Coming Home(35)

But as soon as Leah mentioned that Scott had stopped by earlier that day, the door restraining all of Sarah’s venom for Scott burst clean off the hinges.

“I don’t think he lurks,” Leah said. “He comes to see if I’ll answer the door, and when I don’t, he leaves me whatever bullshit peace offering he brought with him.”

“And the idiot came today?” she asked, closing the oven door. “Doesn’t he realize school started back up for you?”

Leah shrugged. “Who knows. Maybe he intentionally came when I wouldn’t be home.”

“What did he leave this time?”

“He burned another playlist.”

Sarah rolled her eyes as she took a sip of wine. “Yeah, because a good mix tape will make up for the fact that he boned another girl while your father lay dying in the hospital. Oh, oh, and he couldn’t be there with you so he could nail said whore bag. But no, burn a CD, it’s all good.”

Leah nodded. “I really appreciate you bringing me back up to speed. I had totally forgotten about everything that happened that night until you just reminded me.”

Sarah laughed as she pulled herself up onto the counter beside Leah.

“Honestly, I just don’t get it,” Leah said. “I mean, he doesn’t love me. There’s no way he could have done what he did if he loved me, so I don’t understand why he’s still trying to get me back.”

“It has nothing to do with love,” Sarah said, reaching for the bottle of wine and refilling her glass. “It’s about power. Scott is the kind of guy who needs it to feel whole. It feeds him. He lost the power when you were the one who ended that relationship. I don’t think it’s about wanting you back at all, no offense.”

“Believe me, none taken,” Leah interrupted.

Sarah smirked before she said, “He just wants the power back. And if he succeeded in getting you back, he could exert that power in one of two ways. He could try to get control over you again by manipulating you, or he could end the relationship on his terms. Either way, he’d have the upper hand. That’s all it’s about.”

Leah stared at the wine in her glass as she swirled it gently. “You know, it’s a little freaky to hear all this psychobabble come out of your mouth, especially when it makes sense. Please tell me you don’t psychoanalyze me behind my back.”

“Never!” Sarah scoffed, taking an imaginary pencil out from behind her ear and pretending to lick the tip before she scribbled furiously on the pad beside her.

Leah laughed as she smacked her sister’s leg.

“All kidding aside,” Sarah said, “you should get a restraining order or something.”

Leah shook her head. She had entertained the idea once before, but the truth was, Scott had never been violent. He wasn’t aggressive or threatening. He was a selfish, inconsiderate *, sure, and he was a liar, but he would never physically hurt her.

“He hasn’t done anything to warrant that. You can’t get a restraining order just because someone can’t take a hint. I’m sure the police have much more important things to be worrying about besides my persistent jerk of an ex-boyfriend.”

“I guess,” Sarah said. “It’s just so annoying though, because I feel like if he would just leave you alone, you’d be able to move past this whole thing once and for all. I mean, how the hell are you supposed to forget about everything that happened when he keeps showing up every couple of months?”

Leah shrugged, knowing she had a point. Every time Scott decided to pull this stunt, it brought back a mess of awful memories for her, not to mention all of her insecurities.