Coming Home(76)

“Well, he’s certainly goal oriented,” Leah said as she tossed the envelope onto the coffee table before her. “You gotta give him that.”

“Oh my God, is that from Scott?” Robyn asked.

Leah nodded.

“What is it?”

“Don’t care,” Leah said as she took one of the containers from the table and popped off the lid.

“I do,” Holly said, swiping it from the table and tearing the envelope open.

“Is it a love letter?” Robyn asked. “Do a dramatic reading!”

Leah laughed as Holly shook her head. “Not a love letter. Too heavy,” she said, reaching her hand in and pulling out a stack of pictures. She plopped down between Leah and Robyn on the couch as she started flipping through them.

The first one was of Leah and Scott at the beach the summer they first met. She was sitting in between his legs on their towel, leaning back against his chest and smiling as he kissed her cheek. The next one was the two of them at the baseball field where Scott played with his team from work. It was a candid shot, neither of them looking at the camera; Leah stood with her arms around his waist, her eyes closed and her cheek pressed against his chest. Scott had his arms wrapped around her shoulders with his chin resting on the top of her head. The next picture was of the two of them lying in Scott’s bed, their heads together as Leah held the camera away from them and snapped the shot. They were both wearing lazy, contented smiles, and Leah closed her eyes momentarily to ward off the memory. They had spent that entire day in bed, making love over and over, only getting up to use the bathroom or get a drink.

It went on and on. Various pictures of them hugging, kissing, laughing, smiling. Just when Leah thought she couldn’t take any more, the onslaught of images finally ended.

And then came the index card.

I know you remember how this used to be. Look at us, Leah. You were happy with me. One mistake isn’t enough to change that, and you know it. You were upset. You had a right to be. But you made your point, and I’ve certainly served my sentence. Let’s stop wasting time. We’re better together, and you know that too. You still love me, beautiful. As much as I still love you.

Holly shook her head in disbelief as Robyn bit her lip, glancing nervously at Leah.

A few seconds of pregnant silence passed before Leah said, “Guys, I’m not gonna do what you all think I’m gonna do, which is, you know…flip out!” she yelled, waving her arms maniacally in the air.

Holly and Robyn instantly laughed at her Jerry McGuire reference, and Leah grabbed the stack of pictures from Holly’s hand before she stood.

“What are you gonna do with those?”

“Purge,” she said as she walked toward the kitchen.

Leah turned the corner and approached the garbage can, stepping on the pedal to lift the lid. Just as she was about to toss the pictures in, she stopped, sifting through them one more time.

She had been so happy in all of them.

But so much had happened since then that it felt like she was looking at a different girl. And truth be told, Leah felt bad for her. She felt bad that the rug was right about to be pulled out from underneath her, and this girl didn’t have the slightest idea.

Leah flipped until she was once again looking at the index card.

I know you remember how this used to be.

But she couldn’t. It was like when she was a little girl, and she’d watched a show that explained how magicians made rabbits and other things appear in hats. After that she could never watch a magic show again, not after she’d seen them for what they really were. A ruse. A sham.