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“See ya, Blake,” Jacob said over her head, and then guided her out of the office with his hand on the small of her back.
What was happening?
Leilani sat in the passenger seat, with her purse on her lap, and shot Jacob a glance.
“How have you been?” she asked.
“Busy.” He smiled at her. “Making plans. Preparing.”
Oh.
She narrowed her eyes, wondering if he was going to ask how her mom was. Did he know she had quit? Did he know that two days after he’d dropped her off that her mom had died?
That her best friends Amy and Vanessa hadn’t even visited because Amy had gone into labor that same day. Amy’s excuse was valid, but Vanessa could have been there for her. Or their husbands. She was close enough with them, too.
Or so she’d thought.
That she’d stood beside her grave feeling alone and scared.
Unreasonably, she’d wondered where Jacob was and had been so angry he hadn’t been there for her.
But he wasn’t.
To say she’d been through the dark night of the soul was barely scratching the surface.
Bella Dufort had shown up at her house a few days after her mom had died and let her cry in her arms.
After apologizing for just showing up, which was not at all necessary, the two of them had shared stories about their moms and how men were dumb.
“I know you love him. I saw it in your eyes.” Bella smiled softly. “Jacob isn’t in the right space in his life right now. Maybe in a few years. Don’t write him off.”
But she had.
There was no space in her heart for understanding when it was full of grief and pain.
Yet here she sat.
What was it about him that made her so unable to say no? Especially when it sounded like he had been having a grand time making his plans while she’d been going through hell.
Not that it was his responsibility to make her happy. But one phone call would have been nice.
One hug.
She sniffed and nodded, then glanced out the window. “That’s nice.”
He wasn’t the only one making plans, though.
After the funeral, Leilani had sat on the front step of her home and stared out into the night, wondering what to do with her life.
She was alone as she’d feared, and it felt awful. Empty. Hollow. Groundless.
Frankly, she was miserable.
She had no idea where she belonged in life. Or who with. And it felt like she was the only person on the planet who felt like this.
She’d sobbed for hours, feeling sorry for herself, getting angry with her mom. Furious with her friends, and nearly sending a message to Jacob to tell him how much she hated him.
Which was a lie.
