Page 56 of Beautiful Life

“Why?”

I lower my voice. “Because I’d rather have you close when I tell you what I found out.”

“I’m…” Her emerald eyes shift back and forth, looking uncomfortable and she crosses her arms across her front. “Good here. Now what did you find out?”

Not wanting to give it to her, I let her have her space anyway. “Your mom sent me the address where Tina’s supposedly staying with friends. From what she said, she doesn’t have a job right now and Tina told your mom she needs twenty-two thousand dollars.”

“What? Twenty-two thousand?” Leigh wraps her arms around herself tighter.

“There’s no way we can know what to believe. I made a call to Mac, an agent who works with Jude. He’s gonna make some calls to Florida for us tomorrow. See if he can locate her, see how bad she is, living conditions, things like that. I sent him the information your mom sent me, which isn’t much. Hopefully we’ll know more soon.”

Leigh starts to shake her head slowly back and forth. “You shouldn’t be dealing with my family. I can’t ask you to do this.”

“You didn’t ask me to do anything,”

“It’s just, my family, they’re … taxing. I don’t want you to have anything to do with them. They’re nothing like your family.”

“Again, you didn’t ask. But if you think I’m going to leave you to deal with your mom on your own, you’re outta your mind.”

“Tony—” she keeps on.

“Enough. There’s nothing we can do tonight anyway. We’ll talk about it when we have some real information. You can decide what you want to do and I’ll help you make it happen. But you decide and I’ll support you. Period.”

Leigh stands there staring at me, the space of the bathroom still separating us. Finally, she starts nodding her head slowly and she mutters while repeating me, “I’ll decide and you’ll support me.”

“Gem,” I call for her.

“You’ll support me,” she mutters again.

“Leigh, come here.”

She goes from nodding to shaking her head no and starts to look around my bathroom. She pauses, bites her lip in the corner hesitating, then asks, “Hasn’t anyone else ever used it?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Your bathtub.” She juts her jaw toward the tub.

I tip my head. “No.”

“Oh,” she says, quieter.

“Gem?”

“Hmm?”

“What are you thinking?”

“Nothing,” she lies.

I sigh. “Leigh, I know what the last four years of your life were like. I can guess from what Gabby’s told me, your ex shithead husband wasn’t the first man in your life nor did he support you on anything you wanted. Sweetheart, unless I’m worried about your safety, I’ll support you in your decisions. That’s what you do in a relationship. Now, about the tub, I’m twenty-nine years old and I’ve known you since you were in the third grade and I was in the fourth. I know you know there were women in my life.”

She’s looking uncomfortable. “I know. You don’t owe me an explanation.”

“I know I don’t owe you an explanation, but I’ll give you this. I’ve lived in this house for almost a year and a half and right now I’m thanking my lucky stars I was old enough and smart enough to do it right, because I can promise you, gem, I’ve never brought another woman here. I’ve never had another woman in my bedroom. And I’ve definitely never had another woman in my tub. You’ve made your mark, Leigh. Claimed it. It’s yours. I built this house not knowing it was for you, but it is.”

She’s still standing across the bathroom staring at me, taking in all I said with her arms still wrapped around herself.

“Although next time, I think I want to try out my tub with you.”

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