Chapter 4
Present Day
“What the hell is this!”
Leah opened her eyes to find Alan holding the rental agreement for the summer bungalow on Coates Island. She couldn’t believe she’d slept so long that Alan had returned from his golf outing. Her eyes shifted to the clock resting on a shelf of the bookcase. It wasn’t the next day. She had fallen asleep and dreamed about her life before she’d married the cruel, unfeeling man sitting in the chair glaring at her.
She’d tried to love him, but it was if he did everything in his power to make her hate him, while his mother’s influence had been so strong that whatever affection he’d ever felt for her vanished. After a while she’d stopped trying and concentrated on herself. She adored her sons, enjoyed her position as headmistress for the Calhoun Preparatory Academy for Girls, and was looking forward to vacationing in North Carolina during the upcoming summer recess.
“What are you doing here?”
“Have you forgotten that I live here, Leah?”
“That’s not what I mean, and you know it,” she snapped. “I thought you were going to spend the weekend in Florida.”
“It was canceled because of rain.”
“You knew it was raining in Florida before you left.”
“It was predicted to stop, so we figured we would get in a few rounds.”
Leah wanted to laugh in his face. Alan had used the ploy that he was golfing with his buddies whenever he spent time with other women. Even at sixty-seven he hadn’t stopped whoring. And he didn’t think she knew it, but she’d discovered he now had to take a pill to achieve and sustain an erection.
The tall, slender, charming man she’d met what now seemed eons ago hadn’t aged well. He was balding, his face was bloated, he’d gained a lot of weight; the broken capillaries in his nose indicated he drank too much, and as much as he attempted to conceal it, his hands shook uncontrollably.
“That’s too bad,” she drawled facetiously.
Alan shifted his bulk on the delicate chair. “Why can’t you have more comfortable chairs?”
Leah wanted to tell him the chair wouldn’t be so uncomfortable if he lost at least fifty pounds. “I happen to like that chair.” He crumpled the paper in his hand, and Leah sprang up to take it from him, but he held it out of her reach. “Give me that.”
“Not until you tell me what this is all about.”
Her temper flared as she stood. “You’re a lawyer, Alan. I’m sure if you read it you understood the legalese.”
“I understood every word, but what I want to know is why are you renting property in North Carolina.”
A sardonic smile parted Leah’s lips. She never told Alan that while he’d toured countries in Europe and Africa with their sons the prior summer she had spent the most glorious time on Coates Island, North Carolina.
“Because I plan to spend the summer there.”
Alan balled up the paper. “No you’re not.”
“Yes I am,” she said softly.
He stood up. “I forbid you to go!”
Leah took a step, bringing her close to him. “In case you’ve forgotten, let me remind you that you’re not in your courtroom where you tell folks what they can and cannot do. I am going, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
“You think I won’t stop you.”
“You can’t stop me, Alan.”
Leah did not have time to react before she felt excruciating pain on the left side of her face when Alan slapped her. He hit her again, and this time his fist connected with her jaw. They’d argued in the past, but he had never attempted to hit her. She tasted blood where he’d split her lip. Temporarily stunned because no man had ever struck her, not even her father, she swung but missed him as he sidestepped her.
Leah knew she was physically no match for a man who outweighed her by at least a hundred pounds. “I’m leaving you.”
“No you’re not!”
“Watch me, Alan Kent!” She walked out of the suite, heading for the staircase to get ice from the kitchen to put on what she was certain was her rapidly swelling lip. Not only was she leaving him, but she also planned to file for divorce. If he hit her once and she did nothing about it, Leah knew he would do it again, and she did not want to become a statistic as a battered wife.
She’d just reached the top of the staircase when he grabbed the back of her shirt. Blows rained down on her as she put up her hands to protect her face, and then his fingers snaked around her throat, cutting off her breath. Her eyes bulged and she felt a roaring in her ears, and she knew if she didn’t get away from him he would strangle her to death. Leah went into fighting mode, kneeing Alan in the groin. He bellowed in pain, and then she felt herself falling when he shoved her down the staircase, the carpeting burning her exposed skin. Her face bounced off the parquet flooring, and her whole world went black.
* * *
“Mrs. Kent, please try to open your eyes.”
Leah’s eyelids fluttered wildly as she struggled to open her eyes. She knew she was in a hospital when she heard beeping from the machines monitoring her vitals. “How . . . how . . .” The constriction in her throat made it hard for her to get the words out. She did manage to open her eyes to find a white-coated doctor leaning over her.
“Mrs. Kent, I’m Dr. Brady. You’re at St. Luke’s Memorial Hospital. Your husband reported that you’d fallen down a flight of stairs in your home. He’s been here every day to check on you.”
