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Leah smiled. “Lots of things, Mum. But we can talk about it later. I’m going to get my shoes on and we’re going to Chadstone.”
First stop at Chadstone was for coffee. Then they wandered around at their leisure. The shopping center was enormous, with over five hundred shops. They ranged from chic and expensive to bargain basement, with everything in between. Leah and Lynne looked at Louis Vuitton handbags, Burberry coats and Dior perfume. They went from the sublime to the ridiculous, trawling through the on-sale baskets in the Reject shop. Everything was already dirt cheap, so an on-sale basket was even more trashy. They had a good giggle at the contents before moving on. They stopped for lunch at an Italian café on the ground floor, ordering a calzone to share and a coffee each.
“Leah, I want to ask you something,” Lynne said after the waiter had delivered their food.
“Okay.” There was an odd note to Lynne’s voice that made Leah put her knife and fork down and give her mother her full attention.
Looking down at her plate, Lynne said, “I saw the photos of you. On the internet.”
“Right,” Leah said when Lynne stopped.
“You were kissing someone. A man.”
“Yes.” Leah frowned. Where was her mother going with this?
Keeping her eyes downcast, she asked, “Did you like it?”
“The kissing?”
Lynne nodded.
“Yes. A lot, actually.”
“Right. I was just wondering.”
“Why were you wondering, Mum?” Leah asked quietly.
Lynne shot her a look, then her gaze slid away. “I was wondering how you could like it.”
Leah bit her lip. She remembered her mother telling her that she didn’t like kissing. Which was hardly surprising, given who she was married to. “I didn’t used to like it. I hated it with Scott. But with Callum…” She stopped as she felt a lump form in her throat.
“That’s the first time you’ve said his name.”
Leah closed her eyes to hold back tears.
“Did you fight?”
Leah nodded.
“Will you go back to him?”
“I don’t know. He said some pretty awful things to me. Like, really unfair things. But I’ll go back to Blessed Inlet. It’s home now.”
“What are you waiting for?”
“I’m not really sure. I think I’m waiting until I feel ready. Because I’ll have to deal with the situation with Callum when I go back, and I don’t feel like I can do that just yet.”
“What is the situation, exactly?”
Leah took a deep breath. “I love him. And I think maybe he loves me. He told me he did, anyway.” She had been playing that moment over and over and over in her mind. “But I don’t feel like I can trust it.” She didn’t want to say to her mother that she doubted she was worthy of it. Because that was the crux of it. “So when I go back, I have to know exactly what I want from him. And I have to know that I can demand it. And then hope that he can give it to me. I’m not strong enough for that.”
“I think you’re plenty strong enough, darling.”
Leah smiled. “Thanks, Mum.” She took a sip of coffee. “Will you come and visit me? I would love it if you did.”
Lynne shook her head. “I couldn’t.”
“Yes, you could. But if you don’t want to, that’s okay.”
