Coming Home

by Priscilla Glenn

  After a minute she said, “I told you it wouldn’t work.”

  No sooner than the words left her mouth, she felt the sleeping bag grow a bit tighter around them as he zipped it closed. He smiled triumphantly as he lay back, pulling her partially on top of him.

  “Damn you.” She sighed, laying her head on his chest. “Batman does kick maroon’s ass.”

  “Told you,” he said, trailing his fingertips over her lower back.

  “I’m ruined now. How can I ever go back there?”

  “You’re not going anywhere,” he said into her hair, and she smiled.

  “Aren’t you uncomfortable with me lying on you like this?”

  “I’ve never been more comfortable.”

  She laughed softly as she tightened her arms around him, and for a minute they just lay there in contented silence.

  “So,” she heard him say, and his serious tone caused her to lift her head. “Did you do what I asked?”

  Leah reached up and brushed the hair away from his forehead. “I did.”

  It was quiet for a few seconds before he took a breath and asked, “And are you okay?”

  A tiny smile curved her lips. “I am.”

  He stared up at her, and Leah could see that he was gauging her honesty.

  Danny had become a permanent fixture in Leah’s family. He had been at every Sunday dinner since that first one in January, and everyone adored him. And it was for that reason Danny had asked her a few weeks ago to tell them the truth about what was going on with him.

  “It feels like lying,” he had said to her. “They’ve all been good to me, and I don’t like being dishonest with them. They need to know.”

  And while she knew he was right, Leah kept avoiding it at every turn. She just didn’t want things to change; enough change was coming her way to last a lifetime, and she didn’t think she could handle any more. She had no way of knowing if learning the truth would ruin their opinion of him, but she just couldn’t bring herself to chance it.

  Plus, if she were being honest with herself, she didn’t want to discuss it with anyone. Discussing it made it real, and she was enjoying the fantasy world she and Danny had created for themselves—one where there was no looming future, just them in the present, crossing things off their wish lists and enjoying each other.

  At first Danny had been lenient with her when she’d come up with excuses as to why she didn’t get around to telling them, but last weekend he finally put his foot down.

  “I know it’s not a conversation you’re looking forward to,” he had said to her. “But it needs to be done. And it needs to be done before I go to court. I don’t want them finding out after the fact; that’s fucking spineless, and they deserve more respect than that. So if you can’t do it, then I’m going to. But it needs to happen before this week is over. We’ve put it off long enough.”

  So that morning, before she headed down to Danny’s apartment to finish cleaning, she took her family out to breakfast, and she told them. Surprisingly, she didn’t cry. She was so nervous that she was incapable of doing anything except reciting the words she had practiced a million times the night before.

  She should have known how they would react. If there was one thing her family was good at, it was pulling together and supporting one another in a crisis.

  Rather than being horrified or disgusted or angry, they were sad—for her and for Danny.

  “Don’t hate him,” she had quietly implored them. “The Danny you know…that’s the real him. He’s not a bad person. He didn’t intend for any of this to happen.”

  And Leah’s father had taken her hand and said, “You don’t have to defend him, Leah. You don’t think I understand the feeling of being ferociously protective of your family? He’s a good kid who made a big mistake. And now he’s going to pay for it. It’s going to be hard. For both of you. But if he’s what you want, princess, then I’ll do whatever I can to make this a little easier for you. All I’ve ever wanted is for you to be happy.”

  Danny ran his hand through Leah’s hair, pulling her from her musings, and she looked down in time to see his throat bob as he swallowed nervously.

  “So what did your dad say?” he asked.

  She shifted so that she was lying fully on top of him, and his hands slipped under her shirt, holding her waist gently as he looked up at her.

  “He asked if you would bring some cannoli from Giovanni’s to Easter dinner this Sunday.”

  Danny stared up at her for a second, and when his dimples began to appear, Leah laughed softly, slipping her hand behind his neck and pulling him up for a kiss.

  The hurt will be temporary, she reminded herself as his lips moved against hers.

  This is the forever.

  Leah sat in the driver’s seat, her heart sinking as the call went to voice mail.

  It was already four thirty; she’d been forced to spend the entire day without him, and it induced a level of anxiety in her she didn’t know existed. The showing at the ASH program that afternoon had been one of the largest of the school year, what with finals on the horizon, so canceling would have been in poor form. Plus, Leah had already taken off the following day to be at court with Danny, and the day after that as well, just in case things didn’t go well. Bailing on the program had been out of the question.

  But sitting in a room full of students for two and a half extra hours on the last day before Danny went to court was nothing short of torture.

  When the program ended, she’d raced out of the building, calling him as she made her way to her car. He was spending the day finalizing some things at the shop and told her to let him know when she was leaving so he could meet her at her apartment.

  Leah chewed her lip as she listened to Danny’s voice, asking her to leave a message, and when it beeped, she told him she was done for the day and to come up whenever he was finished. She ended the call and tossed her phone into her purse with a frustrated sigh. If he was in the garage, more likely than not, he hadn’t heard her call. It was always so noisy in there, with people talking and tools and machines running nonstop—unless he had his phone set to vibrate in his pocket, he probably wouldn’t even see she had called until he was already leaving.

