Page 24

Leah

This wasn’t how Leah was supposed to feel about her sister’s homecoming.

She should be planning a welcome-home party, even if they didn’t have it until next year when Nova felt more comfortable being around crowds.

At the very least, she should be with her sister every day, talking about old times, or Leah could spend each day sharing a new detail about her life over the past fifteen years, but instead she was dealing with ignorant people at basketball games.

When she was with her sister, most of her thoughts were on remembering not to say anything that would send off alarm bells to Nova about Leah and Quinton’s marriage.

Why did Dr. Yvonne have to be out of the country this week? The sooner Nova started her sessions, the sooner Leah and Quinton could tell her about them. Leah feared what would happen without a professional there to guide Nova through any negative feelings the news may bring.

Leah’s heart plummeted. Like most little girls, she used to dream of her wedding day and the life she would have with her husband and all their children.

She missed the innocence and delusion that came with being a child.

That little girl, the one with the big dreams, couldn’t have known that trying to have a child would almost kill her.

She inhaled as she thought about one of the worst days of her life.

She could still see the look of horror on Quinton’s face when he walked into the bathroom and saw all the blood.

He rushed her to the hospital, where she was immediately wheeled into surgery.

The next thing Leah remembered was waking up to the worst news she could hear.

It was two years ago, and she could still hear the doctor’s voice when he explained that they had no choice but to perform a hysterectomy. Leah never hated a word as much as she hated that one.

She picked up her cup of coffee from the kitchen island where she’d been sitting before the sun came up. The coffee was cold ... again.

Leah gave up on the coffee. Apparently, her adrenaline was high enough without the help of caffeine. She was washing out her cup when Quinton came downstairs and joined her in the kitchen.

“What time did you get up?” Quinton kissed her cheek.

“Four thirty.” Leah didn’t have to give it a second thought. For some reason, whenever she had a lot on her mind, her eyes would pop open at four thirty on the dot. She could never go back to sleep, and this morning, she didn’t even try.

“I hope you’re not still thinking about those women.” Quinton went to the refrigerator and pulled out a carton of orange juice.

“It’s not just them.” Leah turned off the water and placed the mug face down in the wooden dish rack to drain. “It’s having to go through this all over again. A part of me wishes we could pack up and move away.”

“Yeah, but we know we can’t do that,” Quinton said as if Leah was actually considering it.

He knew how she felt about their house. When most people said their “dream house,” they didn’t mean it literally.

However, Leah literally dreamed of this house years before she and Quinton started dating.

She sketched out what she remembered about it and kept it safe, believing that one day she would have that house.

She was right and Quinton knew that, which was why his insistence that they couldn’t move was throwing her off.

Leah, not one for letting things go, explained, “Well, we could if we wanted to, but we wouldn’t because we don’t want to.”

He placed the carton back in the refrigerator and looked over at Leah. “No, that’s what I’m saying. Even if we wanted to, we couldn’t. It wouldn’t even be an option. Moving now that Nova’s back?”

Leah massaged the back of her neck. “Why are we talking about this? We know we’re not moving, so let’s just drop it, okay.” Leah rubbed harder, but it didn’t seem to do any good. The tension she felt had made itself at home.

“You want to go by your mom’s after we take Skye out for breakfast?” Quinton asked.

“Breakfast?”

“Yeah, they won last night, remember?”

“Ah, right?” Leah snapped her fingers.

It had become their tradition to go out for a celebratory breakfast after each win.

Leah and Quinton wanted to do it after each game because Skye always gave each game her all, and to them, that was worth celebrating, but Skye shut it down.

She said she only wanted to celebrate the wins.

That way, she’d be motivated to push even harder.

Leah admired so much about Skye, but it was definitely her drive that she admired the most.

Leah’s phone vibrated on the counter. Quinton was closer, so he picked it up and passed it to her.

“Oh, it’s Mom.” Leah put the phone on speaker. She figured her mom was calling to give them an update on Nova’s night. She’d done that every morning since Nova came home.

“What happened last night?” her mom asked, skipping the greeting portion of the call.

“Nothing happened. What are you talking about?” Leah looked over at Quinton.

Quinton lifted his shoulders as if Leah had asked him the question.

“I heard that you’d gotten into it with Danielle and Monica.” Martha lowered her voice as if their names were top secret.