“How long have I been here?” she whispered.
“Eight days. You had some swelling on the brain, so we put you in a medically induced coma to wait for the swelling to go down.”
She raised her left hand to touch her forehead. “Will I be all right? My brain?”
“Tests indicate you won’t have any lingering effects. You may experience headaches, but I recommend you follow up with a neurologist if they prove debilitating.”
Leah sighed. “Okay.”
“You were banged up pretty badly when the EMTs brought you in. The bruises will fade after a while, and once you’re discharged we’ll send you home with pain meds. I recommend that you take it easy for the next two to three weeks.”
“Did my husband tell you how I’d fallen?”
Dr. Brady flipped through several pages in her chart. “He said he came home and found you unconscious at the foot of the staircase.”
“He’s a liar.”
The young doctor’s large brown eyes grew wide behind the lenses of his glasses. “Are you sure, Mrs. Kent?”
“I’m very sure. Dr. Brady, do you know what my husband is?”
“No, I don’t, Mrs. Kent.”
“He sits on the bench of Virginia’s Court of Appeals. Judge Alan Kent beat me and pushed me down the stairs.” The young doctor sat on the chair beside her bed. “I want you to take down everything that I’m going to tell you. I know you’re mandated to report incidents of assault to law enforcement, but not this time. What I want is documentation of my injuries to use as leverage in case my husband decides to contest our divorce.”
Her voice was low and steady as she told him everything the man to whom she’d been married for nearly thirty years had done to her and the doctor wrote it in her chart. Movement caught her eye, and she smiled when she saw her sons filling the doorway. It was apparent Alan had called them.
She nodded to the doctor. “That’s all of it.”
Closing the file, he stood up. “I’ll be back later to check on you. A nurse should be in shortly to change the IV and check your catheter.”
She held out her free arm to hug Aron and then Caleb. Although they were identical twins and most people couldn’t tell them apart, it had never been difficult for Leah. Not only were their personalities different, but it was their body language. Aron, older by three minutes, was laid-back and fun-loving, while Caleb was serious, more intense.
They were tall, several inches above six feet, and athletically built. Both were extremely health conscious. They’d limited their intake of sugar and fat and worked out at a Manhattan health club. They’d inherited Alan’s hazel eyes, had dark hair with glints of red whenever they spent too much time in the sun, and her features. People usually took a double take when seeing them together. Leah had stopped asking them whether they were involved with a woman, respecting their right to conduct their private lives however they wanted.
Caleb pulled over a chair and sat, while Aron took the one Dr. Brady had vacated. She noticed there were dark circles under their eyes. “When did you two get in?”
Caleb rested his hand over hers. “We came the day after Dad called to say you had an accident. We’ve come every day, but you were in what the doctor said was a drug-induced coma and he said he would contact us once they brought you out.”
“How do you feel, Mom?” Aron asked.
A dreamy smile flitted over her features. “I’m not feeling anything because there are probably pain meds in that IV. How do I look?”
“I know you don’t want to hear it, but you look like you’ve gone several rounds with an MMA fighter,” Caleb said, frowning.
Leah closed her eyes, recalling the beating she’d endured at the hands of her husband. “I did. And his name is Alan Stephens Kent.”
“What the fuck!”
“No!”
Aron and Caleb had spoken in unison.
Caleb ran his fingers through his hair as he shook his head. “Are you saying that Dad did this to you?” Leah nodded. “I’m going to kill the sonofabitch!”
“No you’re not,” she countered. “I don’t want either of you to say or do anything to him, because I’m divorcing your father. As soon as I’m able to leave this hospital bed I’m driving down to North Carolina to stay with a friend until I’m ready to file for a divorce.”
Aron slumped back in his chair. “You know Dad is going to contest it, because he doesn’t like losing.”
“I know that. The doctor wrote down my account of the so-called accident and if needed I’ll produce it in court. And then we’ll see how long he’ll be on the bench when he’s been accused of spousal abuse.”
Caleb covered his face with both hands. “I just can’t believe he would hit you,” he said through his fingers.
“Your father and I haven’t been getting along for years. The day you guys left for college was when I moved out of our bedroom. Alan and I haven’t slept together for more than ten years.”
Her sons exchanged a look. “I knew something wasn’t right when we came here for Christmas,” Aron said. “When I asked Dad why you two weren’t sleeping together he mumbled something about his snoring worsening since he’s gained a lot of weight.”
“He lied about snoring.”
Caleb slowly shook his head. “Why didn’t you tell us things weren’t right between the two of you, Mom?”
