Page 54

Leah

Leah couldn’t hear what Skye and Nova were saying to each other, but Skye slammed her car door, and Nova walked back to the house looking dazed and confused. “What did she say?” Leah asked.

Nova shook her head and kept walking. Her shoulders were stiff, and her pace quickened. She looked as if she was physically trying to outrun whatever emotions she was feeling.

“Nova, what’s wrong? What did Skye say to you?” Leah asked again.

Nova looked at Leah. “The truth.” That was all Nova said before turning to go upstairs.

Leah watched helplessly, and her heart sank with each step, taking Nova farther away.

Leah didn’t need answers to know that whatever Skye said to Nova had cut her deep.

Leah thought of staying until her mom made it home, but she couldn’t sit around and wait.

Her mind was all over the place, mainly on Skye.

She wanted to call and talk with Skye, but she was driving, and Leah didn’t want her trying to answer the phone while she was that upset.

She sent Quinton a text message: Skye just left Mom’s. She’s really upset. Let me know if I need to come by.

Maybe she should’ve gone by anyway, but Leah didn’t. She wasn’t ready to see Quinton. It was hard enough packing last night while he tried to convince her that he wasn’t in love with Nova, that he was just talking, and it meant nothing. They both knew he was lying.

Leah was glad that Skye had spent the night at Amber’s.

There was no way she could leave if Skye were there.

That’s why she had to do it last night instead of waiting till morning like Quinton suggested.

Actually, he suggested that he be the one to go and Leah stay, but she needed a change of scenery.

Leah stopped at California Pizza Kitchen, one of the many restaurants in the same complex as their condo. She didn’t have an appetite, but she might have one later and since there was nothing to eat at the condo, the salad and pizza was her backup.

Next to her house, the condo was Leah’s favorite spot.

She loved how bright and open it was. The white cabinets and walls were a perfect contrast to the dark wood and furniture.

Leah always thought that one day, the house would be too big for her and Quinton, and they’d move to the condo.

It was the perfect size and convenient, with entertainment and restaurants within walking distance.

When Leah was younger, she wanted to move to New York.

She craved city life, and in her mind, she’d be like the characters on Friends who lived in the city and had a swanky little coffee shop hangout.

Perkins Rowe wasn’t New York, but it was as close to it as Leah would get in Baton Rouge.

The one thing Leah didn’t like was how quiet it was.

She couldn’t hear Skye walking too hard upstairs or running down the hallway while she was downstairs trying to relax.

Quinton wasn’t hollering at the TV while he watched some game.

It was just her and her thoughts, and that wasn’t good for an overthinker like Leah.

The one thing she did have was the wine Harper brought her.

She’d taken it out and placed it in the refrigerator last night, feeling that it would come in handy.

Leah poured a glass and went outside to sit on the balcony, then called Harper to fill her in on the drama that unfolded after they parted ways.

“Have you lost your ever-loving mind?” Harper shouted through the phone when Leah told her what she’d done. “You left your house? Why would you do that?”

“I know it sounds bad.”

“Um ... yeah, because it is bad. How can you work things out if you’re not home?”

“It’s hard to understand if you’re not going through it, but believe me, in order for us to work things out, we have to be apart right now. If I’m there, we’re going to fall into the routine of normalcy, but we’ll still have this issue between us.”

“Quinton loves you. Everybody knows that.”

All Harper had ever known was Quinton and Leah, so she would probably be the only person Leah knew who’d say that even with Nova being in the picture. Everyone else, those who knew Quinton and Nova, wouldn’t bet their money on Quinton choosing Leah over Nova.

“I know he loves me, and he’d never leave me, but that’s not enough.” Leah explained to Harper the same thing she’d told Quinton.

“I hate this,” Harper said.

“You and me both.” She watched a couple on the sidewalk across the street walking hand in hand.

They looked like they were young and in love.

Leah tried to remember the last time she and Quinton walked anywhere while holding hands.

In the beginning they did, but they’d only been married for three years.

Wasn’t this still technically the beginning?

In Leah’s mind they were still newlyweds. Why didn’t it feel new anymore?

“I get nervous when you get quiet. What’s going on in that brain of yours?” Harper pulled Leah from her thoughts.

“There’s no way I could make you understand everything that’s going on in this head of mine.”

The doorbell rang. Leah looked, wondering who could be at her door. Her immediate thought was Quinton. She didn’t think he’d show up without calling first, though. He said Perkins Rowe was too far out, so he’d call to make sure she was there before he drove all the way over.

“Harper, someone’s at the door. Let me call you later,” Leah said when the doorbell rang again.

Leah checked the peephole. “Mom?” She swung the door open. “What are you doing here?”

“Same question I had for you.” Martha stepped in holding plastic bags in each hand and looked around the space. “Never mind. This is nice.” She walked to the kitchen and placed the bags on the counter.

“Mom, what is this about?” Leah stood on the other side of the island and watched as her mom pulled ingredients from the bag.

“When I made it home Nova told me what happened.” Mama set a can of seasoning on the table, resting her hand on top. “She also told me what Skye said to her. It took me an hour to calm her down.”

“What did Skye say? I asked Nova, and she said Skye said the truth.” Leah sat on a stool while her mom moved around the kitchen, opening cabinets and pulling out pots and pans.

