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“Leah?”
“Hey, Carter.” Her voice cracked and she cleared her throat as she wiped the tears from her face. She needed to sound confident. Not like the broken woman who had left New York City in August. Part of that woman would always live inside Leah, but things were changing. She could feel it. Kissing Dakota tonight had been a huge first step.
“I’m so glad you called me back,” Carter said. “I thought maybe you’d severed all ties and wanted to keep it that way.”
“I did, but…”
“But I sounded desperate, didn’t I?” He laughed, a hint of a raspy chuckle that sounded forced and not at all like the hearty, bellowing laugh he used to have. Before they lost Chase. “I’m still coming apart, Leah. That’s why I called. I wanted to see if you were okay. If moving helped.”
Her eyes and throat stung as she listened to the misery in Carter’s voice. “I’m doing better, Carter. I really am. This town is great. The people are nice. I’m busy at school.” She sniffed. “I miss… everyone, but if I’m able to move on, I think this is the right place for me to try.”
“You sound better,” Carter said. “Like something in your voice is more… hopeful.”
Hopeful.That was exactly the right word. Maplehaven was making her hopeful. She’d been completely without hope in New York after everything that had happened, but now… here… she had hope.
“Yeah. I guess it’s hard to dwell on the negative when there is so much natural beauty surrounding me here in Vermont.” And maybe some male beauty was also contributing to her rebirth.
“Do you think…?” Carter released a breath and Leah could picture him raking his fingers through his dark hair. “Do you think I could come visit you for a few days? I need to get out of this place and I can pretty much take a vacation whenever I want because I’m the boss.” Another half-powered laugh followed. “I’ve been drinking again. Almost got arrested last night because I got a little rowdy at a bar down the street from me. I just… I don’t know. I can’t get past this angry stage, I guess. You know, the whole why-him-and-not-me line of thinking. It’s making me crazy.”
Leah gnawed on her lower lip. She didn’t want New York polluting her newly found sanctuary, but how could she say no? Carter sounded as if he was doingworsethan he had been when she’d left. She’d like to think someone would pull her back from the abyss if needed. So far, she’d managed to keep herself from totally shattering—even felt as if she might be on the other side of the entire dark episode—but Carter didn’t seem to be faring as well.
“Are you sure you don’t want to get away to a completely neutral place?” she asked instead of automatically saying he could come to Vermont. “Will seeing me make things worse maybe? You know, old friends, old ties, old memories.”
Carter was quiet for a moment, and Leah wondered if she’d offended him by not jumping at his visit suggestion. Truth was, she wasn’t sure if seeing him might be bad forher.
“I think I can handle seeing you, Leah. I want to see you,” he finally said. “And Vermont.”
“Okay. When?” She blew through a mental list of what she’d need to do in order to be ready for a houseguest. Some furniture in the cottage’s guest room would probably help.
“I’ve got a few things to wrap up work-wise, but I could probably drive up Sunday, late afternoon. Does that work?” His mood sounded improved.
“Sunday, sure. That’ll be fine.” Fey twitched in her lap where she’d curled up and fallen asleep. “You’re not allergic to cats, are you?” Why was she looking for a way out of having him come? Carter had been one of her closest friends. The guy needed this. She had to have a heart—even if it only worked intermittently.
“Cats? No, why? Did you get one?”
“Yeah. So far we’ve cuddled a bit and I’ve stepped in her puke. It’s been great.”
Carter laughed, a more robust sound now that he had travel plans in the works. “Sounds like a beautiful friendship.”
“It’d be better if there was more cuddling and less puking, but we’re still learning to live with each other. We’ll figure it out.” She scratched between Fey’s ears and the kitten wiggled a little closer to her stomach. Despite the puke fiasco, she was a cute little critter.
“I can’t wait to meet her. Thanks, Leah,” Carter said. “I’ll see you on Sunday.”
They hung up and Leah spent a few moments sitting on the couch, listening to thetick-tickof the clock on the mantle. The entire conversation had only taken ten minutes, but she was exhausted.
And now she had a bunch of stuff to do to prepare for Carter’s stay. How long wasafew days? What if him visiting didn’t work out? What if she couldn’t handle it? What if seeing him undid all the progress she’d made? Could she tell him to leave if she had to? Would that be rude?
She flopped her head back on the couch cushion behind her. Why was life always throwing curveballs? She’d surprised herself only a few hours ago by making out with Dakota like a horny teenager. Shouldn’t a day be limited to one shock? Now she had to test whether or not she had it in her to remain on this path of… of recovery.
A setback now might tear her apart for good.
****
“Kissing on the first date is a good sign,” Noah said after Dakota had unloaded the details of his Friday night with Leah to him.
“Definitely.” Dakota crouched beside Ginger who had driven with him to Brenton Sawmill on this chilly Sunday morning. He’d spent all day yesterday doing adventure tours and decided he’d squeeze in a few early-morning hours repairing the canoe dock at Birch Peak Adventures before a day of ziplining tours.
“The kid’s still got it.” Noah applauded as Dakota stood and Ginger meandered out of the sawmill’s business office to investigate something more interesting than Noah and Dakota.
