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Leilani dropped her face, taking in the photos of her childhood as the tears dripped freely. It was pretty clear her mom had been thinking about these things for a long time.
She thought by dying she would be reconnected with her husband. No one knew if that was true. But she had a daughter sitting right in front of her who needed her.
Instead, she was choosing to leave.
“So, you want to be with him?” she croaked through her tears.
“Yes,” her mom replied, and Leilani could smell the booze on her breath.
As Leilani’s world came crashing down around her, she let her mom wrap her in her arms and cried against her chest. There wasn’t anything more she could say. It was time to stop fighting and just love her until the end.
When Leilani finally straightened, a protective layer had formed around her heart. She kissed her mom on the cheek and then climbed off the sofa.
If she was going to get through this alone, she would have to be strong.
“I have an early start. Don’t forget to take your antibiotics,” Leilani said as she walked upstairs.
When she climbed into bed, she turned off the light and lay staring into the darkness. Her mind eventually returned to Jacob and the kiss they’d shared at the museum.
It had felt so much more than the seductive dirty kisses on Friday night. It had been laced with meaning and feelings that had no place existing between them.
You should have run.
Was Jacob schizo-damn-phrenic? One minute he was saying she should run, the next he was inviting her away to a family weekend.
Leilani wanted more details about what she was there to buffer. These so-called complications. What if the Dufort family had a whole lot of hidden secrets she was walking into?
She’d canceled the lunch she had planned with Vanessa and Amy, saying she was going away for the weekend.
Amy had rung her.
“Is it a man? I knew you had someone. Was it the same guy who put the hickey on your neck?”
“Amy, it wasn’t a hickey.” Leilani had laughed.
Because it wasn’t. It was a bruise from being strangled.
Better not clear that one up.
“But yes, it’s a guy. We’re just friends. Well, more than friends, but it’s not serious.” Leilani cringed, knowing how bad that sounded.
This is why she hated speaking on the phone.
“Oh. So, just friends with benefits?” Amy’s judgment was clear in her tone.
“Friends. Who had sex. I’m an adult. It’s what adults do.” Leilani rubbed her forehead, hoping her battery would suddenly die. “Not all of us meet our soulmates in college, Ames.”
Silence.
“Well, as long as you are happy,” she replied, sounding about as honest as a politician.
“Have a nice Easter and if that baby comes, ring me immediately.” Leilani smiled.
“I’m still three weeks away. I think it will come on time,” Amy said.
She wouldn’t be surprised. Everything Amy did in her life was very planned and structured.
Now, as she wondered about what was waiting for her in the Hamptons this weekend, her mind got the better of her, so she reached for the phone and texted Jacob.