“My poor Nova. Skye was upset, understandably, with whatever’s going on between you and Quinton. We’ll get to that in a second, but Skye told Nova that things were better before she came.”

Leah’s heart fell to her feet. “No, is that what she said? There’s no way I would’ve left Nova had I known what Skye said to her. I mean, I knew she was upset, but ... This is all my fault. Maybe I should’ve waited and talked with Skye before I left home.”

“About that.” Martha pulled a knife from the wooden holder on top of the counter. “Why are you here? I had to call Quinton to get the address. He sounds awful, by the way.” Mama glanced up at me.

“Well, that makes two of us.” Leah didn’t know if she sounded awful, but she sure felt it. “Where’s Nova?” she asked, needing to change the subject.

“She’s with Lance. These days, he’s the only person who can pull her out of her funk.

Thank God for him.” Martha washed the vegetables she’d bought.

“Since Lance was taking care of one of my daughters, it gave me a chance to come and check on the other one.” She started chopping the vegetables. “And make sure she’s eating.”

Her mom knew her so well.

“I know you.” Martha pointed the knife in Leah’s direction. “You take care of everyone else and pretend like you have everything under control. It’s okay to admit you need help, too, Leah. And it’s okay to admit that you’re not okay.”

Leah’s first thought was to do exactly what her mom accused her of, to try to convince her mom that she was fine.

Sure, her marriage might be over, and it was a real possibility that Quinton would realize that his feelings for Nova were a lot stronger than he thought, but that was life, right?

Instead of spewing lies that her mom would detect immediately, Leah tried something different.

“You’re right. This hurts a lot.” She bit her bottom lip. “And I don’t do well with uncertainty. Nor do I like the feeling of someone else being in control of my destiny, but what choice did I have? My love for him didn’t change.”

“And you think his love for you did?”

“It’s hard to say. Maybe ... maybe not. I need him to be sure before we can move forward and even think about fixing things between us.”

Martha nodded. “My prayer for my girls was that you’d find a man who loved you a tad more than you loved him. I think that you both found that. I hate that it happened to be with the same man, but what can you do? You love who you love, right?” She continued chopping.

Leah sighed but didn’t respond. It sounded bad to say she wished she’d fallen in love with someone else, even though she’d thought it more than she’d like to admit.

However, that would mean loving someone other than Quinton, and she didn’t want that either.

She loved him. She hated that her sister did, too, at one time.

The more Leah thought about it, the more she wondered if Nova was being honest when she said she didn’t love Quinton anymore.

It was only a week ago to the day when Nova was sure there was something still there between her and Quinton.

“How about we talk about why you’re really here?” Leah said.

Martha stopped chopping long enough to look at Leah before starting back again. “I told you why I’m here. To check on you.”

“And it has nothing to do with you not wanting to be alone right now. Which would make sense given what you’re going through.” Leah softened her tone. “It’s okay to admit that you’re not okay.” She repeated her mom’s words.

Martha sniffed, then shook her head as if trying to get rid of whatever emotions Leah’s words caused. She cleared her throat before saying, “I’m making corn and shrimp soup. You still like that, don’t you?”

“Mom.”

“Leah, I’m fine.” Martha removed a clear bag with ears of corn inside. “If you want to help, you can come and shuck this corn.” Martha held the bag toward Leah.

Leah took the bag and stood next to her mom. “You know you can buy these already shucked and cut from the cob, right?”

Martha rolled her eyes. Leah expected that reaction. When it came to cooking, her mom was as old school as they came. She stayed at the farmer’s market for fresh vegetables. She wasn’t against the canned or frozen, but those were used sparingly.

For the next hour, Leah and Martha worked side by side, cutting, chopping, stirring, and tasting until the soup and garlic bread were ready.

They took their plates outside on the balcony to eat.

They’d sat when Martha’s phone rang. It was a number she didn’t recognize, but she answered, which surprised Leah.

Her mom hardly ever answered unknown calls.

“Hey.” Martha’s voice was excited. “Is this your new number?” She looked over at Leah. “It’s Nova. She has a new phone.”

Leah never thought she’d be happy to hear that someone got a cell phone.

Maybe because everyone she knew had one already.

That was another step forward for Nova, and no matter what, Leah only wanted the best for her sister, even if that meant stepping away from the best love she’d ever experienced.

The option to go back and live as though Quinton’s confession never existed was always there, but that wouldn’t be fair to any of them.

They all deserved what was meant for them.

“That’s great, Sweet Pea,” Mama said, her southern drawl blossoming as it tended to do from time to time. “Okay, y’all be careful, and I’ll see you later on.”

Leah forced herself to push thoughts of Quinton and Nova as a couple out of her mind. “She’s making amazing progress in a short amount of time. Can you believe it’s only been two weeks since we got the news that Nova was alive?”

“I think about that all the time. Some days, it feels like she’s been there a lot longer, and then something will happen, like last night at the game, to remind me that it hasn’t been long at all. She still has a ways to go.”

Leah nodded while filling her mouth with a spoonful of soup. She savored the rich flavors. “This is so good, Mom. I didn’t realize how much I needed this.” Leah wiped her mouth. “And I’m not just talking about the soup.”

Martha reached over and squeezed Leah’s hand. “Me too.”