Leena’s Dream (7 page)

T
his was a family affair
, one that Leena’s guards could do nothing to help her maneuver, so instead of dragging them along she gave them the time off. She had sent Kendrick to see his daughter for a few days and she wasn’t sure where Matt had headed. Now, standing in front of her parents’ house, she wanted to be anywhere else. The anger of what her mother had done to pull her and Turner apart had been her driving force when she agreed to a visit. Now it seemed like a distant thought. She had Turner in her life and by her side. Confronting her mother would do nothing to change the past but it had to be done for her to move forward.

“You sure you want me here? I can go back to the hotel.” Turner came around the front of the car.

“Not a chance. You want to be with me and this family comes with the package. It’s screwed up but it’s life. After you spend an afternoon with them, you might change your mind about us.”

“Like you said, not a chance.” He slipped his hand into hers. “You’re worth all the family drama.”

“You believe that now, but you haven’t been thrown in the middle of it.” She turned her body toward him, wanting to kiss him, when the front door opened. “Here we go.”

“Leena.” Her mother stepped onto the porch in one of the pantsuits she favored, her hair pulled back in a stylish bun. “You didn’t tell me you were bringing someone. We don’t have room for guests.”

“Don’t worry, Mom, we’re staying at a hotel anyway.” Not removing her hand from Turner’s grasp, she climbed the porch steps.

“Staying at a hotel?” Her mother’s tone was deep and scolding.

“It’s for the best. We’re already checked in. Now, Mom, this is Turner, Turner Hightower.” She watched as her mother’s eyes grew wide. Shock had her mouth hanging open, and the hand she had raised fell slack.

“Mom, Dad’s bitching you’re letting the heat out.” Dan pushed open the screen door and when he saw her he stepped out onto the porch and wrapped his arms around her. “It’s good to see you, Leena.”

“You too.” She barely spared a moment to take in her brother. Instead she kept her gaze on her mother, waiting for a reaction. “Mom, aren’t you going to say hello to
Turner
?”

“Get inside, Dan.” Her mother’s voice raised a notch and her gaze heated as she stared at Leena.

“What?”

“Now!” Their mother hollered before she gained control of herself. “I need a moment with Leena and her guest.” When the screen door banged shut behind Dan, she opened her mouth and closed it before deciding what to say. “How dare you bring him here?”

“So you remember Turner.” She said his name again, just to make sure her mother knew who he was, only now there was heat in her voice that matched her mother’s tone. “Anything you wish to get off your chest?”

“It’s good to see you again, Mrs. Ross.” Turner held out his hand but she didn’t bother to shake it.

“Leena has enough going on. She doesn’t need you complicating things.”

“Mom!” She let out a deep breath.

“No, Leena, he broke your heart once before, and I won’t see it happen again.”

“Betsy, I think it’s time to come clean about what you’ve done.” Her father stood in the doorway and pushed open the screen door. “Come inside.”

“It’s good to see you, Dad.” Leena rose up on her toes to kiss his cheek. “It’s been too long. You should have come with Mom when she visited last time.”

“I had a project.” He squeezed her shoulder. “You understand, deadlines and all.”

She nodded and stepped inside, keeping her hand in Turner’s as she did so. The house hadn’t changed since her last visit, but that didn’t bother her. It was the upstairs that unnerved her. Meredith’s room was untouched, appearing the same as the day she’d left to go to the hospital. Mom cleaned it every week, but never moved anything. It was like they expected her to walk right back in the door as if nothing had ever happened.

“Where’s Dan?” As her dad moved to his favorite chair, she noted that her brother had disappeared.

“I sent him to the den. He can do the work he’s been neglecting and your mother can come clean without having to explain everything to Dan. He was busy with his own thing, so I doubt he remembers what happened that long ago, and even if he did this is between the two of you and your mother.”

“Not you?” She couldn’t help but ask. “You didn’t know?”

He glanced at his wife who was still standing by the door and shook his head. “Not until later. One of the letters arrived and I set it aside to give to you when you returned from your voice lessons.”

“Thankfully, I found it first and destroyed it.” Her mother stepped into the room. “We had just lost Meredith, our family was grieving, and I didn’t want it to happen again. I did what I thought was best for you.”

“Is there any difference between grieving over a broken heart, of lost contact with someone you loved, and grieving because of a death?” She stood near the sofa but didn’t sit. “They are both losses no matter how they happen. They still tear the heart out. A death is final, but Mom…you weren’t so lucky with this one. We found each other again.”

“I knew it was a bad idea, you going back to Cedar Grove. Not only did someone try to kill you but you get tied up in what I tried to save you from.”

“Mrs. Ross, I assure you I’m completely healthy now,” Turner said.

“Aren’t you lucky,” her mother snapped. “My daughter died but you’re still here to drive a wedge between me and my only remaining daughter.”

“Betsy, our girl had brain cancer, and there was nothing they could do,” her father reasoned. “She fought hard to stay with us but in the end she was in too much pain.”

“Mom, we lost Meredith and there was no choice in the matter. But what you did here…you took away my choice. You shoved me toward music with the hope that I would forget him.”

“But you didn’t.” Her mother stepped over to one of the chairs and shook her head. “I kept pushing you to find someone because I knew you still thought about him. When you told me about this charity concert, I became more adamant about you finding someone because I knew it would reopen the wounds of your loss. But I never expected this.”

