Page 137 of Love Notes & Lifelines
This is the least Tabby-like place I could imagine.
“She spends a lot of time at my place,” Leo explains. “She only sleeps here.”
“That is complicated,” I agree.
“Take a seat. Would you like a glass of wine?”
“No, thank you. But I’d love some water, please.”
“You got it.” I sit on the black plastic sofa. Why the hell is it so hard? The only photo in here is one of them together as teenagers. It’s not anything I would have imagined for her.
Leo returns and hands me a bottle of water. “How are you doing?”
My shoulders slump forward. “I’m not sure.” My gaze drifts back to the lone photo and I mindlessly drag my fingers along the hard lines of the sofa. “This is not how I envisioned Tabby’s place,” I admit.
“No?” he asks. “What did you expect? Something more like my place?” His eyes sparkle, and his grin takes over his face.
“Well, yeah,” I admit.
He takes a seat in the chair opposite me. “For good reason. I built that apartment with her in mind, and I built this one to be as uncomfortable as possible.”
“You succeeded there,” I mutter, glancing around at the cold interior. “Why would you do that?”
“I was trying to win her back,” he says with a chuckle. “I stupidly thought that if she was so uncomfortable here, she’d spend more time over there,” he says, hitching his thumb over his shoulder. “With me. But I seriously underestimated how stubborn she can be.”
“What did you do?” My heart pitter-patters in my chest, but I don’t know if it’s from his heartbreak or mine.
“I drunkenly married her younger sister in Vegas, which is not as simple as it sounds, so that tells you just how drunk I was, and then was too chicken to come home and face her for too many years.”
“Leo,” I gasp. “What the hell? Were you with her when you married her sister?”
His nose wrinkles. “We were on a break.”
“Oh my God. Seriously?”
“Yeah,” His gaze drops to the floor. “I was on my way to California. My band at the time was trying to get our big break, but we only got as far as Vegas. Bea came out for her birthday, we got drunk, and don’t remember much after the last round of Fireball. We didn’t even know what we’d done until months later when the marriage certificate showed up at their parents’ house.”
“Oh no.” My hands fly to my mouth. Poor Tabby.
“It gets worse.”
“How? How could that get worse? She must have been heartbroken and felt so betrayed.”
“She did, but the thing about Tabby is she always puts everyone else’s needs above her own. Her parents are extremely religious and demanded we give it a try. I couldn’t do it. I’d made a mistake, but knowing I’d hurt Tabby was too much, so I ran.”
“Leo!”
“I know. Young and stupid, remember?”
“What happened?”
“Bea came back to Vegas. Pretended to ‘work on things’ for a while, but in reality, I never saw her again. I can’t even confirm she was in Vegas. Then, we filed for an annulment through lawyers, and two more years passed before I got my head out of my ass.”
“Her own sister?”
“We never meant to hurt her. I’ve loved Tabby for as long as I can remember, and it’s a betrayal I’m still trying to correct.”
“And her sister? How are they?”
