9. Leesa
9
LEESA
Jazzy wakes up with a smile, seemingly unfazed by the day’s earlier events. She bounds out of the fort, eager to start new adventures.
I exchange a knowing glance with Rhodes, the unspoken bond between us growing stronger than ever. The close call with the mountain lion serves as a stark reminder of the fragility of life and I don’t know what I would have done if it were me and Jazzy out there, alone.
As Jazzy chatters excitedly about building snowmen and having snowball fights and making snow forts, I can’t help but be grateful that the encounter with nature hasn’t spoiled her happiness.
“So what’s for dinner?” I ask.
“Mac and cheese!” she calls out.
Rhodes shrugs, “Sounds good to me.”
“Let’s go find some.” Leesa starts for the kitchen. “Hey, did get my phone charged?”
“Shit, I forgot it out in your car.”
“Dollar,” Jazzy mumbles.
I sigh.
Leesa looks down at her daughter. “Here’s the deal, Jazzy, Rhodes doesn’t have to do the dollar jar. That’s just for people in our family.”
I say it and I see him deflate.
“I’ll go get your phone,” he says, turning on his heels.
Shit.
The front door closes.
“I like Rhodes. He saved me from the lion. It was big.”
“I know. Do you want to talk about it?”
“No. I think that it was hungry. Can we feed it?”
I search the cabinets and finally find a couple boxes of mac and cheese. “No, honey, we cannot feed the wild animal. It has to find food on its own.”
I start the water to boil and measure out the milk and the butter. It’s been a while since Rhodes went out, but the front door opens and I hear boots on the entryway.
“Did it get some charge?”
“Doesn’t matter, we won’t need a phone.”
I spin to the voice, the move throwing me off balance.
“Daddy!” Jazzy jumps off a stool and runs to her father’s arms.
Kids don’t get manipulation at this point in their lives, but I do and since I’m not seeing Rhodes hot on Cary’s heels, an unease crawls up from the depths of my gut.
“Cary? What are you doing here?”
“I could ask you the same thing. You need to tell me when you take our adorable,” he boops her nose and she giggles, “daughter out of the city.”
“No, that only…” I decide not to get into the issue at hand in front of Jazzy, her eyes bouncing back and forth between us. “Hey, honey, can you go in the living room and do some more coloring. I think Rhodes found a new coloring book.”
“Really? I like Rhodes daddy. He saved me from a lion!” She roars.
“Oh, sounds scary.”
“It wasn’t. He’s a soldier. He protected me.”
Cary’s face falls. Even his adorable daughter can’t impress him always, especially when he’ll assume a five-year-old is slighting him.
She’s not.
As soon as Jazzy is out of the room, I motion toward the door. “Cary, you need to go. You cannot be here.”
“I can be anywhere my daughter is.”
“Well, the man who owns this place is outside and?—”
“He won’t be bothering us.”
My stomach clenches. I imagine the worst because Cary is the worst.
“What did you do?”
“A little zippity-zappity and he fell to the ground. He’s tied up with something else right now.”
“You electrocuted him?”
“No!” He leans in. “The taser did. I just accidentally hit the button. Ooops, my finger slipped.”
“You’re insane.”
“I saw you through the window with him. You’re mine and you’ll never be his.”
“You’re sick.”
“Sick of you being a bitch.”
I go to open my mouth and Cary’s body wrenches back.
“What the…” he falls to his knees and when he tumbles forward at my feet, where he belongs, I see the tranquilizer dart.
And then I look up and see a very disheveled Rhodes.
“Oh my God, are you okay?”
He nods but stumbles forward. I catch him and guide him with me to the ground.
“How did you get loose?”
“He’s not MacGyver. His knot tying skills are ridiculous.”
I chuckle, but quickly I realize what could have happened. “That’s not funny. He could have really hurt you!”
“And that’s why we need to tie him up.” He starts to stand and I get upright before him, helping him to his feet.
“I called 9-1-1 from your phone but the sheriff was already on his way. I think Shane got to him first.”
I brush his hair from his face. “I’m sorry that happened to you.” My hand rests softly on his chest.
“I’m not. It’s time to not living looking over your shoulder.”
“What about you?”
He smiles. “I only want to look forward from this point on, Leesa.”
Cary groans and we both look down.
“Probably better get him tied up.”
Rhodes kisses my forehead. “Only forward.”
The front door opens and a familiar face leading a line of people comes in, including the sheriff and a deputy who go to work on Cary.
“Uncle Rhodes!” Kyla and Maya call out and then they see someone else behind us. “Jazzy!” They run to her and all three giggle.
“I tried to call you and let you know that I saw him here!” Shane exclaims before pulling me against him in a long hug.
“Let’s go.” The sheriff and deputy drag a wobbly Cary to his feet.
“This isn’t the end,” he spouts at me. “You’re going to?—”
The sheriff shuts him down. “Yeah, yeah, you can tell it to the judge. Folks we’ll need statements, but that can wait. Enjoy your holiday.”
And like that, Cary is carried off from my life.
Jazzy comes from the living room. “Is Daddy going to be okay?”
It’s going to be hard to explain to her what’s happened and what might happen. But I didn’t do this. I’m going to undo this by getting both of us into a healthy relationship.
I lift her into my arms and Rhodes wraps his around both of us, his chin resting on my shoulder.
It’s amazing that Shane and Quinton have said nothing. With gaping mouths, they seem stunned.
“Are you two…” Shane starts and then shakes his head. “What… How…”
I chuckle. “I haven’t seen you have this much trouble speaking since you realized that Schitt’s Creek was only six seasons long.”
“But… you two are a thing?”
And then I realize that Shane had nothing to do with this. Rhodes and I simply stumbled upon each other amidst the turmoil and tumult of our lives. It was as if fate had intervened, orchestrating a meeting between two strangers who found solace and understanding in each other's company.
Our paths may have crossed by chance, but it felt like destiny had played a hand in our encounter. As I look up into Rhodes’s eyes, a sense of peace washes over me. In the midst of this chaotic world, I found a kindred soul, someone who understood me without needing any words or explanations.
Do I know what will happen after this? No. But for now, we are bound together by something greater than ourselves. In this moment, we are each other’s saviors, rescuing one another from the chaos and confusion that threatened to consume us.
And for that, I will be forever grateful to the man who stands behind me, offering me a moment of respite in the midst of the storm.