Coming Home(96)

“That’s not surprising,” Holly said.

“Well, he’s probably looking at jail time now,” she said, her hands working furiously on the task before her. She could see Holly out of the corner of her eye, her brow pulled together as she shook her head.

“Why the hell would he go to jail? Why wouldn’t they put away the animal who assaulted his friend?”

Leah smiled sadly; Holly was mirroring her exact line of thinking from yesterday.

She took a small breath to steady herself. “Because he’s dead.”

Holly finally looked up. “Wait…who’s dead? The guy who beat up his friend?”

Leah nodded.

Holly stared at her for what seemed like forever before understanding finally swept over her face, followed immediately by horror.

“It wasn’t intentional,” Leah said quickly, suddenly feeling extremely protective over him. “He was just trying to get him away from Bryan, but they went through a window, and the glass ended up cutting the guy’s neck. Danny doesn’t even fully remember what happened. It was an accident.”

Holly wet her lips before she looked down.

“He’s a good person, Holly. Probably one of the best people I know.”

Holly kept her eyes on her lap, rolling the screwdriver between her fingers. After a minute of silence, she said, “So, what did you tell him?”

“I told him I needed to think.”

She nodded slowly. “Do you know how long he’d be going away for?”

“He’s not sure. It’s manslaughter, not murder, but still...probably a couple of years.”

Holly winced before she picked up another screw and began working it into the shelf. “Shit, Leah. I mean, how can you…is there even anything to think about?”

“Of course there’s something to think about!” Leah snapped. “I care about him, Holly. He was only protecting his friend. You even said yourself it was understandable. It was a freak accident. It doesn’t change who he is, and it doesn’t change how I feel about him!”

Holly kept her head down as she said, “I’m not questioning his character, Leah. I get that he’s a good guy. That’s not what my issue is here.”

Leah exhaled, running the back of her hand over her eyes. “I know. I don’t mean to snap at you. I’m just so confused. I don’t know if I can walk away from him. He doesn’t deserve that.”

“Okay, but you have to stop putting other people’s needs before your own.”

“But he is what I need,” she said, freezing as soon as the words left her mouth. She hadn’t realized how true that was until she had said it out loud.

“Leah,” Holly said softly.

“I don’t know what to do. I’m not sure I can do it again.”

“Do what again?”

“Lose someone,” she said, and Holly’s shoulders dropped as her expression softened. “I mean, I lost my mom. I lost Scott…or at least, I lost the person I thought Scott was.” She shook her head. “But both of those situations were out of my control, you know? I didn’t see them coming, so I had no choice but to deal with the aftermath. And I just keep thinking that here, I have a choice. I know what the future holds, and I can walk away this time. I can save myself the heartache.”

Holly sighed softly before she dropped her eyes and picked up the screwdriver, and Leah went back to securing the hinge. For a few minutes, they worked on the entertainment center in silence, the air heavy with unspoken words.