I stare at the message and read the words over and over repeatedly, the pain in my chest making it impossible to breathe. I glance at my grandpa, hoping he can’t see the current state of my imminent meltdown. Why? Why would he tell me this now? He had four weeks to change his mind, to tell me how he felt. I can’t ask my grandpa to turn around, that would be… pathetic. And he’d be so disappointed.
Leo knows… he knows I can’t do this without him.
Hands shaking, my thumbs fly over the screen in rage as I reply:
Mia: Are you serious right now?
I watch the three dots appear and reappear as he types out a response, and with each second that passes, I can feel my airways closing, the heat behind my eyes and nose unbearable.
Leo: Well, you said Holden’s just your friend, right? I don’t want to be just your friend, Mia. I want to be more. I want to be your Leo.
“Oh my god,” I murmur, dropping my phone on my lap.
“You okay, baba?” Papa asks.
I nod, my cheeks hurting with the force of my smile.
The rest of the drive seems to drag on, and when we finally pull into the Preston driveway, the first and only thing I want to do is find Leo. I don’t know what I’ll do when I see him. I’ll probably hug him and pretend as if his text never happened until he’s willing to bring it up himself.
Tom is the first to come out of the house with little Lachlan holding on to his leg. He comes down to the car to greet us, hugging me and shaking my grandpa’s hand. “Thank you,” Papa tells him. “You giving my baba this opportunity means so much.” Then he reaches into his pocket and pulls out his wallet. “I give some money now, some later.”
Tom lifts his hands. “No, sir. There’s no need.”
Papa’s a proud man, and there’s no way he’s going to allow me to stay here for free.
They continue their back and forth while I look over Tom’s shoulder, up to Leo’s bedroom window, and around the yard. I can’t see Leo anywhere.
“Okay, time to go,” Papa says, bringing me back to the present. He hugs me tight and says in my ear, “You be good for the man. He’s a good man.”
With a smile, I hug him back. “I’ll come home soon. It’s only two bus rides.”
He pulls away before I’m ready. “You settle in first, okay?”
I nod.
“I put money in your backpack,” he says, opening his truck door.
“Papa, you didn’t have to—”
He holds up a hand, shushing me. “For school supplies, clothes, whatever you need. Okay?”
“Yes, sir.”
He turns to me again, his eyes settling on mine. Then he reaches out, holds my face in both his hands. “I’ll miss you,” he says, placing a kiss on my forehead. “Szeretlek.”
“I love you, too, Papa.”
I didn’t expect it to hurt as much as it does—watching him drive away. I don’t think it hit me until he was no longer in view. I’d been so distracted with Holden leaving and these new feelings I was experiencing with Leo, that it never occurred to me that I was going to be apart from the one person who’d been my constant.
“You’ll be okay, Mia,” Tom says, throwing an arm around me and bringing me to him. “I’ll take good care of you. I promise.” I hold back a sob, drowning in his words, because as much as I appreciate them, I wish they’d come from the woman standing in the distance, watching me fall apart.
“Thank you.” I pull back, wiping at my eyes before I face him. “Is Leo here?”
Tom shakes his head. “The older boys are at some end-of-summer party.” He looks at his watch. “They’ll be back in a couple of hours.”
“Oh.” Oh.
“I’ll bring your bags to the basement,” he says. “Are you hungry?”
“No. Is it okay if I just go for a walk? I’ve been sitting in the car a while.”
He smiles down at me. “Mia, this is your home now. You don’t need to ask permission to do anything.”
My home.
This is my home now, and I can’t wait for it to start feeling as such.
Chapter Twelve
Mia
I walk around the property for a while and end up at the lake. I don’t come here too often, because the older boys are here a lot, and most of the time, they’re not alone. The last time I was