An Exceptional Twist (25 page)

So much had happened recently that Leah was
having a hard time keeping up. Standing at the counter of her
store, she was lost in thought, full of mixed emotions while
arranging the flowers for a wedding she’d booked for tomorrow.

Initially, when she’d heard about Stefen,
her heart shattered. He’d wrecked her, but she couldn’t help but be
effected. In a moment of weakness, she’d called Celeste and agreed
to take her up on the offer for the dance space. At the time, Leah
figured it might’ve been one of Stefen’s last acts of kindness.

Once he was out of the woods, she breathed a
sigh of relief and was finally able to enjoy her time with Madison.
It was fun having the little girl hang out with her at the shop
during the day and snuggle with her on the couch, watching TV at
night. She couldn’t wait to have her own child one day. Leah was
sad to see her go when Abby and Caleb came home from Chicago and
picked her up.

The same week Madison stayed with her,
Zachary Evanwood visited her shop. He was such a nice guy and
really good with Madison. The little girl had fallen head over
heels for him the moment he did that coin behind her ear ‘magic’
trick. She giggled for a good fifteen minutes over it.

Zachary and Leah mostly spoke business, and
he seemed pleased by her design style.

With the exception of Caleb, she wasn't used
to men treating her like a lady without expecting something in
return, but the vineyard owner was proving to be quite the
gentleman. It didn’t feel romantic, though. There was more of a big
brother, friendly kind of vibe developing between them.

It didn’t take long for Zachary to bring
Stefen up. Leah’s chest tightened as she explained what she knew at
that point. It didn't matter how upset she’d be with Stefen, nobody
deserved what had happened to him.

Breaking Leah from her trance, Abby strolled
into the store, grinning ear to ear.

“What's up,
mi amiga
?” Leah put the
shears down and rubbed the sticky flower sap on a wet towel that
sat on the counter next to her.

Positively glowing, Abby couldn’t control
her enthusiasm. “Can we go up to your apartment?”

“Of course.” Leah motioned for her to follow
through the back, turning to her employee who was silently working
on another arrangement. “I'll be right back.”

They bounced up the stairs and into Leah's
loft. Going straight to the fridge, Leah held up a bottle of soda.
“Want one?”

“No, I’m good.” Abby was still beaming.

With her cola in hand, Leah took a seat on
the couch, looking at Abby expectantly. “Okay, what's going
on?”

Abby remained standing on the other side of
the coffee table. “Well, I didn’t want to do this alone and don't
need to get Caleb's hopes up yet. Plus, I want you to be with me if
this turns out the way I hope it will.” Abby pulled a home
pregnancy test out of her purse.

Attempting not to choke on her soda, Leah
jumped off of the couch. “Oh my goodness, chica! Are you
serious?”

“I don't know yet, that's why I'm here. I
can't wait any longer, I'll be right back.” She shuffled to the
bedroom.

Leah heard the door close as she sank back
to the couch. She couldn't believe this. It seemed like her best
friend was single just a moment ago, and now not only was Abby
married to the perfect man, but also might be pregnant with his
baby.

An ache burst free inside
of her without warning. Although she was completely excited for her
best friend, Leah was lonely and still nursing her broken heart.
Punching her thighs, she thought,
pull
yourself together, Leah, you’re being selfish.

Abby came back out with two tests and sat
them down on the coffee table on top of the box before plopping on
the couch next to Leah. They both stared at the sticks.

Abby bit her lip nervously. “It takes a few
minutes.”

Leah leaned her elbows on her knees, looking
up from the tests. “What makes you think you’re pregnant? Are you
having symptoms?”

Carefully cupping the
sides of her breasts, Abby answered, “I missed my period and my
boobs feel like they’re on
fire
. I figured I would grab a test
and come over to see.”

“Ouch!”
Burning boobs?
“Doesn’t
sound fun
at all
.
You just got married a few months ago, how can you be pregnant
already?”

Abby lowered her chin and raised an eyebrow.
“Really, Leah? It only takes one time, and I've been married for
almost six weeks now. Caleb and I decided not to use birth control
from day one and see what happened.” She shrugged, happy and
anxious at the same time. “Madison is almost six already. We want
any siblings to be close.”

Leah’s eyes grew wide. “Siblings? As in,
more than one?” It was so weird that Abby had someone else to share
secrets with now.

“Yes, we’ve talked about having several
kids. I just didn't think it would happen this soon.” Both women
glimpsed down at the plastic sticks to find plus signs staring back
at them.

“Oh my gosh, Abby,
you’re pregnant
!”

Springing up from their seats, they clutched
onto each other, squealing as they bounced up and down.

Tears filled Abby’s eyes. “Caleb is going to
flip. I can't wait to tell him. For the longest time he thought
Madison would be his only child. I'm so excited.” She grabbed
Leah’s hands, giving her the most heartfelt look. “I love that you
were here with me.”

“I'm honored.” Leah pressed a hand to her
heart, touched that her friend would want to share this, but also
to press down the ache rising up inside of her.