“How do you find someone else when you compare everyone to your first love?” She slipped her hand from Turner’s and lowered herself onto the sofa. “You told me that you and Dad had a love at first sight and once he came into your life there was never anyone else for you. That’s what happened with Turner. I fell in love with the boy in the hospital gown. His caring personality, the shoulder to cry on, and the support when I needed it. He was there when I was at my lowest. You treated me like a child, pushing me aside, never telling me what was happening to Meredith. I knew she was dying, that there was nothing that could be done, but you kept telling me that she’d come home soon. I had no one to talk to except Turner. He was there for me and you cut that tie without thinking about me.”

Turner sat down on the sofa next to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “It’s okay, Leena, we found each other again.”

“But she stole those years from us.” She laid her hand on his leg, but her gaze was on her mother. “You were there when I cried because I thought he wanted nothing to do with me. I wasn’t sure if he was alive or dead. How could you sit by and comfort me when you knew he was fine?”

“I thought I was doing the right thing. I reasoned that you’d eventually be going through it, so it was a good time. If it happened months later it would have only brought back the grief of losing Meredith. I was thinking of our family.”

“You were thinking of yourself.” Dan leaned against the doorframe separating the living room from the dining room. “You didn’t want to get close to anyone and lose them again. Another child with cancer would have been too much for you. It’s the same reason you threatened not to pay for my college if I went to medical school. And stupid me, I wanted to please you…so I changed my major and became a psychologist.”

“You still went into something I didn’t approve of. Why couldn’t you be an accountant like you wanted when you were a child?”

“These are our lives, Mom, and I know you love us but you have to let us live it.” Dan moved farther into the room. “Sorry, Leena. I didn’t know, or I’d have made sure you knew the truth.”

“None of this is the reason you’re here now,” her father reminded them. “You had a stalker and you didn’t bother to tell us.”

She wasn’t sure the matter was closed but she let the subject change without a fight. “There was nothing you could do about it. I had Kendrick and other guards with me all of the time.”

“Then how come you were covered in blood and a man is dead?”

“It wasn’t anyone’s fault, Dad. Actually, if it hadn’t been for Turner and his friend on the police force, Mason, it could have turned out worse. They saved my life.” She squeezed Turner’s thigh.

As they talked and visited with her family, the tension slowly slipped away. She’d never forget what happened, or how her mother had deceived her, but in the end what mattered was she had found Turner again. They had a second chance and she could move past everything else as long as he was by her side.
Second chances make you value things more…because you know what life is like without that person.

V
isiting
the Ross family could have gone worse, and Turner felt thankful it was over. Leena had been able to confront her mother and while he felt uneasy being a part of it, he was glad he had been there for her. By the time they excused themselves to go back to the hotel, the strain in the air had eased and Leena had been able to visit with them without the pressure.

“Thank you for being there today.” She wrapped her arms around his waist. “I know it wasn’t easy, but it was good to have you by my side.”

“There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.” He leaned down and kissed her.

When the kiss ended, she smirked. “Well then, now might be the perfect time to ask you for another favor.”

“What would that be? Sit through more family drama? Do you want to confront someone else?” he teased, slipping his hands under her shirt.

“Nothing like that. This is more of a professional favor. But stop that, because I can’t think with your hands on me like that…it makes me want to get you naked and take advantage of you.”

“My sweet Leena, that is very much on my agenda for the night. After all, I think you owe me for not saying my piece with your mother. She thought of herself, not of you or even me, but I didn’t mention it, because I have you now and that’s what matters.”

“I’ll reward you for that and for what I’m about to ask you, but in a moment.” She stepped back, just out of his reach. “I was young and dreaming about my future when I thought about this, but I want to make it a reality.”

“What’s that?” He sat down on the bed and untied his dress shoes before slipping them off.

“Don’t you dare get naked and throw me off my game until I’m done.” She shook her head, knowing that lovemaking was something they both needed tonight. They needed to know they were together and nothing would tear them apart. Not her mother, not anyone.

“Yes, sweetie. Now what can I do for you in my professional capacity?”

“Meredith’s Manor.” She tucked her hair behind her ears and sat down on the only chair the room offered. “I’ve always wanted to have a place for the families of those who have to bring their children to Cedar Grove for treatments. My family had to stay in a hotel room. All four of us in one room. It was cramped, a low end motel, but it was all we could afford. I want something where the families can stay at no cost to them. Somewhere that if they have other children they can be safe and can have some normalcy. There is this abandoned hotel, not far from your house…”

“I know the place. It needs work.” He tugged his belt from the loops of his dress slacks.

“So, I hire a team to go in and do what needs to be done. I’ll figure out how to handle that and I know I’ll need to staff the place. It’s all new territory for me but it’s something I’ve wanted to do. I’ve done well in my career, so money isn’t an issue. But I know there are a lot of legal aspects I haven’t considered. I have an entertainment attorney, but this is out of his realm and, well…I thought it could be something we could do together.”

“I’d be honored to be part of it, but that hotel might need more than it’s worth. It might be wise to build something instead of remodeling it. Have you looked at it yet?”

“No.”

He could see in her eyes that she hadn’t even thought of that yet. She was still trying to feel her way through the darkness of this new adventure. “We’ll make an appointment and we’ll go see it when we get back.” He unbuttoned the top button of his dress shirt. “Now, can I have you naked?”

“One more thing.” She tugged her shirt from her jeans and pulled it over her head. “I want to ask Dan to be a part of it. It might be good to have an in-house psychologist and I know he’s been looking for something farther away from our parents.”

“I can’t think of a better way to honor your sister.” He rose and wrapped his arms around her naked midriff.

“And all children who have had cancer. All the ones who survive like you have, and all those who don’t.” She hooked her arms around his neck. “It will be our way to make the world a better place.”