Page 38

Leah

The only thing Leah wanted to do after her evening group session was go home, but she’d ignored her house and the empty refrigerator long enough.

She pulled into the parking lot of Fresh Finds Grocery.

The prices were higher since it was a small family-owned grocery store not far from Leah’s office downtown.

Leah only went out of convenience. She couldn’t deal with long lines, and Fresh Finds was her spot where she was in and out.

Shopping without a grocery list was never a good idea, but Leah only had the mindset for one task, either make a list or shop.

Leah assessed the items in her shopping cart and dropped her shoulders when she realized there wasn’t anything there that would make a complete meal.

Once she gathered her thoughts, she continued shopping until she was satisfied with her choices.

Leah pushed her cart to the checkout lane.

She was mentally running through all the places she would pass on her way home because even though she had a shopping cart filled with food, the desire to cook it was no longer there.

Not that ordering out was any easier since everyone in her house liked different things.

She and Skye liked pizza, but Quinton didn’t.

Skye and Quinton liked hot wings, but Leah didn’t.

Leah and Quinton liked sushi, but Skye didn’t.

“I’m open if you’re ready, Mama.” A young girl waved Leah over.

Leah put all her things onto the conveyor belt and waited while the young lady, who must’ve been training, since someone else was standing next to her assisting, scanned her items. It took the young lady a little longer than Leah was used to, but she didn’t mind.

The cashier was probably around Skye’s age, and Leah would hope if it were Skye that the customers would be patient with her too.

“I’m sorry,” The cashier smiled nervously while her trainer showed her how to find the produce on the register.

“No problem, sweetie.” Leah smiled.

She looked around, and something caught her attention. “What the hell?” she whispered.

Nova’s picture, not a recent one but an old one from before she was kidnapped, was plastered on the cover.

The title in big bold white letters read: Missing Woman Found Alive After Fifteen Years.

It was the first time Leah had seen anything in print.

Everything else was on the news or internet blogs.

For reasons Leah couldn’t explain, her hands shook as she reached over and pulled the magazine from the shelf.

“Will that be all, Mama?” the young cashier asked.

“Uh ... this too,” Leah said, giving her the magazine. Then, she reached into her purse for her debit card.

Once Leah loaded her bags in her car, she got the magazine, which sat at the top of one of the bags, and slid into her car.

She locked the doors and then opened the magazine.

The glossy pages flicked underneath Leah’s trembling fingers, which trembled even more as she turned.

Just like the cover, the pictures on the inside were old and showed a vibrant, happy Nova during happier times.

Leah read the words of an article that seemed to rehash details from Nova’s time in that house, but that couldn’t be because Nova wouldn’t have done an interview without saying anything.

Or maybe she did and didn’t tell Leah. Her stomach lurched at the thought.

Nova used to tell her everything. Was this how their lives would be from now on?

Leah wasn’t used to hearing information about her sister from secondhand sources.

The one thing the article did get right was the exhaustive searches and the years of heartache that the family suffered.

What it didn’t mention was all the weekends Leah and Quinton spent of their own time and money driving from Louisiana to Mississippi, knocking on doors, passing out flyers, talking with anyone who was willing to talk, and praying someone saw something .

.. anything. None of that mattered anymore, though. Nova was home and safe now.

Leah was about to close the magazine, having read enough, when one word, well, two, caught her attention: family friend .

Leah found the beginning of the sentence, which read: “ Nova’s resilient, but even though she’s home and safe, her ordeal is far from over,” a family friend told us.

“She not only has to heal from what that freak did to her but also from family hurt that occurred while she was away. ”

“What?” Leah screamed and didn’t care who heard, but thankfully no one did.

Leah sat outside her mom’s house and waited until she’d built up the nerves to go and ring the doorbell.

Going there was a spur-of-the-moment decision.

Maybe she should’ve gone home like she’d planned to in the first place.

She was thirty-eight years old, and there was never a time when she needed courage to walk through her parents’ door.

Not even when she and her mom were at odds over her relationship with Quinton.

