Page 34

Leah

Something yanked Leah out of her sleep. She sat straight up and looked around the room.

The other side of the bed, where Quinton should’ve been, was empty.

Her mind was so jumbled that for a second she thought he must’ve left for work, which meant she was late, but then everything came back to her, and she realized it was Sunday.

Leah was still groggy since it had been almost two o’clock in the morning when she decided to take one of her pills.

She didn’t take them often, only when she really needed them, like after she lost her dad.

The grief was overwhelming, and Leah finally admitted it to her therapist, who urged her to see her doctor and ask for a mild anti-anxiety medication.

She told Quinton they were for her migraines.

She could barely admit to herself that there were days when she needed a pill to help her deal with everyday life.

Taking the pill almost had the opposite effect.

It made her feel like maybe she wasn’t the strong person her dad always said she was.

The one thing Leah wished the pill did was erase all her memories from last night—the ones that haunted her while she tried to sleep. The look of pain and then anger that she saw on Nova’s face was something she’d never forget. She’d also never forget that she was the cause of it all.

“No, I can’t do this,” Leah said, throwing the comforter off her.

“I’m going to get up. I’m going to get dressed.

” She looked over at Quinton’s empty side of the bed.

“I’m going to find out where my husband is.

” As soon as the words left her mouth, the answer entered her head.

It was Sunday, and Quinton was going to church with his friend Mario, who was running for city council.

Why didn’t he wake her up, though? Unless he didn’t want her to go. Was that it?

“Stop it!” Leah fussed to herself.

She pushed herself off the bed and went into the bathroom to wash up. The reflection that greeted her in the mirror wasn’t one Leah was used to seeing. She couldn’t remember the last time she had a good night’s sleep, and the bags underneath her eyes showed it.

Leah was moving in slow motion. She didn’t have the energy to do anything but lie down and wait for the day to pass, and tomorrow she’d have work to keep her mind busy.

What she really wanted to do was go to her mom’s and try to talk with Nova, but that would be a waste of time.

As angry as Nova was last night, there was no way she’d want to see Leah, let alone talk with her.

By the time Leah had dressed and pulled her hair up into a bun, she started to feel a little better. Something about fixing herself up always helped her mood. It wasn’t a huge uplift, but she’d take whatever she could get.

The bedroom door opened, and Quinton walked through, with his coat to his black suit draped over his arm. “Hey, you’re up,” he said, throwing the coat on the bed and walking to the bathroom door where Leah was standing. He leaned down and kissed her lips. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m okay. How was church?” she asked, wanting to talk about anything other than last night.

“It was good. I started to wake you, but you’d just gone to sleep a few hours ago.” Quinton loosened his tie and then disappeared into their walk-in closet.

This Sunday, like all the other days since they found out Nova was alive, didn’t feel like it used to.

How could eight days change their lives so much?

After church, Quinton, Leah, and Skye usually went to brunch, then came home and relaxed until Leah or Quinton, and sometimes both, cooked dinner.

Sundays were their days to simply exist with each other, and Leah loved it.

“What are you doing today?” Quinton asked.

That question always meant there was something he wanted them to do together or something he wanted or needed to do, and he had to make sure that Leah didn’t have plans for them already.

“I’m not—” A knock on their door cut off her words.

“Come in, Skye,” Leah said.

“Hey, are we still going to the bookstore?” Skye asked Leah.

“The bookstore?” Leah repeated, trying to remember why they were going there today.

“Remember my project? I have to do a report to go along with the display. I told you about it a few weeks ago. We were supposed to go last Sunday, but we were in Mississippi, so are we going today?”

Leah nodded, the details clicking into place.

“Right, the new bookstore with the coffee shop.” She and Skye visited a few weeks ago, and both of them loved how vibrant and creative the space felt.

A few people were sitting at tables working on their laptops, and they agreed that would be their new weekend workspace whenever they wanted a change from working at home or the neighborhood library.

Leah looked at Quinton. “I guess I’m going to the bookstore.”

“Great,” Skye said. “I’ll go get dressed.”

