Page 10 of The Moment They Can Never Forgive
“I don’t know.”
“Must have been hard on you, seeing her,” Sawyer said.
“It was a surprise.”
“I never really knew what happened between you two,” Birdie said softly. “One minute you were together, and the next her father was arrested and Leah left. I didn’t even see it coming. She just showed up one day and told me she had a dream she needed to follow. And then… she was gone.”
“What did happen?” Sawyer asked.
Dan sighed into his niece’s hair, making her giggle.
“It was complicated, so let’s leave it at that,” Dan said.
“So do you think she’s brought back a boyfriend?” Sawyer asked.
He shrugged. “I have no clue, and don’t care. What was between us is done, and we’ve both moved on.”
“If you say so,” Sawyer said.
“I do.”
“One thing I know is that the Reynolds farm is a mess, and I don’t think that house is in good shape,” Birdie said. “She’ll need help getting it set to rights.”
“She may have help with her,” Sawyer said, watching Dan.
The flash of rage didn’t show on Dan’s face.Seven years, bud. You can’t be angry if she has a new man.
“Maybe. I’ll go and see her,” Birdie said.
“I think you should wait until she leaves the farm. She’ll find you when she’s ready,” their mother said, surprising everyone.
“But—”
“Mom’s right,” Sawyer said. “She’ll be nervous about being back. Let her come to you.”
They debated the subject while Dan drank the coffee his mom put before him.Leah was back, and he knew one thing for certain—she’d never willingly seek him out again.
Chapter 4
Three days after she’d arrived in Lyntacky and saw Dan, Leah still hadn’t run into anyone else she knew. Correction—she’d made sure she didn’t run into them. But what surprised her the most was, no one had come calling. Had Dan not told his family she was back?
Leah had brought pizza and supplies from Calloway’s, but she hadn’t run into anyone at either of those places she knew, which had also been a surprise. But then the population of Lyntacky had clearly grown since she’d been gone, because Leah had seen the new houses that had been built. There were people here she didn’t know now, which shouldn’t make her sad, but it did.
She hadn’t done a lot in the past few days other than enroll Hudson in school. He’d told her when she picked him up on the second day that he didn’t hate it, which was a win as far as Leah was concerned.
Hudson and Leah had spent a lot of time working around the house but as yet hadn’t ventured farther than the chicken coop and the first of the shade houses. He’d told her he’d alwayswanted chickens, so they were going to make that happen. But to do that, she needed to leave the farm, and today was that day.
Her thoughts returned to Dan Duke, as they had often since she’d seen him again. He’d looked good. Better than good. Not that she cared. But still, she could admire a handsome man when she saw one. Dan was tall and bigger than he’d been before she’d left town. That uniform had shown her he was still in good shape, but then the man had always worn clothes well. He’d also looked good without them.
Whoa, shut out that image immediately,Leah thought. She’d blocked Dan out of her head for years, but now he was someone she’d be seeing again, and she told herself she could handle that.
“Because you’re strong,” she whispered.I’m doing this for Hudson,Leah reminded herself.
Today was Saturday, and she was going into town because she couldn’t avoid it any longer. She was treating herself and Hudson to breakfast at the Do-Si-Do Diner. Yes, money was tight, but they both needed this. A change of environment and company.
Heading up the stairs to tell Hudson to get ready, she sniffed the air. Leah had scrubbed this place from top to bottom, and it smelled fresher and looked cleaner.
She found him on the floor of his room, drawing.
