Coming Home(12)

He cleared his throat and raised his glass. “Here’s to good health, good food, my wonderful children, and my little grandbaby on the way.”

“Here, here,” Chris said, lifting his wine, and everyone followed, the delicate clinking of glasses echoing around the table.

“We miss you, Dee,” her father said just as everyone took a sip.

Over the top of her wine glass, Sarah made eye contact with Leah, smiling sadly, and Leah looked down, focusing on dishing out the food.

As soon as everyone’s plate was full, the atmosphere grew lighthearted again; the entire first course was comprised mostly of Sarah informing everyone at the table—as only she could—of all the “crazy shit” she had learned in her most recent psychology class, interspersed here and there with Christopher trying to convince everyone that, boy or girl, he’d be naming his future child Humperdink.

Sarah helped Leah clear the table after dinner, and as they were getting the dessert ready, Kyle arrived. Leah watched her sister’s face nearly split in two with the force of her smile, and she released her from any further hostess duties so she could spend time with him.

Leah smiled in approval as Kyle pulled the chair out for her sister and asked her what dessert she’d like, serving her before he took anything for himself. She’d only met him a few times, but he seemed like such a genuine guy. There were so many times she caught herself wanting to tell her sister how much she liked him, but she always stopped herself. The truth was, as convinced as she was that Kyle really cared about Sarah, she couldn’t get past the possibility that she might be wrong. It didn’t have anything to do with Kyle—there was nothing about him that made her feel unsure. It was just that Leah had been wrong about that sort of thing before.

Devastatingly wrong.

After everything had been cleaned up, Chris and Alexis left, followed by Sarah and Kyle. As her father settled into his recliner with the remote, Leah made her way to the mud room, switching the load of laundry she had started earlier over to the dryer. She came back to the living room and collapsed on the couch, yawning for the fourth time as the day finally started catching up to her.

“Leah, go home and get some sleep.”

“I will, as soon as your laundry’s done.”

He turned in his chair. “I can fold my own laundry, princess.”

Leah eyed him doubtfully and he laughed. “It may not be pretty, but it will be folded. Go home and get some rest. You’ve done enough for today.”

She opened her mouth to answer but was cut off by another yawn. Her father lifted his brow at her and she sighed.

“Okay, okay. If you’re too tired to fold the entire load, just take out your button-downs and hang them so they don’t wrinkle,” she said, standing from the couch and stretching.

“What would I ever do without you?” he said sarcastically, but Leah could see in his eyes that there was truth to his words.

She leaned over and kissed his forehead. “Good night, Dad.”

“Send me a text when you get home, please.”

Leah nodded, dropping her eyes as she remembered how irritated she used to get by his constant request to be notified whenever she arrived somewhere. Sometimes she wished she could go back and slap her younger self. Of course he was uneasy about his loved ones getting in a car and leaving. Of course he had a fear of them never reaching their destination. He had every reason to feel that way.

“I will,” she said. “Love you.”

“Love you too. Thanks for everything today.”

After lethargically gathering her things, Leah walked down the driveway and started the car, pulling out onto the road before it had even warmed up. She had a twenty-five minute drive back to her apartment, and she decided it would be in her best interest not to turn the heat on, hoping the cold would keep her awake. Her eyelids suddenly felt like they weighed a hundred pounds, and all she wanted to do was get home and crawl into her bed.