Abby grabbed her in a death-grip hug, and
Leah chided herself again, choking on a few tears.

Selfish, Leah. Stop.

This was her best friend. Abby would do
everything in her power to make Leah still feel included in the
special moments of her life.

Swiping the tears from under her eyes, Abby
said, “I’m going to let you get back to work now, or we’ll stand
here all afternoon, crying. Besides, I have a husband to go tell.”
She raised her arms and did a little jig. “Eeek! I can't believe
it.”

Abby picked up her purse before giving Leah
a final hug and heading out.

Leah was so happy that after so much
heartbreak, Abby got her fairytale ending.

The part that stung a little was that Leah
wanted to be right beside her, going through the same phases of
life. More than anything, Leah wanted to be happily married with
children. Unfortunately, she had to find a suitable guy for any of
that to happen. The only man her heart wanted had shattered any
hope of a future.

The ache reemerged as she thought about
Stefen. Now that he was out of her life, there was no good reason
to let him consume any more of her time. More than likely, he had
some new ditzy bimbo by his side while he recovered, so many miles
away.

Yeah,
definitely not worth anymore of my energy.

As soon as Caleb and Abby left for home,
Stefen missed them. They’d stayed during his critical period, but
they had a little girl and new life to get back to.

Despite his mom's orders, Caleb and Stefen
both agreed that his sister, Bri, needed to know what happened.
She’d rushed to the hospital once Abby called her, and she hung out
with him throughout the remainder of his stay.

As usual, she and his mom got into several
nasty fights. That soured things for Bri so Stefen insisted she
stayed away until after he was released. He hated how his mother
treated Bri, but they weren't a family that sat down at the dinner
table and discussed their feelings.

The longest weeks of his life were spent
stuck in that hospital bed. Thanks to his parents, he'd received
the best care money could buy, including specialists in every
field. Nonetheless, Stefen was relieved to be out of that medical
facility and nearly clicked his damn heels after the nurse wheeled
him out to his father’s waiting car.

The moment his father dropped him off at
their pool house, the shower beckoned him. He'd only received
sponge baths from a few overly friendly nurses, including one male.
Taking a shower without any help proved to be a challenge since he
still had a cast on his arm and stiches on his collar bone, but he
managed. Still, no matter how hard he scrubbed, that stale hospital
scent lingered on his body.

Stretching across the couch, he turned on
the TV and surfed the channels. He glanced around to see if anyone
was watching as he turned to one of those chick flick channels.
He’d never admit this to anyone, but he started watching them as a
teen to learn what girls wanted in a guy. Somewhere along the line,
he found that he actually secretly liked them.

There was an eighties
marathon on.
Perfect.
Sinking back into the couch, he made himself comfortable. His
doctor put him on bed rest, so he was ready to settle in for the
night.

Normally, he struggled to just stay put. At
this point, however, he wasn’t going to complain. Ending up back in
that hospital was not an option. Home care nurses would be popping
in to check on him periodically, which he thought was a bit much,
but his parents insisted. It wasn't worth the argument.

Other than a few courtesy phone calls, no
one else came to visit. He wasn’t used to being so isolated.
Honestly, he was beginning to feel abandoned. The only time he saw
either of his parents was when his dad had papers for him to sign
and his mother was running out to see another friend about a
fundraiser.

Sometimes she was sober. For the most part,
she smelled like alcohol. Her drinking was getting out of hand.
Stefen wondered how long the family was going to keep avoiding the
elephant in the room.

The one thing that uplifted his spirits was
reading Leah’s text. It came while he was stuck in the hospital,
but he hadn’t had a chance to read it yet. His dad thought he might
try to work from his bed, so he kept his cell phone hostage until
he was home.

It was a simple message but because it was
from her, he found himself reading it over and over.

Leah:
Praying for you.

People said things like that all the time
and didn't mean it, but he had a feeling that she was actually
praying for him. That damn kind heart of hers—one of her many
attributes. He'd sent a simple ‘thank you’. What else could he
say?

While staying at his parent’s house, it
didn’t take too long for reality to slap him upside the head. The
fantastic life he'd worked so hard to make for himself in his
hometown, wasn't so great after all. At least, not right now.

He begrudgingly gave Caleb a call a few days
ago and plans were in the works to get him back to Santa Barbara
for a while. Every precaution was being taken to ensure that no one
knew where he was going or when he was leaving. The last thing he
intended to do was put anyone he cared about in harm’s way.

They'd already gathered all of his personal
belongings, but his dad didn't want to raise any suspicion, so they
were waiting to evacuate his apartment. It was an eye opener when
he realized that, besides his clothes and electronics, he didn't
have many personal items. Everything was for decoration.

No wonder the apartment seemed so impersonal
a few weeks ago.

Arrangements were made for him to leave
tomorrow morning. A nurse would accompany him on the trip and make
sure he got settled. His only reservation was that he’d have to
face what he’d done to Leah, head on.

The selfish side of him hoped that she would
just pop in for a visit, but he wasn’t sure he wanted her to see
him looking like a monster.