Been There Done That (Leffersbee #1) - Hope Ellis Page 0,48
But it’d worked for the snarly, passive aggressive, young adult version of me in Michigan. I knew she loved me and would die for me, just like she’d give anything for her own daughter, Emily.
Now she was crying. Might as well tell on myself. So much for keeping this close to the chest.
“Zora’s there.”
She swallowed back a sniffle. “What? What did you say?”
“I said, Zora’s there.”
“In Green Valley? What, she’s visiting?”
“No. She lives there.”
“Since when?”
“Does it matter?”
“I know you know. You’ve always known where she is. You’ve always kept track of her. You can’t help it.” Her tone brightened considerably. “Okay. Zora’s there. This is wonderful news. How is she?”
I thought of Zora, dark eyes flashing at me in that little closet back at the hospital. Tears running down her face last night at the restaurant, the bruised indentation in her lip when she’d bit it in a bid to stop her tears. The silk of her skin beneath my hand . . .
The way my idiot heart forgot to protect itself around her. All the history, the familiarity, wrapped up in her.
How was Zora?
“She’s okay.”
“Don’t you think it’s time?” Aunt Nan’s voice was softer. “You won’t ever admit it, but I know how much it hurt you to leave her. Watching you always broke my heart, you know that? Seeing the pressure you’d put on yourself to try to take care of everyone. You were just a child, a baby. Eighteen, yes, but in no way equipped to take on the decisions of other adults. Even if it was your mother. There was nothing you could have done to stop your mother from using when she was in Green Valley. I’m proud of you for getting the help you needed—for both of you. It brought you back up here to your family. But I don’t think you’ve ever gotten over leaving Zora. I wish you could see that you didn’t have to.”
“There’s no point in rehashing the past.”
“Is she married?”
“What difference does it make? I love you and I’m late for a meeting.”
“You’re not rushing me off the phone. Sounds like she isn’t.”
I was relieved to hear more giddiness than tears in her voice now, even if my next words would likely end her improved mood.
“She’s in a relationship.” I checked my watch again, careful to sound flat and disinterested. “A serious one that will likely end in marriage.”
“That’s not married,” she said, and I was taken aback by the uncharacteristic deviousness in the statement.
“That’s the last thing I expected you to say.”
“Why? Dating isn’t married, and if the young man knew what he had, he’d have put a ring on it already.”
“Binging Beyoncé with Emily again, huh?”
“Always.”
That made me chuckle. “No, listen. She likes this guy. He’s safe. He’s the deputy sheriff, his dad was sheriff before him.”
“Who wants ‘safe?’ You know him? Sounds like you don’t like him.”
I shrugged uncomfortably. “He was a little asshole growing up. But if Zora’s with him now, he must have some redeeming qualities.”
“I don’t care about his redeeming qualities. You and that girl loved each other while you were in Pampers, practically. You’ve been carrying a torch for her for years. You’re still in love with her—”
“Aunt—”
“I don’t want to hear it. You are. It’s why you can’t settle down, why you’re sticking and moving through all these models, actresses, heiresses—”
My stomach dropped to my shoes. “Please don’t ever say that again, please don’t refer to me ‘sticking’ women. Not like that, not in that context.”
“It’s true. And you won’t ever be able to open your heart to loving anybody until you confront what happened all those years ago. It’s time to let her in on the truth.”
“She’s got a life there. She’s—” I was about to say happy, but stopped, remembering our conversation in the capture station back at the hospital. “She hates me.”
“I’m sure she doesn’t—”
“She does.”
“Well, did you expect her to hug you after all these years? Considering you never came back? Or called? Or—”
“She broke up with me. She sent me the ring back with that note. She obviously knew where I was.”
“Nick,” Aunt Nan said, in the take-no-prisoners tone that meant something hard was coming. “Why the hell didn’t you ever contact her? Why are you surprised the poor girl finally sent the ring back after two years of silence?”
I studied my shoes. Put like that, it did come back on me.
“I wasn’t ready yet. I kept thinking, ‘Let me just get a little more stable,