Coming Home(166)

Her eyes flashed to his, and the corner of his mouth lifted in a smile. “Very well played, though. I can’t deny you that.”

Leah stared at him, and as his dimples grew more defined, she felt the corners of her own mouth turn up.

They ate breakfast slowly and in relative silence, both of them seemingly lost in their own thoughts, and after cleaning up, they went back to Leah’s bedroom to get dressed.

Leah zipped up the black pencil skirt she had paired with a green capped-sleeve silk blouse. Just as she was checking herself in the mirror, Danny stepped out of the bathroom wearing his suit. He stood next to her, looking in the mirror as he adjusted his tie, and she couldn’t take her eyes off him.

It was the first time she’d seen him dressed up like that, and it killed her that it was under these circumstances. He looked so incredibly handsome, and she wanted to be celebrating something with him—holding him and laughing with him and posing for pictures.

Not fighting tears as the nausea rolled through her.

“It really does look beautiful,” he said, adjusting the knot of his tie.

“What does?” she asked softly.

“The necklace.”

She brought her hand up to it as he added, “And I meant what I said last night.”

Leah’s eyes found his in the mirror as her lips curved into a delicate smile. “I know you did.”

His eyes held hers for a moment before he returned her smile, and then he took a deep breath. “Okay then. Ready?”

Of course she wasn’t. She wasn’t anything close to resembling ready. But she nodded up at him, and he ran the backs of his fingers down her cheek before he reached to grab his wallet from the dresser. He turned back to her then, handing her his keys.

“You want me to drive your car?” she asked, glancing down at them.

“No, I’m giving these to you to hold on to. Jake will be by at some point tomorrow to get my car.”

Leah froze. Jake would be coming to get his car. Because after today…

“Okay,” she managed softly, taking the keys and turning from him quickly as she walked to the jewelry box on the other side of the room, depositing them there as she tried to compose herself.

“Is there enough gas in your car to get down there today?”

“Mm-hm,” she said with her back to him, pretending to look for something in her jewelry box.

It was quiet for a beat before he spoke softly. “Alright,” he said, and then she felt his hand on her back for a second before he continued past her and out of the bedroom.

Leah exhaled heavily and closed her eyes; it took several minutes and quite a few deep breaths before she was sure she was in control of herself, and then she opened her eyes and grabbed her purse before following him out of the room.

The ride to the courthouse was spent in pensive silence. There was nothing left to say—nothing they didn’t already know about each other’s feelings—and so they both remained quiet, preparing themselves for what lay ahead.

Leah kept her hand on the armrest, gripping it tightly. Because if she released it, she knew she would lose her grip on everything—she would be dragged into the whirlpool swirling around her, and it would suck away her composure and her sense of direction and her breath and her sanity.

Danny parked the car and they walked to the courthouse hand in hand; externally, Leah was poised and composed, but inside she could feel herself falling to pieces with every step toward that building.

The place where he was going to be taken away from her.

Unconsciously, she tightened her grip on his hand, and when he felt it, he turned his head to look at her. She kept her eyes forward, afraid of what her expression might reveal if she looked at him now.