“I didn’t say anything because I did not want to involve my children in something that could possibly upset them.”
“Upset us!” Aron spat out. “We’re grown men, Mom, not little kids who want to see their parents stay together even if they’re at each other’s throats at every turn. If I’d known he was capable of doing this to you I would’ve put the bastard in the ground and taken my chances with the law.”
Leah didn’t want to believe her cool-headed, softhearted son was talking about killing his father. “That’s why I didn’t say anything to you. We’ve had our verbal battles over the years, but this is the first time that he hit me.”
“And it will be the last,” Caleb stated firmly. “I won’t say anything to him about what you’ve just told us, but we’ll stay long enough for you to be discharged and leave for North Carolina. And if Dad tries to stop you, then I hope you have enough money on hand to bail me out of jail after I beat the living shit out of him.”
Leah’s eyes filled with tears. All of her life she’d protected her sons, and now the tables were reversed as they promised to protect her. “Why don’t you see if you can find Dr. Brady and ask him if and when he can okay my discharge.”
Aron stood up. “I’ll do it.”
“How long can you be away from your job?” she asked Caleb after Aron left the room. He’d recently secured a position clerking for a criminal court judge.
“I told the judge that I had a family emergency, and he said to take as much time as I need.”
“What about Aron?”
“He’s applied to the Kings County DA’s office for a position as an assistant district attorney, and he’s currently waiting to hear back from them.”
Both her sons had passed the New York bar exam the previous year and were ambivalent whether they wanted to return to Richmond to join the practice their great-grandfather had established. Fortunately for them, because of their trust funds, they could afford to pay the exorbitant New York City rents while seeking employment.
“You still don’t want to move back here and take over the family firm?”
Caleb stared out the window, sighing. “I’m really up in the air about leaving New York.”
“Is it because you’re involved with someone?”
He met her eyes. “How did you know?”
Leah smiled. “You weren’t that subtle when you were here for Christmas. Whenever you left the room to take a phone call and came back, there was this sparkle in your eyes that said whoever you were talking to made you very happy.”
“I can’t put anything past you, can I?”
“I’m certain there are a few things, but remember I am your mother and I did raise you.”
“I really like this girl, but there may be a slight problem.”
“She’s married?”
“No.”
“What is it, Caleb?”
“She’s mixed-race. African and Korean American.”
Leah blinked slowly. “You think her race is a problem?”
“Not for me,” he retorted.
“And you think I would be opposed you falling in love and marrying a mixed-race woman?”
“I don’t know, Mom.”
“Dammit, Caleb! It’s apparent you know nothing about me. Have I ever told you or your brother who you should date?”
Caleb managed to look contrite. “Well, no.”
“Then why would you anticipate my not accepting someone you love?”
“I don’t know, Mom. Can you forgive me if I’ve prejudged you?”
“I’ll think about it.”
“You’re kidding.”
“No, I’m not,” she snapped. Leah did not want to believe her sons would think she was a racist. It was their father’s family and not hers that had bought and sold human beings on which they’d built their wealth.
“I’m sorry, Mama.”
Her annoyance vanished quickly. It had been years since either of her sons had called her that. “When am I going to meet your girlfriend?”
A smile spread over Caleb’s refined features. “Probably not for a while. This is her last year in medical school.”
Leah’s smile matched his. “So, she’s going to be a doctor.” “Yup. She wants to be a pediatrician.”
“Good for her. And I’m happy for you, Caleb. You tell your girlfriend that your mother would like to meet her whenever she has a break and that she’ll always be welcome in my home.”
“I’ll definitely let her know.” He sobered. “Are you still going to live at Kent House during the divorce?”
“I doubt it, Caleb. It holds too many unpleasant memories for me. I’ll probably buy a small house with no more than three bedrooms and a couple of bathrooms in case my sons and their friends decide to visit. And I want enough property so I can put in an herb and flower garden.”
She didn’t want to tell her son that living under the same roof as her mother-in-law had been akin to torture. Adele Kent had sought to monitor every phase of her life from child rearing to how to run a household or host a dinner party. Once the woman was moved to a skilled nursing facility, she felt as if she could exhale for the first time in years.
Aron returned to the room. “Dr. Brady said that he’s going to examine you later and if everything checks out then he’ll sign discharge papers for you to leave in two days. You don’t have to worry about anything because Cal and I will be here to take you home. Once you’re feeling better, we can help you pack what you need for your trip. I’m going to keep the rental car and drive down with you before flying back to New York.”
“You don’t have to do that, Aron,” Leah protested. “I’ll be all right driving down by myself.”