“I didn’t get into it with anyone, Mom. Who told you that?”

Aggravation stirred inside Leah. Why did these people insist on getting underneath her skin?

All she wanted to do was watch Skye’s game and go home.

Nothing more. Nothing less, but no, not in Bayou.

In Bayou everything had to be addressed and talked about and told and retold even if the retelling was a lie.

“Hey, girl!” Martha’s voice boomed through the phone.

“Mom, where are you?”

“About to go into Jim’s to get a few groceries.”

Before Leah could ask another question, Quinton had lowered himself to her phone. “Where’s Nova?” His voice gave away his concern.

“She’s at home. She didn’t want to come.”

“You left her home by herself?” Quinton sounded like he’d never heard anything so ridiculous in his life.

“She’s not alone, Lance is out back raking the yard. I told him to listen out for her. And she has my phone number if she needs me. I’m at Jim’s, for goodness’ sake, not out of the country.”

Quinton didn’t respond because he was no longer there. Leah watched as he fled the kitchen and ran upstairs.

“Mom, let me call you back.” Leah ended the call and was about to go upstairs, but by the time she made it to the first step, Quinton was rushing down.

He pushed his wallet in the pocket of his warm-up pants and pulled his cap, the one that matched his outfit, over his head. “I’ll be back,” he said, not bothering to say where he was going or asking Leah, who was fully dressed, if she wanted to come too.

“Where are you going?” she asked, even though she already knew the answer.

“I’m going to check on Nova.” Quinton patted his pockets. “Did I have my keys?”

“I don’t know, but Quinton, before you go over there ...”

“Leah, do not stand here and defend that man like he’s a saint.”

Leah had no intention of doing that. The fact was that Lance wasn’t a saint, and neither were they.

She knew that statement wouldn’t go over well if she said it out loud, so she didn’t.

She also didn’t remind Quinton that the allegations Lance’s ex made against him were retracted the very next day.

That wouldn’t go over well either. Truthfully, nothing she said in defense of Lance was going to get through to Quinton, and given the fact that up until a few days ago Lance was her client, she thought it best not to say too much, or Quinton would become suspicious.

She’d never defended Lance before. However, she never had a reason to.

Quinton wasn’t concerned about Leah or Skye being alone with him because he knew that would never happen. At least, he may have thought he knew.

“Found them.” Quinton held up the keys he’d pulled from the kitchen drawer.

“Quinton.” She followed him out of the kitchen, down the hallway, and to the front door.

“Leah, I don’t have time for this right now. I need to get to your mom’s and check on Nova.”

“Or you can just call.” Leah held up her phone.

“I’d rather see for myself.” He put his hand on the doorknob, then turned back and kissed Leah.

“What about breakfast?” Leah asked.

“Text me where you’re going, and I’ll meet you.”

Everything inside her said no, he wouldn’t.

“Where’s Dad going?” Skye stood on the stairs and yawned.

No matter how old Skye was, Leah couldn’t help but look at her and see the little girl who’d curl up in her arms and fall asleep when they were supposed to be having movie night.

After Nova disappeared, taking care of Skye became Leah’s number one priority.

She found it hard to believe she could love any child as much as she loved Skye.

Finding out she would never have children of her own was hard, and the only thing that made the blow just a tad bit easier to bear was knowing she had Skye.

The little girl who reminded her so much of Nova.

Having Skye was like having the best part of her sister.

“Hellooo, Teeah?” Skye sang. “Where’s Dad going?”

“To Gran’s. He’s going to meet us for breakfast.”

“Why didn’t he wait so we could all go?”

“He won’t be there long. Besides, you still need to get dressed before our breakfast turns into lunch,” Leah said, scanning Skye from her pink hair bonnet to her big fuzzy slippers.

“It’s called brunch, Teeah.”

“No. At the pace you move, we’ll miss brunch too.” Leah stood next to Skye and bumped into her, hoping her playfulness was enough for Skye not to recognize the irritation she was fighting so hard to hold inside.

One thing Leah hated was when a comment came to her too late to voice.

Had she thought about it sooner, she would’ve reminded Quinton that Lance’s past wasn’t the news that would crush Nova.

It was the secret they were holding that Leah knew, without a doubt, would turn her sister’s already tilted world upside down.