Chapter 21
LEAH
A tap at the door roused me from a doze. It creaked open slowly and Whitney's face appeared in the gap.
"Hey." Her voice was soft, more tentative than usual. "Can we come in?"
"Um, yeah." I wiped hair off the side of my face and grimaced at the drool on my cheek. I must have been deeper asleep than I realised. "Hi."
She pushed the door open all the way and stepped in, followed by Fiona, Holly and Fiona's daughter, Sarah. Each carried a bag or covered tray.
"Connor said you had a bad flare-up and may need a bit of help." Whitney carried her tray to the kitchen and placed it on the bench. "He's caught up at the moment, after last night's snowfall."
I caught sight of it out the window, but mostly I'd spent the day on the couch with heat packs and painkillers, reading on my e-reader.
"That's sweet of him," I said.
"Riley texted me and said you'd need help," Fiona said. She placed a bag down in front of me and opened it to pull out some bath bombs, chocolate and a couple of candles.
"I brought you a blanket my grandma made." Sarah, suddenly looking shy, handed me a beautifully crocheted blanket in shades of blue and green.
"It's beautiful," I said, holding it up in front of me before draping it over my legs. "Thank you so much. And please tell your grandmother I said thank you."
I hadn't expected any of this. Leave it to the guys to make sure I was taken care of, even when they weren't here. I brushed away a tear and smiled back at Sarah, who looked pleased.
"This is from all of us." Holly placed a plate of cookies on the table in front of me, and took another tray into the kitchen. "Snack for now and dinner for later."
"You girls are the best," I said, wiping away another tear.
"Did we make you sad?" Sarah looked worried.
"No, you made me super happy," I assured her. "It's nice of you to take care of me like this."
"It's our pleasure." Whitney put on the coffee maker and came to sit down near me. She held the plate of cookies so I could take one, then snagged one for herself. "Besides, Connor was very insistent." She grinned and took a bite.
"He usually is." I bit into my cookie, enjoying the explosion of chocolate chips on my tongue.
"More so than usual. He's got it bad for you, girl." She hummed her appreciation of the cookie. "So good."
"Do you mind?" I asked. "Me and Connor, I mean."
"And Riley, and Brooks, and Josiah," Holly said with a teasing smile.
My face heated. "Well, yeah. But none of you are related to them." I paused for a moment before adding, "That I know of anyway."
"Riley is my cousin," Holly said. "I don't care what you and he do. As long as he doesn't do anything to hurt you. Otherwise my brothers might have words to say with him." Judging by the expression on her face, they wouldn't be gentle about it.
"I think Riley would hurt himself before he hurt Leah," Fiona said. "He's just as gone as Connor."
"They're just as gone for each other," Whitney said.
"And to answer your question, no, I don't mind.
In fact, I'm happy for all of you. I never thought I'd see my brother settle down, even with Riley.
Those two are wild together, but since you've been in the picture, it's like…
" She thought for a moment. "Like the last piece of the puzzle is in place.
Fuck, that sounds corny." She tipped her head back and laughed.
"It's true though," Holly said. "I feel that way with the four of us too. Sorry, I mean the five of us," she said with a laugh when Sarah started to protest. "Not that things weren't amazing before that, but I like having you around."
"I like having her around too," Sarah said loudly. "I'm going to be an artist, like Leah. Can you teach me to draw and paint like you do?"
"I'd be happy to," I said. I meant it. The kid was cute and I was always happy to foster creativity.
"When Leah is feeling better," Fiona gently reminded her daughter. "She needs to rest right now, not work."
"Does she have a migraine?" Sarah scrunched up her brow. "Mommy gets migraines sometimes and she has to lie down in the dark. I sit and draw, but sometimes I make a grilled cheese for her to eat for dinner."
"You do a good job taking care of her," I said. I quickly explained about my arthritis, while she wrinkled her nose in sympathy.
"I don't want to have that," she declared. "Or migraines."
"Me either," Fiona said ruefully.
I could tell what she was thinking, but no one was going to tell Sarah migraines tended to be hereditary. Hopefully she wouldn't find out the hard way. If she did, at least she knew how to take care of herself. Yeah, small mercy, I know.
"Sometimes not very nice things happen to nice people," Whitney said in her teacher voice.
"That's when we know who we can rely on to help us when we need help.
That's also when we know how tough we can be.
If I had arthritis or migraines, I'd be crying in a corner.
But your mommy, and Leah, they're super tough.
" She leaned in and loudly whispered to Sarah, "They might be superheroes. "
Fiona barked a laugh, but Sarah turned adoring eyes to her. I suspected she already thought her mother was a superhero. Or at least a badass.