  She sent up a silent prayer that it would be soon.

  But by the time she pulled into the parking space in front of her apartment, a gnawing impatience was beginning to mix with the anxiety already swirling in her gut.

  He still hadn’t returned her call.

  Leah put the car in park and gathered her things quickly, as if her rushing could somehow make him do the same.

  She hoisted her bags onto her shoulder as she approached the front door, promising herself that if she didn’t hear back from him in the next ten minutes, she would call the shop and have him paged. The idea of wasting any more time without him tonight was making her want to crawl out of her skin.

  Leah fumbled with her keys for a moment before she opened the door to her apartment, immediately stopping in her tracks.

  It was dark inside, save for the faint flickering of candlelight.

  After a stunned second, she walked in, closing the door softly behind her. There were candles on her kitchen table, along with wine glasses and place settings and a vase of red roses.

  “Danny?” she called, her eyes roving the scene before her.

  A second later he came out from the kitchen with a bottle of wine in his hand.

  “Welcome home,” he said.

  Leah blinked at him before she put her bags down by the door. “What are you doing?” she asked, walking toward the table. “What is this?”

  “An early birthday celebration.”

  She stopped short. “You remembered?”

  “Of course I did,” he said matter-of-factly, placing the bottle on the table as he began to uncork it.

  Leah stared at him, completely floored. With everything he had going on the next day, celebrating her birthday should have been the last thing on his mind.

>   “I even bought you a birthday cake that I’m going to pretend I made. And you’re going to pretend to believe it, just like you promised.”

  She looked up at him with a tiny laugh as she watched him pour her a glass of wine, and then he smiled as he held it out for her. “I hope you’re hungry,” he said. “I got us something from Il Bardona.”

  Leah’s mouth dropped. Il Bardona was one of her favorite restaurants, but it certainly wasn’t an establishment that dealt in takeout.

  She reached for the glass he handed her. “That’s not the type of place that makes food to go.”

  “I know,” he said. “I called in a favor.”

  She stared at him for a moment before shaking her head. “Danny…”

  “Leah,” he said, mimicking her tone as he poured himself a glass of wine.

  She tried to stifle a smile as he placed his glass on the table, and then he pulled her chair out and gestured for her to sit down. “Your meal will be out shortly, miss,” he said with a bow.

  As he disappeared into the kitchen, Leah turned to look at the table.

  He’d remembered her birthday. He’d gone out of his way for her tonight. Sneaking up to her place while she was stuck at work, making arrangements with her favorite restaurant, setting the table with stemware and flowers, getting her a birthday cake so she could make her wish.

  What was she ever going to do when they took this all away from her?

  Her vision clouded as her eyes welled with tears just as Danny turned the corner and placed several serving plates down on the table. He situated everything before he sat across from her, his expression turning serious when his eyes met her glassy ones.

  “Leah,” he said gently. “I realize what tonight is, but I don’t want this to be about saying good-bye, okay?”

  The sting behind her eyes doubled at his words, and she blinked quickly, trying to keep her tears at bay. When he saw her struggling, he reached across the table, taking her hand in his and playing with her fingers.

  “It’s not good-bye, sweet girl. It’s only temporary. You’re the one who told me that, remember?”

  Leah forced a smile as she nodded.

  “I want tonight to be about us,” he said. “Just you and me. Nothing else. Can we do that?”

  She nodded again. “That sounds perfect,” she said softly.

  “Good,” he said, bringing her hand to his lips and kissing it before letting it go. He picked up his glass and raised it to her. “Happy birthday, Leah.”

  She tapped her glass to his before taking a sip, and she hummed, swirling the glass gently. “What is this?”

  Danny reached across the table and spun the bottle toward himself. “Shafer Relentless Napa Valley, 2008.”

  “It’s really good.”

  “It was the top-rated wine last year.”

  Leah lifted her brow. “Is that so? Since when are you a wine connoisseur?”

  “Since I asked the guy at the liquor store to give me his best bottle, and he gave me this and said it was the top-rated wine last year.”

  She smiled at him before shaking her head, and he winked, picking up his knife and fork.

  They talked and laughed throughout the meal, but every so often, Leah’s mind would wander where it wasn’t supposed to go—she’d find herself wondering where he’d be this time tomorrow, what he’d be doing, how she was going to get through knowing he was out of her reach and suffering. But when the lump rose in her throat, or when she felt her eyes burn with the threat of tears, she would distract herself by concentrating on him, memorizing his every detail: his light-blue eyes refracting delicate candlelight, the curve of his lips, the inky black hair that felt so soft between her fingers, the lines of his jaw, the dimples in his cheeks when he smiled her favorite smile, the sound of his laugh, the way he held his fork.

  Despite the reality that was looming over them, it was surprisingly easy to get lost in those things.

  When they’d finished eating, Leah and Danny left their dirty dishes on the table and moved into the living room with their wine. Leah curled into his side as they sat on the couch, and his arm immediately came around her, holding her against his body as he rested his chin on her head.