Tonight, though, knowing that Nova was on the other side made Leah second-guess her decision to stop by without checking first.

Leah jumped when her phone rang.

“Where are you?” Quinton asked.

“I’m sorry. I forgot to call, but I’m at Mom’s. I won’t be long.” Leah pulled her keys from the ignition.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Quinton asked. “I thought we agreed to give Nova some time.”

“We did, but ...” Leah looked over at the magazine that sat on her passenger seat. “I need to talk with Mom about something. I’ll fill you in when I get home.”

“Okay, be careful,” Quinton said.

Leah slid the phone into her purse and stopped stalling.

After two knocks, her mom answered the door wearing her lounging dress and slippers.

Leah was wrapped in warmth when her mom hugged her so tight that she could barely breathe.

Leah hadn’t seen her mom since she and Skye left Saturday night, and Martha was hugging her like it had been years instead of a day.

“Mom, is everything okay?” Leah asked, concerned by her mom’s reaction to her visit.

“I’m fine.” Martha stood back and scanned Leah up and down. “How are you? Are you okay? You look beautiful. I always loved your hair like that.”

Leah’s hand went to her hair, which sat on her shoulders. It was day one after a wash, and Leah could only stand her hair down for one, maybe two days before she pulled it into her signature top bun.

“Thank you, Mom, and yes, I’m okay.” Leah realized she was still standing in the doorway. “Can I come in?”

“Oh ... yes ... of course. Come in.” Martha moved aside and closed the door behind Leah. “Did you come to see your sister?”

Leah heard hope in her mom’s voice. “If she’s willing to talk with me, then yes,” she said.

“You have to keep trying,” Martha advised.

“There’s something you should see.” Leah pulled the magazine from her purse.

Martha’s eyes narrowed, then widened before she looked at Leah. “It says exclusive details inside. What exclusive details?” She asked, flipping through the magazine.

“According to the article, a family friend said Nova had to heal from Adam and from us. Us being Quinton and I,” Leah clarified.

“Oh my God!” Martha closed the magazine. “Who would say something like that? What family friend?” Martha asked.

“I have no idea, but I intend to find out,” Leah assured her mom.

Leah sat with Martha a few more minutes before she once again built up the nerves to go upstairs and face Nova.

Outside of Nova’s bedroom door, Leah reminded herself that she needed her sister.

And whether Nova realized it or not, she needed Leah too.

That fact was made apparent more than ever once Leah saw that magazine article.

You lost her sister once, Leah, and you’re not about to lose her again without a fight.

Leah knocked and waited for Nova to invite her in, but no invite came. Maybe she couldn’t hear the knock. “Nova, can I please come in?”

“Go away, Leah.”

“Nova, please.” Leah turned the knob and cracked the door open.

When Leah peeked in, Nova was sitting on the side of the bed with her head turned toward the window.

The first thing Leah noticed was Nova’s new cut.

She looked amazing. Leah studied Nova’s side profile and looked for signs of anger, but it wasn’t there.

All she saw, even from the side, was hurt and disappointment.

The two things Leah never wanted to cause her sister.

Leah opened her mouth to speak several times, but each time, nothing came out. On her way over, she’d prepared a whole speech in her head. Now that it was time to use it, she couldn’t think of anything that didn’t sound wrong.

Nova lifted her chin, but she still didn’t look at Leah.

“Do you remember that day I came home from school and, like always, I sat on this bed, and you sat next to me, and I told you about my day, but that day was different? That day, I told you that Quinton finally asked me to be his girlfriend.” Nova smiled through her tears.

“I was so happy. Do you remember that?” Her red, swollen eyes met Leah’s.

Leah stood in the middle of the room and nodded. She remembered it well. She’d never seen Nova so happy before. Not even when she did well in a basketball game, which, up until that time, was the only thing other than her family that Nova loved.

“You were the only person who knew how much I liked him. You were also the only person who knew I’d written Mrs. Quinton Boudreaux in all my notebooks. It was special, and I didn’t want to tell everybody. Only the person I trusted.”