As for me, I didn't feel much like either of those things.
"I used to be a sculptor," I blurted out. "I was starting to get noticed. People were asking for my work. Paying for it." Paying well. "When I couldn't do it anymore, I didn't feel tough at all. Instead, I ran away and came here."
I brushed tears off my cheeks again. What was wrong with me today? I was a blubbering mess. Pain and broken sleep would do that to anyone, I supposed. I was only human after all.
Whitney scooted over and put an arm around me.
"Don't think of it as running away. You reinvented yourself.
You went from being a sculptor in the city to being a different kind of artist, in a small town.
Can you honestly say you miss that life?
" She drew her head back and gave me a steady look, silently insisting on my honesty, at least with myself.
Sometimes, she and her brother weren't that different.
"I…" Could I? "I never thought about it like that.
I guess I don't." If it wasn't for the flare-ups, I wouldn't have come here.
Or I might, but would I have stayed? I would have had a life to return to.
I could live without the pain, but what about the rest of it?
I would have missed my four guys and my three… Four best friends.
When I really thought about it, I was lucky. If I hadn't stuck around, I never would have known about Coral Clarke. I might have spent the rest of my life oblivious to the past.
"Of course you don't," Fiona said. "Living in Aurora Hollow is peak life.
No pun intended. And if you ask me anything, people should be paying a crap ton for your paintings and drawings.
Once people realise you're here, they'll be lining up all the way down to the bottom of the mountain to buy one. "
"They'll have to get into the queue behind us," Holly said. She nodded like the matter was settled.
Of course, I didn't expect any of them to actually buy anything from me. Their words, their support, it meant more to me than any dollar amount.
"Damn straight they will," Whitney agreed. "Although I might have to start saving now for the three million dollar paintings."
"The day anyone pays that much for a work of mine," I said disbelievingly.
"They'll be getting a bargain," Holly said firmly.
"I don't know about that," I said modestly. If I could sell a few for a fraction of that, I'd be able to buy a place. Maybe somewhere big enough for five people. With space for Josiah to be alone if he needed it. And for me to make my art.
"Three million dollars?" Sarah's eyes were huge.
"People can pay a lot for art," Whitney told her.
"Mommy…" Sarah gave Fiona a sly look.
"As much as I'd love to pay three million dollars for your art so I can put it on the fridge, I don't have that kind of money." Fiona shook her head and laughed.
If she did have that kind of money, no doubt she'd pay for the privilege of displaying Sarah's work. I wished my mother had the same attitude as she did. Sarah was a lucky kid. Was I too old for Fiona to adopt me? I mentally laughed at myself for the silly idea.
"Awww." But Sarah was still smiling, her mind ticking over. Like she was trying to figure out who might have money for her work. Hopefully when she figured it out, she'd tell me so I could sell to them too.
"In the meantime, it'll be Halloween in a couple of days," Holly said. "Will you be up to joining in?" She adjusted her blonde ponytail, and looked concerned like she didn't want me to push myself too hard just to make them happy.
"I hope so," I said sincerely. "I've been looking forward to it. I have a feeling the guys are planning something, but I don't know what."
"I don't think I've ever seen a pair of adult men more excited over a holiday than Connor and Riley," Whitney said.
"I think they like to channel their inner serial killer, stalker or whatever costume they decide on.
" She smiled indulgently, as if they were a pair of little boys, not a couple of grown men.
Of course, as Connor's older sister, she probably thought of them as little boys.
Didn't big sisters always feel that way?
Especially when the brothers were like those two.
"That sounds like them," I agreed. Brooks too.
Although, since he tracked my car and set up a camera to watch me, did he need to channel his inner stalker, or had he done that already?
At some point, I'd need to sit down with him and find out if he did anything else.
I wouldn't be surprised if he had candid photos of me on his phone.
If it was anyone else, I'd be horrified. Brooks, though, was mostly harmless.
As far as I knew.
"You should be getting your results back a few days after that," Fiona said softly.
She glanced at Sarah to indicate she hadn't said anything about it to her daughter.
That was fortunate, the situation was strange enough without involving a kid.
At some point, she probably have to be told, but for now it was better that she wasn't.
"Hopefully," I said. Honestly, I was trying not to think about it too much myself.
Worrying about it wouldn't bring them any sooner.
It wouldn't change the result. It would mean I'd have to confront my mother sooner rather than later.
In the meantime, I could live one day after the other and let the future take care of itself when it came.
Not to mention, I wanted to enjoy Halloween first. My first holiday in Aurora Hollow.
"So, what are you going as?" Holly asked brightly. They started talking about their costumes, and sharing ideas while I sat back and slowly nibbled on another cookie.