Thick Love (Thin Love, #2)(71)
I couldn’t look at her, not directly. My eyes had gone too blurry. “I thought, maybe you were mad at me, because I quit on Keira.”
“Oh, Aly, I know why you quit.”
“No, Leann, you don’t.”
That smile was wide, a little wicked. “You love Ransom. He loves you but he is such a knuckle head and can’t let go of the past and you, sweetheart, aren’t the type of woman who likes walking behind shadows.” She squeezed my hand. “Or ghosts.”
“I really screwed up,” I told her, ignoring the frown she gave me. “I screwed up bad, Leann.”
She didn’t give me an invitation to explain and I didn’t wait for one. Instead, I told my boss everything. I glossed over the year and a half of me pining after Ransom like some stupid groupie. She knew that part already. But I confessed about the dance—God, not everything about it—and him kissing me, twice and the last dance that I promised her I’d ever perform at Summerland’s. When I was done, I didn’t feel the weight of my fear leave me. Not immediately, not until Leann’s eyes relaxed and her grip on my fingers tightened.
“Well,” she started, releasing a breath. “I’m not happy about you messing around with Ironside. That man is disgusting bottom feeder and he likes to take advantage of young, pretty girls. That was something I’d asked Misty to watch out for when she called me to ask after you for the choreography gig.”
“You know her?”
Leann’s laugh was light, but sounded generally amused. “Honey, New Orleans isn’t that big of a city. Yeah, I know her. She’s smart, a little ruthless, but still smart.” She nodded once, as though answering her own silent question and then continued. “I don’t want you to go back there.”
“I won’t. Don’t worry.” No way I’d step foot in that place again. I was sticking to the college thing and depending on what the judges thought of my performance, keeping to CPU as often as I could. Besides, Summerland’s held too much bad for me and I was full up with that shit.
Leann stretched her neck and I thought maybe she was done with our conversation, but then she glanced at me, holding her elbows on her knees and kept her eyes in a squint and I knew the lecture was coming. “As for you quitting on Keira, I’ll be honest, it hurt them. Koa especially. He misses you. You should go back.”
“Leann…”
She wouldn’t let me finish, shook her head to cut me off. I didn’t put up much of a fight and I doubted my weak explanation would make much of an impact anyway. “Sweetie, I love Ransom like he’s my own kid and I love you too.” She nudge me again, Leann’s form of affection. “Whatever happens between the two of you, will happen. Maybe you can mend things with him and try to be his friend. Maybe you can’t, but Keira and Kona need you and no matter what happens with Ransom, you don’t run out on people who need you. Especially if you love them.”
And I did love them. They meant a lot to me in a very short time. But I thought walking away would be for the best. I thought not being around anything or anyone that reminded me of Ransom would help me forget that expression on his face or the obvious hatred in his eyes before he left me alone in that private room.
“Sometimes,” Leann continued, “we have to take one for the team.” I had no idea what she meant, but let her continue. “Sometimes, though it hurts us, we have to walk through shit to get the people we love to the shore.”
“You saying I shouldn’t let Ransom keep me from helping out Keira?”
Leann smiled and winked at me. “Pretty, talented and smart. Look at you, Miss Triple Threat.” She ignored the quick finger salute I gave her and moved the smile from her face, giving me that quiet, serious stare I’d only seen from Leann a couple of times. “Do what you think is best but remember, sweetie, you are loved, you are needed and, hell, you shouldn’t just walk away. Not from us.”
18
Kona Hale is a stubborn, pigheaded bull sometimes. No more so than when his wife is sad and mopey. And if you’re the unfortunate jackass that Kona decided had put his wife in that particular mood, then you got threats. Even if you were his kid. Let’s be honest, they weren’t real threats, more along the “You are pissing me off” variety but I caught the meaning. He wouldn’t lay a finger on me, I knew that. Since he’d returned to our lives I could count on one hand the times my father has yelled at me. He was getting damn good at the fatherly anger, though, and today was Yell-Number-Three.
“Koa has not stopped crying since Monday. Monday, Ransom and your mom is completely worn out. You go make this right and then bring Aly to me. I want a word with her.”
“Why is that my job?” I’d regretted the question before it left my mouth, but still asked it anyway.
“Because she’s your friend and because if Keira doesn’t smile soon I’m gonna be without a job for making a scene at Leann’s studio.”
“Dad…”
“No. Don’t even try it,” he’d said, his voice so loud over the phone that three girls passing me in Kenner Hall laughed at the sound. “This shit would not have happened if you…”
“You’re putting this on me?” I’d stopped in the middle of the lobby then, not caring who watched me or how stupid I looked screaming into my phone. “You don’t even know what went down.”