Chapter 4
Three days after she’d arrived in Lyntacky and saw Dan, Leah still hadn’t run into anyone else she knew. Correction—she’d made sure she didn’t run into them. But what surprised her the most was, no one had come calling. Had Dan not told his family she was back?
Leah had brought pizza and supplies from Calloway’s, but she hadn’t run into anyone at either of those places she knew, which had also been a surprise.
But then the population of Lyntacky had clearly grown since she’d been gone, because Leah had seen the new houses that had been built.
There were people here she didn’t know now, which shouldn’t make her sad, but it did.
She hadn’t done a lot in the past few days other than enroll Hudson in school. He’d told her when she picked him up on the second day that he didn’t hate it, which was a win as far as Leah was concerned.
Hudson and Leah had spent a lot of time working around the house but as yet hadn’t ventured farther than the chicken coop and the first of the shade houses.
He’d told her he’d always wanted chickens, so they were going to make that happen.
But to do that, she needed to leave the farm, and today was that day.
Her thoughts returned to Dan Duke, as they had often since she’d seen him again.
He’d looked good. Better than good. Not that she cared.
But still, she could admire a handsome man when she saw one.
Dan was tall and bigger than he’d been before she’d left town.
That uniform had shown her he was still in good shape, but then the man had always worn clothes well. He’d also looked good without them.
Whoa, shut out that image immediately, Leah thought. She’d blocked Dan out of her head for years, but now he was someone she’d be seeing again, and she told herself she could handle that.
“Because you’re strong,” she whispered. I’m doing this for Hudson, Leah reminded herself.
Today was Saturday, and she was going into town because she couldn’t avoid it any longer. She was treating herself and Hudson to breakfast at the Do-Si-Do Diner. Yes, money was tight, but they both needed this. A change of environment and company.
Heading up the stairs to tell Hudson to get ready, she sniffed the air. Leah had scrubbed this place from top to bottom, and it smelled fresher and looked cleaner.
She found him on the floor of his room, drawing.
“Hey, do you want to go out for breakfast?”
He shot her a look, eyes wide. “Really?”
“Really. Go clean your face and brush your hair. Put something on your feet, too, and I’ll meet you downstairs.”
He leaped to his feet and ran to the bathroom as fast as his little legs could carry him.
Hudson had settled in at school better than she’d hoped, which was a huge relief for Leah. School wasn’t somewhere she’d always had fond memories, which with age and hindsight was possibly partially her fault because she’d constantly been waiting for someone to ridicule her about her family.
After slipping her feet into sandals, she headed out of her room.
Being back in this house felt strange—unsettling and comforting all at once.
Still, she’d started exorcising a few demons by stripping away traces of her father, and rearranging furniture.
Dragging unwanted pieces out the back door, piling them for the barn when she had the strength to haul them that far.
She’d scrubbed every surface until her hands were raw, then lit the candles she’d brought, their soft glow and clean scent replacing the stale weight of memory.
For the first time, Leah let herself believe that maybe—just maybe—she and Hudson could be happy here.
Being back in Lyntacky would really test that, but Leah knew it was time to show her face because she couldn’t hide out here indefinitely. Someone would come and find her soon.
Looking in the hall mirror, she checked her appearance. Not that long ago, Leah would have put on makeup, but not now. She no longer had the energy to bother with that.
“Ready!” Hudson yelled.
She grabbed her keys and joined him downstairs.
“I like this town,” Hudson said as they drove toward Lyntacky.
“You haven’t spent much time in it if we’re honest.”
“I know, but the time we got pizza, it felt good.”
“It is good,” she said. Mostly, but there were pockets of bad. “How’s school going?”
“You’ve asked me that sooo many times already, Aunt Leah,” Hudson said from beside her. “I’ve only been there a few days.”
“Because I love you and want you to be happy,” she said, remembering how important Cassie had said it was to tell him he was loved, even if it felt as comfortable as putting her shoes on the wrong feet.
“I like it, and there are some nice kids in my class,” Hudson conceded. “I don’t like Todd Cooper or Jessie Hull, though.”
“Mean kids?”
He nodded.
“Don’t let them bully you, Hudson. You stand up for yourself.”
He didn’t answer that.
“Have they bullied you already?”
“Some, but me and my two new friends stick together.”
“Want me to come to school and sort it out for you?” Leah thought she’d like to bang Todd and Jessie’s heads together but knew she wouldn’t get away with that. But she was not standing for anyone being mean to her nephew. He’d suffered enough in his brief life already.