“You asked what I was doing. Did you make plans for us or something?” Leah asked, pulling the covers back to straighten the sheets on their bed.

Quinton shook his head. “Nah, that’s perfect, actually. I thought I’d go and hang out with Mario for a little while today. A lot’s been going on with him. I think the campaign is starting to get to him and Jen.”

“Well, she wasn’t too happy about him running in the first place,” Leah said, recalling the conversation she and Quinton had about Mario and his fiancée, Jennifer.

The one thing about the whole conversation that bothered Leah the most was Quinton’s siding with Mario.

Even though Jen, as they all called her, made it clear that she wasn’t interested in being a politician’s wife again, Mario still moved forward with his plans.

Jen had gone through so much scandal with her first husband, a former mayor of Magnolia, another small town not far from Baton Rouge.

She’d had enough of that life, so meeting Mario, an attorney who had no political aspirations, was ideal for her.

“Things change. People change. Jen should understand that,” Quinton said when Leah expressed how wrong Mario’s move forward was, knowing how Jen felt about it.

That was the first time since they’d been together that Leah feared that the Quinton she knew and had fallen in love with had gone back to the Quinton she couldn’t stand.

When Nova and Quinton were dating, Quinton had an idea of the woman’s role and the man’s role in the relationship.

Nova used to tell Leah how Quinton didn’t cook or wash dishes because that was the woman’s job.

Leah hated it. Nova worked and took care of Skye, so Quinton should’ve been willing to help her out.

Of course, whenever Leah said something, Nova defended him, so eventually, Leah let it go.

That wasn’t the Quinton Leah fell in love with, though.

The man who won her heart was the one who was at her apartment every day cooking and cleaning when she fell and broke her arm.

He was the guy who combed Skye’s hair almost better than Nova did.

He played tea parties and polished Leah’s nails when she said she couldn’t stand to look at them anymore. That was her Quinton.

“I know I keep asking this, but you’re sure nothing’s wrong?” Quinton asked, standing in front of Leah and buttoning his light-blue shirt, which he wore with dark-blue jeans.

“Well, I’d be better if my sister didn’t hate me, but I guess we can’t always have what we want, right?”

“I’m telling you that she’ll come around. Give her some time, and you’ll see.”

Quinton tried to put on a brave face, but she knew it was bothering him too. How could it not? He was already dealing with the guilt of what happened to Nova, and now, there was the guilt of hurting her. He’d never admit it to Leah, though.

It wasn’t until Nova went missing that Leah learned how much she and Quinton were alike.

They both had the need to protect. To make sure everyone else was okay.

It was almost two years after losing Nova when Leah and Quinton saw each other break down for the first time.

Leah had gone to help him clean out Nova’s things, which she’d finally convinced him to get rid of.

It wasn’t healthy for him to sit in the house, looking at her clothes every day, knowing the likelihood of her coming back was, in their minds back then, impossible.

That day was almost as hard as the day they’d learned she was gone.

It was the final act, and Leah didn’t expect it to hit her as hard as it did.

Skye was with her parents so they could work uninterrupted.

It was a good thing that she was because Leah couldn’t imagine a four-year-old walking into that closet and seeing her dad and her aunt wailing like babies.

“Come here.” Quinton pulled Leah into him. “I hate to see you like this.” He tightened his hold on her.

Leah laid her head against his chest as Nova’s words about feeling that there was still something between her and Quinton echoed in her mind.

What should’ve been a simple, comforting moment between Leah and her husband was overshadowed with doubt.

What happened to make Nova feel that way?

“It won’t feel like this forever. That’s what I keep reminding myself,” she said, reminding herself more than Quinton.

Leah lifted herself off him. “I’d better get dressed. Skye will be ready to go soon.”

After Leah finished dressing, she stopped by the door to Skye’s room. “I’ll be downstairs when you’re ready.”

“Okay,” Skye said over the music she had playing.

While Leah waited, she sat in the family room and called her mom. It wasn’t like she and her mom saw each other every day or talked every day, but today, Leah really missed her. She needed her, but so did Nova.

“How’s Nova?” Leah asked when her mom answered the phone.

Martha’s deep sigh was the answer.