Chapter Four #2
I swallowed hard, trying to clear the lump in my throat. "Thanks, Leo," I murmured. "I needed to hear that."
"I know." Then he stepped back, giving me a half smile and winking. "Let's check on the jambalaya. I'm starving."
"So am I."
Thirty minutes later, we were sitting at a small table. I was stuffing my face even though I'd also had beignets today, but I was suddenly extremely hungry.
"I don't want to sing our praises, but our cooking skills have vastly improved since college."
"You mean my skills?" Leo said. "Yours were always good."
"I was trying to be nice," I confessed.
I ate faster than usual, only stopping after my plate was empty. "I'm so relaxed!" I put down my fork and leaned against the backrest, closing my eyes. "I feel at peace. Does that make me a bad person?"
"Fuck no," Leo exclaimed. His voice was so determined that I startled a little and opened my eyes. He was pinning me with his gaze.
"I'm not even sure how I'm going to face everything."
"Why should you?" he said. “He fucked things up.”
"I can't hide and leave Debbie to deal with everything."
Leo pulled his chair even closer to the table and leaned over. Was it the shots, or were his eyes even darker than usual? "I have a proposition for you."
"All right."
"You're still working for the online magazine, aren't you?"
I nodded. "Yeah."
"So, you can work from wherever?"
“Yes. The magazine headquarters is in New York, and I haven't set foot in the office since they hired me."
"Come to Boston with me," he said. I started to laugh, but Leo didn't. "I'm serious."
"And do what?"
"Take a time-out from everything."
I opened my mouth to protest but couldn't. The idea sounded appealing.
"That kind of feels like running away," I said after a few moments.
"You've just been dealt a very heavy blow, Tory. You deserve to take a step away from it all and find your footing. Am I wrong in believing that this would be easier for you if you weren't here?"
"Of course it would be easier. I wouldn’t be afraid of running into Walter or his family every time I left the house. Not to mention I have to look for another place to live. I can’t live with Mom." I groaned. "I don't want to think of any specifics tonight."
"Then don't," Leo said. He moved his chair around the table so he was closer to me. "Just come to Boston for a while. You can sort out accommodations and everything else you need in New Orleans from there."
"Ha, but see, there's a flaw in the plan," I said, then promptly forgot my train of thought. Had I always been oblivious to how soulful his eyes were? Why was I fixating on that tonight? I blamed the alcohol. "I don't have a place to stay in Boston either."
"Yes, you do. I live in a huge-ass house. You're more than welcome to stay there for as long as you want."
"Leo, you haven't changed at all. You've always been very generous and kind. But this is crazy." Then why did it sound so appealing? For some reason, being so close to Leo made it hard to come up with cons.
The last few months with Walter had been strained—of course, now I know why.
Did I suspect his infidelity? I really didn’t know.
I’d been consumed with the wedding and put all my focus into it.
But it was more than that. I’d been feeling distant from Walter for a while…
and now I knew it was because we weren’t meant for each other.
Maybe I really didn’t want to marry him either and was just too wrapped up in the wedding to admit it.
Too cowardly to admit it to myself, much less to him.
"Just think about it." He put a palm on my upper thigh.
Oh yeah, it burned me good. And the heat was traveling to other regions of my body as well.
Holy shit, tonight is insane. I couldn't trust my own body, let alone my mind.
"Thanks, Leo. I'll think about it."
The doorbell rang the next second, and I startled.
"That must be my bag," he said. "I'll go get it."
"Oh goodness. Who could that be at this hour?" our host shouted from the corridor.
"It's just a delivery for me,” Leo replied. “Don't worry, I'll get it."
"You do that, dear. I'll go back to my room."
The sound of the door opening filtered in all the way to the kitchen, followed by my mother's voice. "Where is she?"
I immediately jumped from my chair.
"Good evening," Leo said.
"Don't ‘good evening’ me. You know, I always knew you’d be bad for her," Mom replied.
Darting out of the kitchen, I hurried to the front door.
Mom glanced at me, wrinkling her nose. "You're drunk. What has gotten into you?"
I turned to Leo. "Can you please give us some space to talk?"
He set his jaw, his fists balled tightly as he turned toward Mom. “Don't disrespect her."
"Don't tell me how to deal with my own daughter."
"Then I'm not going anywhere," Leo said.
A rush of affection filled me. God, this man. I’d missed him so much.
"It's okay, Leo. I can deal with Mom."
Sort of. I could barely deal with her when I was sober and hadn't just had my heart cut in a million pieces. But I was going to do my best.
"I'll be in the kitchen if you need me," he said, walking away with quick steps.
I waited until he was out of sight before focusing on Mom.
"You get back to the hotel right now," she said.
A strange kind of pain filled me at her words.
"Debbie told you what happened, right?" I asked. There was a small chance that Mom just thought I was a runaway bride. Maybe she didn't know how deep Walter had cut me.
"Yes, she did. Forget that nonsense."
The knife twisted even deeper. Why did I think she'd be on my side for once?
"My fiancé, who's been treating me like shit for a while, is actually cheating on me. He was planning on spending the night before our wedding with another woman."
Mom blinked. There was no sign of horror or even pity on her face.
She shrugged. "Many men like to dabble around before they're married."
"We've been in a relationship for years, Mother. I doubt this was his first ‘dabble,’ as you call it."
"That's what men do. They cheat. That's what your father did too. At least Walter has status in the community and money, so you'd have every comfort you need in life to make up for it. He's a doctor. He's from a good family."
I'd heard this a million times. Mom and I were poor as dirt after Dad left us. She’d been a housewife before that, then suddenly had to take on multiple jobs to keep us afloat.
All my life, she’d told me I needed to find a husband with a “good name” who had lots of money.
She seemed to associate those things with safety.
This was always Mom's supreme argument.
"He's a liar and a cheat," I pointed out. "I'm not going to marry someone like that."
"Wake up, Tory. You think another man won't do the same?"
"Then I'll be single. I know you don't think much of my job, Mom, but I have one. I make good money, and I definitely don't need a man to take care of me." I instantly felt bad for saying that. Mom would take it as a jab at her, which really wasn’t my intention.
"Where did I go wrong with you?" She shook her head. "And what are you doing here with this good-for-nothing Leo? Do you know how that looks?"
Mom had disliked Leo in college, after I made the mistake of telling her that we had having a cheating dad in common. “That means he’ll be a cheater, just like his dad. That’s where men learn it from, their fathers.”
She also disliked that “the silly boy” wasn’t embracing the Whitley name at the time.
"Stop talking like that about Leo. He's the best person I know."
"Really? You know what they’re saying, right? That you ran off with him."
My eyes bulged. "Who's saying that?"
"Everyone."
I swallowed hard. "I don't care."
She scoffed. "I doubt that."
"Has Walter been spreading that lie?"
"I don't know," Mom said, "but there’s still time to make this right. We can say you simply didn't feel well tonight, and Leo took you to the hospital or something."
"Mom, I'm not going to marry Walter. Not tomorrow or ever. I don't even want to see him again. I don’t love him anymore." As I said the last part, I realized it was true. I felt free, released from something that had been weighing on me.
Interesting… I’ll have to ponder this more later.