet.

Not really.

I knew I could technically drive. Physically, there was nothing stopping me from holding the steering wheel, pressing the accelerator, checking my mirrors, or doing any of the ordinary things I’d done countless times before. But the problem wasn’t physical.

It was everything that happened the last time I’d been behind a wheel.

My mind hadn’t caught up with the idea of driving again.

Every time I imagined myself sitting in the driver’s seat, my hands automatically tightened. I could almost feel the steering wheel beneath my palms, and somewhere in the back of my mind came the memory of headlights, the sudden impact, the violent jerk of the car—

No.

I shook my head.

“Not today.”

I wasn’t going to start doing that to myself.

I opened the ride app and requested a car.

Less than a minute later, the notification came.

Driver is arriving.

I frowned.

“Already?”

I looked outside.

The car was pulling up.

I stared at it through the window for a second.

Was he just hanging around the neighborhood or something?

That was ridiculously fast.

But no.

I wasn’t going to overthink it.

Not everything was a sign.

Not everything had a deeper meaning.

Sometimes a driver was simply nearby.

I grabbed my bag and walked outside.

The driver greeted me politely when I got into the back seat, confirming my destination before pulling away.

“Good evening, ma.”

“Good evening.”

He glanced at me through the rearview mirror.

“Nice evening for a walk.”

I smiled faintly. “Yeah.”

“You going for exercise?”

“Hmm.”

He waited.

I nodded.

“Something like that.”

He laughed lightly.

“People don’t walk as much anymore. Everybody just wants to enter car.”

“True.”

“Me, I like walking. Good for the body.”

“Mhm.”

He continued.

I nodded.

“Mhm.”

Then he said something else.

I nodded again.

At some point, I realized I had absolutely no idea what he was saying.

My attention was entirely on my phone.

Because Anna had apparently decided that if she wasn’t physically in the car with me, she was going to remain present through text messages.

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