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Cherry handed me a take-out paper bag and then added, “Ah, I just have to keep my fingers crossed then.” She released a light laugh before I paid her in cash.
“Keep the rest as a tip.”
“Thank you, Tommy.”
I was still grinning when I walked towards the exit but froze in my tracks when the door swung open, and a man walked in. I recognized the gait even before his head swung in my direction and his dark eyes landed on mine.
Brady Cooper.The years had aged the man, but his smile hadn’t changed. That smug smile that I had always longed to wipe off his face stayed tight, and once he saw me, it widened.
“Tommy Thatcher,” he said before he closed the gap between us and extended a hand. “I keep running into old faces.”
Brady waited for my handshake, but when I didn’t move an inch, he tucked his hand away and pressed his lips into a thin line. “I take it we’re still enemies,” he said as he slipped his right hand into his pocket and met my gaze. “How many years has it been since…”
“Since you screwed my wife?” I interrupted, then saw his eyes widen before he looked around us. I felt curious gazes bounce in my direction but seeing Brady again stirred feelings in me. Hard, irritating ones that I had longed to be buried and tried to forget.
“I was gonna go for since we last saw each other, but …”
“Get out of my way, Brady.”
When he didn’t move, I shoved past him, bashed my shoulder against his to nudge him out of the way, then continued out the door. I was in a light mood earlier but seeing Brady had completely ruined it all for me.
Memories of that time flooded my mind now. Lisa’s affair had ruined our happy lives and everything I had believed in. I had loved her and wanted to be with her forever, but none of the dreams and promises we shared mattered.
None of it lasts.
As I drove back home some minutes later, I kept glancing at the paper bag at my side. The urge to buy Leah something nice was spontaneous, and I had let the tender feelings she stirred inside me dwell for too long. I had to shut it out before making the silly mistake of letting my heart care for her.
It never lasts.A lump formed in the base of my throat, and I tried to tuck Brady’s smug smile out of my mind. His smile always made it seem as if he was mocking me. It made my nerves raw and tight.
My grip on the steering tightened, and I hated the heated rage tunneling to the surface inside me. Brady was a trigger to hurtful memories, and I hadn’t felt this mad in a long time.
I hadn’t even remembered Lisa in a while, and that began when Leah showed up. She had consumed my thoughts and left room for no one else.Not anymore,I promised myself. Shutting her out was the right thing to do, for both our sakes.
Chapter Twelve
Leah
Tommywassittinginthe living room with a glass of brandy in his hand when I walked in. “Hey.”
He didn’t lift his eyes from the glass, and he didn’t make any move either. The cake slices he brought home with him still lay in the kitchen and I was hoping we could share them over a glass of wine tonight while talking.
Truth was, I enjoyed talking with Tommy, and since Danielle wasn’t here, it felt nice to have someone else to spill my thoughts too. I still hadn’t told him about Trevor, or my suspicions about the near hit-and-run the other night, but the thoughts tormented me, and I was hoping to share some with him.
“Hey,” I said again, then sat next to him on the couch and took the glass in his hand. “I was thinking we could do something fun tonight. Maybe go out to dinner? Or play a game of words … Do you have anything in mind?”
“Not now,” he answered, then took the glass out of my hand and downed its contents in one slug. He rose to his feet, wrangled his tie further, then walked towards the kitchen.
“Tommy,” I called and went after him. “Did something happen?”
He ignored my question, opened the shelf, and took out another bottle of brandy. I felt a knot form in the pit of my stomach, and I assumed something had happened.
“Hey, Tommy…” I touched his back, but he twisted himself out of my reach and turned to me.
“Can you just stay away from me one minute,” he snapped and put some distance between us. My jaw dropped, and I gasped from the shock of his outburst.
He rubbed his forehead and then his jaw before walking further away. “Look just … I need to be alone right now, Leah, so please just … give me some space.”
“Right,” I said and nodded. “I’ll just ….” I didn’t finish the sentence before running up the stairs and heading for my bedroom. I spent the rest of the day indoors trying my best not to think of Tommy or his outburst.
