AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Amelia visited our house and you saw her face to face? You didn’t think that was important to mention, Mom?”
“Ye left and she thought…”
“Oh, please tell me what she thought, Mom.” He pressed the bridge of his nose with his finger and thumb. “Never mind.” He swallowed hard. “Never mind. I’m glad Amelia is visiting her dad, my parents, and is apparently doing well - wherever she is. That’s what matters. I talk to her dad every week so she might as well talk to you, right? The rest of our lives, we can cross paths without ever setting eyes on each other. That should be all kinds of healthy for everyone involved.”
“Leo…”
“Mom, I think it’s great. I have a solid relationship with Gil and she has one with you and dad. We’ve all known each other a long time. Those attachments are inevitable. The next time you talk to her, tell her I said hey. Or don’t bring me up at all. Actually, the second one is better. I gotta run, Mom. I love you. Give my love to Dad.”
He quickly hung up the phone and strapped on his iPod. Nothing was going to help other than running until he was too exhausted to function.
The following morning, he had an email from Amelia.
I don’t know what to do, Leo.
He replied instantly and let her see a small piece of his pain.
You’ll figure it out. Making choices without my input should be easy by now. I’m glad you’re talking to my parents. I know they’ve missed you. Maybe in another decade, we can speak to one another face to face like adults. Until then, take care of yourself.
Amelia didn’t respond and he didn’t expect her to. He went to work, went to the gym, and dated rarely and utterly without substance.
Over the years, he and Delilah kept in touch. When she got engaged four years after they met, Leo was invited to the wedding.
Curious about the man savvy enough to win her heart, he attended solo. Choosing a seat in the back of the church, Leo was speechless when Delilah appeared in the aisle.
She was beautiful, glowing, and he was overcome by the fact that Amelia would have looked like that on their wedding day. Bracing himself on the back of the pew in front of him, he released a small sigh of pain. The only sound he couldn’t contain.
Delilah’s eyes landed on Leo and for a moment, the smile slipped from her face. Then she winked and walked to the altar to her waiting husband-to-be.
He planned to leave the moment it wasn’t obvious but one of the bridesmaids appeared beside him as everyone began filing from the church.
“Leo? Delilah asks that you please stay for the reception. She wants a moment to talk to you.” The young woman gave him a bright smile. “Her first client.”
So he joined the other guests in filing from the church to a beautiful barn on the other side of a clearing. He was enthralled with the decor, the obvious history of the structure, and was tracing a section of the wood when Delilah appeared beside him.
Wrapping her fingers through his arm, she led him outside. “Do you see that patch of land there? The one with a sort of charred look?” Leo nodded. “There used to be a trailer there. A small one where I lived with my mom, dad, and three sisters. My dad couldn’t read and took odd jobs all his life. Mom worked cleaning houses and watching other people’s kids. I took care of my sisters.”
She turned to face him, a vision in delicate white lace. “Two years ago, I bought that land. A year ago, I burned that trailer to the ground. Last year, I built something new.”
He shielded his eyes from the setting sun and took in the row of houses. They were pretty, cozy, with well-kept yards and gardens in the back.
“One for my parents and one for each of my sisters. This barn has always been here and I bought the land it sat on. It was infested with rats and bats. I had them captured, had this old building scoured, and used it to celebrate my wedding in a church we were too ashamed to step inside two decades ago.”
Hand on her hip, she smiled. “Tomorrow, when all the chairs and tables are gone, I’m going to let them put the rats and bats back in their home. I’ll take off this fancy dress and wear my glasses instead of contacts. My new husband will pull on work boots and spend the day digging a drainage trench with a backhoe for a new housing development.”
“I’m happy for you, Delilah. So happy.”
“The life I have now is one I fought to get. I scratched and clawed and worked four jobs to get my books when scholarship money ran out. Your life is gentle, intellectual, and dignified. If you’d been raised like me…” Sighing, she shook her head. “I thought you’d be here with Amelia. That you’re not tells me one or both of you is hella stubborn.”
She grabbed his upper arms. “You need to burn shit down, Leo. Burn it down and build something new.” Gesturing down her body with one hand, she asked, “You wanna see Amelia like this? Burn everything that went before down and build on the ashes.”
Blinking in stunned fascination, he didn’t know what to say.
“Now! Let’s get a drink in your hand and come meet the cagey motherfucker who talked me - of all people - into marriage. That’s a story you need to be drunk to hear.”
He laughed. “Then we better get started…”
* * *
