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Leah

Leah stood in the doorway with her head leaning against the doorframe.

She had no idea how long she’d been there, but she couldn’t bring herself to leave.

The events of the night still lingered even after everyone was gone and Skye was sleeping peacefully.

She was flooded with relief. She wished it wasn’t accompanied by the overwhelming exhaustion that seeped into her bones.

“You know you can’t watch her sleep all night, right?” Quinton whispered, looking into the room at Skye.

“I know.” Leah crossed her arms. “It’s hard to believe that sweet face caused so much hell earlier.”

Quinton huffed. “Tell me about it.”

“It’s late. We need to get some rest.” Quinton left Leah standing by Skye’s door and went down the hallway to their bedroom. “You coming?” he called back to her.

“In a minute.” Leah walked into Skye’s room, found the remote control for her purple LED lights, and turned them off.

It was the only normal thing she’d done that day, she realized as she bent down and kissed Skye. “I love you,” she whispered.

“Love you too,” Skye moaned.

Leah eased Skye’s door closed and then walked down the hallway and stood in her own doorway. Quinton sat on the edge of the bed. The weariness he’d worn before was still etched all over his face.

“I’m spending the night because I’m too tired to think about driving across town, but I’m sleeping in the guest bedroom,” Leah announced.

“What? Why?” Quinton asked, adjusting his body upright.

“Because nothing’s changed between us. We still have one major issue that has to be resolved before we start living as husband and wife again.”

His shoulders slumped. Quinton ran a hand over his face, then let it fall limply onto his lap. “Leah. Please,” he said barely above a whisper.

Leah didn’t want to hurt him, and she knew that was exactly what she was doing, but she was hurt too. She wanted to be able to bury everything that happened tonight and last night and move forward, but that wasn’t possible.

“I know I hurt you, and I can’t apologize enough for that,” Quinton began.

He steepled his hands as he spoke. “That shouldn’t have been the first time you heard how I felt, but I didn’t know how to tell you.

I wasn’t even sure if it was how I truly felt.

” He paused, lifted his head, then turned to her.

“When Nova came back, I started thinking about things that I hadn’t thought about in years.

I love the memories that Nova and I were able to share with Skye since Nova’s been back, but I don’t love Nova. Not like that. Not like I love you.”

Leah sat on the edge of the bed, feeling the mattress dip under her weight. Quinton leaned slightly toward her, his eyes intent on her face.

“How are you able to say that with certainty now when yesterday you were still confused about your feelings?” she asked, watching his expression for any signs of doubt.

“I know because of how I felt when I watched you walk out that door last night.” His gaze drifted to the bedroom door as if reliving the moment.

“You said I needed time to think, and that’s all I did today, but the person I couldn’t stop thinking about is you.

I didn’t want to run to Nova, and I didn’t want her to run to me. I wanted you and no one else.”

She felt a pinch of guarded hope tugging at her, wanting to lean into the warmth of his declaration. The words Quinton spoke echoed in the space between them. She wondered, Is it truly possible for him to have untangled his knotted feelings in one day?

Quinton leaned forward, his clasped hands covering his mouth.

He straightened himself again and reached out for Leah, but then pulled away as if afraid of what she may do if he actually touched her.

Instead, he cleared his throat and continued speaking.

“And to be honest, the past few hours felt like a lifetime to me.” Sincerity etched across his face and his brow furrowed.

Quinton was never good at expressing his feelings verbally.

This conversation had to be hard for him, but Leah sat quietly and listened while he was willing to share his thoughts with her.

“I may not know the perfect definition of love, but I do know that when you’re at your lowest and everything feels like it’s falling apart, that’s when you need your person by your side.

The only person I wanted by my side was you.

Not Nova. Just you. Because you are my number one, and I’m sorry I didn’t do a better job of making you feel that way, but I promise I’m going to spend the rest of our lives making sure you know that you’re the most important person in my life.

” His shoulders relaxed as if a weight had been lifted.

Leah closed her eyes as the wall she was determined to keep between them slowly started to crumble. “You’re the most important person in my life too,” she admitted.

When she looked into Quinton’s eyes, she saw the raw sincerity that reached deep into her heart, touching the part of her that longed to feel like someone’s number one.

“I do believe you. But I also believe that we should consider counseling. I don’t want to move forward until we figure out how to get back to how we used to be.

We need to learn how to communicate again. ”

“I agree. And speaking of counseling, I decided to go back.”