  She couldn’t believe she had ever existed without this. Being with him, touching him, laughing with him—there was nothing more satisfying, nothing capable of making her feel more content and gratified and beautiful and whole.

  And as much as she was dreading the struggle that would be coming her way, the thought of never having met him rivaled the pain of losing him.

  She often thought about how many facets of the universe had been at work the day their paths crossed. If that guy hadn’t been tailgating her on the street, she would never have parked in front of Catherine’s house and gotten out of the car. If Catherine didn’t happen to be looking out the window when Leah stopped there, she wouldn’t have invited her in. If her bracelet hadn’t fallen off in the guest room, she wouldn’t have left her number.

  Leah slid her arm around Danny’s waist as she pressed her cheek against his chest and inhaled his scent.

  Those little wonders in life, the tiny miracles, they never ceased to amaze her. They were everywhere, overlooked too often because people were preoccupied with the minutiae of everyday life, or because the miracles themselves were too discreet to be recognized. But to see them at work was one of the most humbling things Leah had ever experienced.

  Because there wasn’t a doubt in her mind that the day she met Danny, the stars had aligned just for her.

  “Do you believe in fate?” she asked softly.

  Danny took a slow sip of wine. “I don’t know. To an extent, maybe. Why, do you?”

  “I never really did before, but now…I don’t know. It’s kind of hard not to.”

  “What do you mean?” he asked, tilting his head to look down at her.

  Leah dropped her eyes, watching the light glint off her bracelet as she spun it around her wrist. “I’ve had this bracelet for almost fifteen years,” she said, looking up at him. “And never once has the clasp failed. And I’ve had it back for over four months now, and it hasn’t happened since.”

  He held her eyes for a moment before he smiled, looking down as he ran the tip of his finger over the bracelet, and then he pulled her into his side and pressed his lips to the top of her head.

  “Can I give you your birthday present now?” he asked into her hair.

  Leah smiled. “Did you get me a Slap Chop?”

  He burst out laughing before he released her and stood from the couch. “You already have one.”

  “I know,” she said, “but you can never have too many of those.”

  Danny grinned. “Maybe for Christmas, then,” he said with a laugh as he turned and walked toward Leah’s bedroom, and her smile fell.

  Because he wouldn’t be there for Christmas.

  She wasn’t even sure how many Christmases she’d have to endure without him, and the thought made her throat feel like someone had clamped their fist around it.

  Stop it, she warned herself. Stop it right now. Not tonight.

  Danny walked back into the living room then, and she could see that he held a small rectangular box in his hand as he sat back on the couch beside her.

  “Happy birthday,” he said, holding it out for her.

  Her breath hitched as she looked down at the box. She had thought he’d gotten her something silly—a little trinket they would laugh about—but it was clear to her that there was jewelry inside that box.

  “Danny,” she said, her shoulders dropping, “you shouldn’t have—”

  “I wanted to,” he said, cutting her off.

  Her eyes met his before she took a tiny breath, and then she reached for the box. She lifted the lid hesitantly, the hinge creaking slightly as it opened.

  Lying on the black satin inside was a necklace; the chain was white gold and glittered with every movement of Leah’s trembling hand, but her eye was immediately drawn to
the pendant hanging from it. It was a large, clear stone, perfectly round. She lifted her finger and cautiously touched the end of it, the tiny movement causing a prism of sparkles to flicker within the stone.

  “Is this…” She trailed off as she looked up at him.

  “Is this what?”

  “A diamond?” she asked, looking back down at the shimmering pendant.

  “Yes.”

  Her hand came up to cup her mouth. “Oh my God,” she whispered, shaking her head. “Danny.”

  “Do you like it?”

  She opened and closed her mouth, trying to find her voice. “It’s…incredible,” she stammered.

  He smiled at her, and she reached down and touched the pendant again. “It’s too much,” she said, and he shook his head.

  “It’s perfect.”

  She lifted her eyes to his, and his dimples started to appear. “Can I see it on you?”

  Leah held the box out to him, still beyond words, and Danny leaned forward and removed the necklace before undoing the clasp, holding an end in each hand as he wrapped it around her neck. Her hand came to the pendant, holding it against her skin as he fastened the clasp behind her.

  He leaned back and looked at the necklace on her, his smile broadening as he took her hand and pulled her off the couch. Danny walked her over to the mirror on the opposite wall and turned her so that she was facing it. The diamond glittered against her skin, the bright stone a sharp contrast to her deep-blue V-neck sweater.

  “See?” he said from behind her. “Perfect.”

  He stepped forward, closing the distance between them, and Leah leaned back into his embrace, closing her eyes as one of his arms snaked around her waist. A few seconds later, she felt his other hand come up to the necklace, taking the pendant between his fingers.

  Danny brought his lips to her ear. “When this is over, I’m going to put one of these on your finger.”

  Her eyes flipped open, finding his in the mirror.

  “We’ll get through this, Leah,” he said, his eyes on hers. “And then I’ll spend the rest of my life making it up to you. I promise.”

  Leah turned slowly in his arms, placing her hands on his chest as she stared up at him. Danny’s arms tightened around her waist, holding her against him as his eyes searched hers.