Page 8 of The Pumpkin Spice Romance
“And what about you? What’s been—”
Leonie’s phone rang, loud and obnoxious. Puzzled, she looked down at the silencer switch, which she must have accidentally flicked off. “It’s my mum,” she said. “She usually texts.”
“You better pick up.”
She regretted the moment she put the phone to her ear, and noticed even Hayden winced at the barrage of talk streaming through the phone. “Yes . . . he shouldn’t have called you . . . no . . . Mum . . . Mum?” Leonie sighed quietly, knowing it might be awhile before she could get a word in edgewise. “No, I’m not staying at Sam’s. Her kid is sick . . . yes, I’m still in Subi . . . you don’t have to . . . fine.”
It took all her self-control not to roll her eyes once her mum got off the phone. “Sorry, that was awkward.”
“Um, I’ve got a spare room if you need somewhere to stay,” Hayden offered. “I was totally eavesdropping, by the way.”
Leonie’s heart panged. Hayden was always so thoughtful. “That’s really kind of you, but I’ll be okay. Mum’s insisted I stay with her. She’s coming to pick me up now, actually.”
“Well, you know where to find me, if you change your mind. I’ve got heaps of space, and we don’t have to get in each other’s hair or anything.” He patted his pockets. “You’re not leaving right now, are you?”
“She said she’s five or ten minutes away. Why?”
“I was hoping to get your number, but I left my phone in the office.”
“I’ll come with you. I gotta get my suitcase anyway.”
“Oh, right, of course. You don’t mind, right? I don’t want to assume.”
“About me giving you my number?” Leonie held a finger to her cheek as she followed him inside. “Hmm, swap you yours for mine. Deal?”
“Deal.”
He smiled, again that inviting smile, and a feeling of hope bloomed in her chest.
5
The talking-to Leonie expected didn’t come when she left The Spice Pelage in her mum’s car. Nor did it come at dinner that night or when the family sat down to watch the news the following evening. The absence of such a pressing topic unnerved her, after Mum’s initial rant over the phone. Maybe Dad had said something to her, but that didn’t seem likely—of the two of them, Leonie’s dad was the one most likely to lecture her about his opinions.
Heaven forbid they finally decided she was an adult who could to make her own decisions as well as take responsibility for them herself. Was it too much to hope for that all those years living out of home and being with Mark had done at least some good for her dynamic with her parents?
As she sat quietly, facing them over a white-clothed table in the noisy Chinese restaurant, she decided that yes—yes, it was too much to hope for.
“I think you must try again,” her dad declared out of nowhere, setting down his chopsticks.
“Mark is not a bad guy,” her mum appended, opening the teapot for the waitress doing the rounds with a jug of hot water. “And you made a vow.”
Leonie’s jaw tightened, and she bit her tongue to stop from grinding her teeth. “I’m done with Mark,” she said.
“At least stay in the same house while you sort it out. Are his parents still coming to stay? Let him save face, lah.”
She rankled at her mum’s suggestion, the same kind of rankle she’d get when Mark cornered her with suggestions so reasonably put that she’d be in the wrong for disagreeing. It was the same rankle when they discussed the colour of their front door, when they debated which receptionist resumés looked best, and when he’d asked her to mind the front desk just a few days ago.
Leonie pushed a half-eaten piece of pork belly around her plate, her appetite for dinner dwindling. Maybe shewasbeing unreasonable, just walking out on her marriage and job. It certainly wasn’t a smart thing to do, not while she had so much invested in the business and client bookings still listed under her name.
She could go back to the house just for a while, agree with her very reasonable parents, see out the rest of her bookings and just tell Marla not to make new ones. It would be so easy to slip back into the old normal, except the thought made Leonie’s stomach turn.
How could they? How could Mark cheat on her and lie to her all these years? Sure, they weren’t happy, but he could at least have gone about it truthfully instead of doing something that would hurt her. And how could her parents sit here and put her lying husband saving face ahead of their own daughter’s happiness? Even if they didn’t know why she was unhappy in hermarriage, couldn’t they see it was wearing her down? Were they even looking out for her?
She set down her chopsticks and pushed her plate away. “I haven’t told his parents he’s been cheating on me,” she said, curtly. “Not once, but many times over the years. I think I’ve helped him save enough face.”
Her parents looked at each other. Mum sat back. “What about the business?”
“I don’t care about the business.”