“No, that would make it worse,” Hudson said. “I can handle it, Aunt Leah.”
She had to be happy with that, but she’d still be talking to his teacher, and making sure she kept an eye on Hudson.
“Okay. Do you want to go to the diner, or try that cafe down by the pizza place?”
“The diner because you said the French toast was good,” he said, sounding twenty-five years old. “How come you haven’t seen your old friends, Aunt Leah?”
“Maybe we’ll see some of them today,” Leah deflected, because it was a question she’d been asking herself and still had no answer.
“Mom told me you had lots of friends. I thought they’d have come to see you before now,” he persisted with a determination she often admired but right then didn’t.
“We’ve been busy.”
Hudson gave her a look that told Leah he wasn’t buying it. She turned into the main street of Lyntacky and looked for a distraction.
“See that statue there?” She pointed to the woman square dancing. “That’s Shelly Lyntacky. She died, may she rest in peace, and loved square dancing.”
“Is that why when we hear that music, we’ve gotta dance?” Hudson asked. “It’s real weird, but I’m getting the hang of the steps.”
“Yup. She used to dance through the streets of Lyntacky to practice for her competitions, and now her uncle, Tripp, makes us dance to honor her.”
“That’s kinda cool.”
“It annoyed me when I was young, but I got used to it. Plus, it’s a chance for everyone to keep in touch with each other, depending on who you end up dancing with. Trust me when I say that by the time you’re fifteen, you’ll hate it, then love it again when you’re older.”
She could see he was thinking about what she’d said. That he would be here when he was fifteen and older. She hoped they’d be here.
After pulling into a parking spot before the Do-Si-Do Diner, she got out with Hudson.
“The names in this town are weird.”
“Every name has a link to square dancing unless you had your business before it became compulsory to do that,” Leah said.
Hudson took that in his stride as they entered the diner.
“Well hell, look who finally blew into town. How are you doing, honey?”
“Hi, Linda.”
The owner of the diner had skin the color and texture of a three-week-old orange peel. She usually had her hair dyed in some bright color—today it was snow white—and the diner’s uniforms were pink.
“Come here, girl.” Linda pulled her in for a bone-cracking hug. Then she grabbed Leah’s shoulders and studied her for an uncomfortably long time. “It’s time you came home.”
Leah wasn’t sure what to say to that, so instead she introduced her nephew. “Linda, this is Hudson, Cassie’s son.”
Linda looked around Leah, and she knew what the woman was looking for.
Clearing her throat, Leah said, “Cassie passed away a few months ago.”
“No!” Tears welled in Linda’s eyes as she looked at the boy now plastered to Leah’s legs. “H-hello there, darling.”
“Hudson, this is Linda. She owns the diner.” Leah nudged him.
“Hello.” Eyes wide, he looked in shock as the lady with long lashes, pink lips and blue eye shadow smiled down at him with tears in her eyes.
“I see Cassie in him,” Linda said, her voice cracking. “I’m so sorry, Leah.”
“It’s all right,” she said automatically, like she always did. “We’re doing okay.”
Linda sniffed loudly, then blotted under her eyes with a tissue she’d fished out of her pocket. “If you need any shifts, you let me know, but right now you go on out back and seat yourself. You’ll see some friendly faces there, and we’re full up here,” Linda said, patting Hudson’s cheek.
The boy didn’t flinch, but Leah thought it was a near thing when he saw the pink talons heading his way.
It wasn’t until she was walking along the diner’s aisle that Leah remembered what Linda had said. Friendly faces. Before she could stop and turn around, a voice reached her.
“Well hell, she lives!”
Looking at the two booths ahead and to the right, she found it full of Dukes.
Fuck.
“Get over here, Leah Reynolds!” her oldest friend in the world demanded.
“Hi, Birdie.”
“Sawyer told me I had to give you time and space, but it hasn’t been easy,” Birdie said, grabbing her like Linda had. “It’s so good to see you again, Leah.”
Birdie had been the friend who was always at her side, no matter what was happening. Both raised in homes different from what was considered normal, they’d bonded pretty much from their first day of school.
Birdie’s family were Lyntacky’s resident hippies, and she’d suffered ridicule for her clothes and what was in her lunch bag. Leah was raised by a father who was an asshole, and most of the town’s residents disliked him. It had been natural for them to gravitate toward each other.