Leah didn’t think there was any more shock left inside her, but apparently there was. She didn’t expect Quinton to protest marriage counseling, not now, anyway, since they were on the road to healing, but she certainly didn’t expect to hear that he was going for himself.

It had taken everything for Leah to get him to go to grief counseling after Nova went missing. He went to two sessions and then decided it wasn’t for him.

“What brought this on?” Leah asked, trying to stifle a yawn.

Quinton was quiet for a beat, then looked at Leah. “Last night, when I took Nova home from the school, she and I sat and talked for a while. I didn’t want to leave her alone in the state that she was in, so I stuck around and tried to wait for your mom to get there.” He lowered his gaze.

“It’s okay,” Leah said, giving him the reassurance he seemed to need to continue.

“Somehow, we got on the topic of Lance,” Quinton began.

Leah listened intently as Quinton recounted his conversation with Nova.

She noted how his expression changed as he spoke and how his jaw clenched briefly at the mention of his mother.

It was something she hadn’t noticed before.

Did he always do that whenever they talked about Renee?

She was sure she would’ve noticed if he had.

Quinton never gave her any reason to think he had any animosity toward his mom, even when he had every right to be upset, like all the visits she never made, even though they always invited her for holidays and other special occasions.

“So, Nova feels like your anger toward Lance is actually for your mom?” Leah asked, trying to wrap her mind around what she’d just heard.

Quinton nodded. “But what do you think?” he asked.

Leah lifted her shoulders. “I don’t know. I guess I’d need more information. It sounds like Nova knows things that I don’t.”

Quinton stared straight ahead as he spoke. “Only because she was around when I was dealing with my mom not being there. Nova and I hadn’t talked about that since high school. I mean, before last night.”

“Why didn’t you tell me that you felt that way about Renee? Why did you act like you were fine with y’all’s relationship?” Leah asked.

“Because I thought I was. I was used to her disappointing me, so I never expected much from her. When she never showed up or didn’t call, it didn’t bother me anymore because I didn’t think she would anyway.

” Quinton exhaled. “It wasn’t like I was keeping my feelings from you.

I didn’t realize there were feelings to discuss. ”

Leah understood. She’d seen it more times than she could count during her sessions.

It always amazed her how powerful the mind could be.

If you said it enough, eventually, you’d start to believe it.

Your words became your reality, but not a true reality, just one you’d invented to cope with whatever you didn’t want to deal with.

“And now?” Leah asked. “Do you think there’s something to what Nova said about your misplaced anger?”

Quinton shook his head. “I don’t know. But tonight, even though he had every reason not to help me, Lance did.

When we got in his truck, he asked if I wanted him to pray.

” Quinton gave a disbelieving huff. “I’ve openly expressed my disdain for this man, and he still wanted to pray.

” He paused as if allowing his own words to settle in.

“I know it was for Skye’s safety and had more to do with Nova than me, but still. ” Quinton bit his bottom lip.

“So, what are you saying?” Leah asked, being careful not to jump to her own conclusions.

“I’m saying that maybe that little stunt Skye pulled was a blessing in disguise.

I admit that I was unsure about my feelings toward Nova, but like I said, all of that changed tonight.

There’s not an ounce of uncertainty left, and I know that’s something I’ll have to prove to you through my actions and not my words.

Not only that but tonight also gave me time to be alone with Lance—something I hadn’t done since high school.

I know Lance isn’t who I made him out to be.

I think I’ve always known it, but for some reason, it was easier to believe the worst of him than admit the truth.

And the truth is, the anger I felt for him had more to do with the argument Nova and I had the night she went missing than the injury he’d caused me to have in high school.

A part of me blamed him since he was the reason we’d fought in the first place. ”

“You did do a lot of thinking tonight,” Leah said, suppressing another yawn.

“It wasn’t just tonight, but tonight was when it all made sense in my mind. And I guess it was also when I gathered up the courage to actually admit it to someone other than myself.”

“I’m glad you told me.” Leah was starting to lose the battle with her eyelids. They felt heavier by the second. Yesterday and today had taken so much out of her.

“I know this is just the beginning of my”—Quinton snapped his fingers—“what do you call it? A healing journey?”

Leah nodded.

“But I don’t think I can do this without you. I need you, Leah. But bigger than that, I want you.” He picked up her hand and intertwined their fingers. “And only you for the rest of my life.”

Quinton lay back on the bed and gently pulled Leah with him. Leah rested her head on his chest, and the rhythm of his heart was like a sweet lullaby that carried her right into the most peaceful sleep she’d had in a long time.