“What about pain meds, Mom?” Caleb questioned. “Won’t you still be on them?”
“I won’t take any before I leave. Coates Island is only about three hundred fifty miles from here, and I usually make the drive in around six hours.”
The brothers looked at each other, and then Aron met her eyes. “Okay. But you have to promise to call either me or Cal when you get there.”
She smiled. “I promise.” Leah’s smile faded when she saw Alan walk into the room. “Get him out of here.”
Caleb and Aron turned at the same time and approached their father. She didn’t know what Caleb said to him, but he turned and left. “We’re going home with Dad,” Aron said over his shoulder. “We’ll be back later tonight.”
Please don’t hurt him, the voice in her head pleaded. She didn’t want her sons to do anything to Alan that might result in them getting arrested. They’d always been as protective of her as she had been of them. However, she’d allowed them the freedom and independence to strive that Adele had denied Alan. It wasn’t until she’d married him and moved into Kent House that she saw another side of her husband’s personality, and it frightened her. He was as spiteful and vindictive as his mother; the older woman turned a blind eye to her son’s tomcatting as she had with her own husband. But Leah didn’t care who he slept with as long as he didn’t touch her.
Then, like quicksilver, he would come to her pleading for forgiveness with a promise he would be faithful. There were two years during which he did change, coming home every night, and she got to experience a modicum of happiness and joy as a wife and mother. He was a wonderful, selfless lover who taught her what to do with her body to bring them both ultimate pleasure. However, it was short-lived; Adele sabotaged their newly discovered passion when she told her son that she had to fire the landscaper because she’d overheard Leah flirting with the man.
Alan flew into a jealous rage, accusing her of wanting to know what it would be like to sleep with a man closer to her own age. Not once during their marriage had she ever brought up the seventeen-year difference in their ages, and she told him she wasn’t responsible for his insecurities. That had been the wrong thing to say, and he left the house and didn’t come back for a week. Meanwhile Adele had accused her of driving her son away and said that Justine would have made a much better wife for him because not only was she better born but also better bred.
Her sons had just celebrated their eleventh birthday when she first thought about divorcing Alan. She’d threatened to leave and demand full custody of the children if his mother continued to interfere in their lives. Alan knew she was serious, and he agreed because he was being considered for a judgeship and did not want his personal laundry aired in public.
She closed her eyes and smiled. In a matter of days, she would be free to live her life by her own leave. What Leah did not understand was why she’d stayed in a toxic marriage for as long as she had, and she knew if Alan hadn’t assaulted her she probably would’ve stayed even longer.
She had a few things to do before leaving for Coates Island that included taking an extended leave of absence from Calhoun Academy. Leah would spend the spring and summer on the island, and when she returned to Richmond it would be to purchase a house and file for divorce, and not necessarily in that order.
* * *
The scent of saltwater came through the open windows of Leah’s Audi as she drove over the bridge linking Coates Island to the mainland. The sun was so bright that she had to pull down the visor because the lenses of her sunglasses weren’t filtering out the rays. The bruises on her body hadn’t faded completely and she ached all over, but she’d refused to take a pain pill because she feared it would impair her driving.
She’d rented the bungalow for the summer once she discovered Alan and her sons would be out of the country for a couple of months. It had been an impulsive decision, and she had no idea how it would change her life. Leah had bonded with the co-owner of the Seaside Café and a young woman who had taken an extended leave from a childcare center. She, Kayana Johnson, and Cherie Thompson all shared something in common: books. They’d formed a book club and met every Sunday afternoon to eat, drink, and discuss a predetermined title. The two women were as close as she could get to having sisters. They didn’t agree on everything, which made their meetings stimulating and interesting. She’d emailed Kayana once since leaving and that was to let her know she’d contacted the agent to begin the process of renting the same bungalow where she’d stayed the prior summer.
Because it was the off-season Leah knew the Café offered a buffet brunch from ten to two o’clock Monday through Saturday. She’d left Richmond at dawn in anticipation of reaching the island before the restaurant closed. She stopped for an hour in Charlotte to eat and stretch her legs before heading east toward the Atlantic Ocean. Leah glanced at the clock on the dashboard. She had another twenty-five minutes before the Café closed for the day.
She parked her car in the restaurant’s lot and made her way around to the entrance. During the summer season, as a vacationer, she wouldn’t have been able to drive along the local roads because of congestion. Either she would walk, bike, or take jitneys to get around the island.
When she walked in she noticed there were three elderly couples in the main dining room. There were only four hundred permanent residents living on Coates Island, but the numbers swelled to more than a thousand between the Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends. Most of the vacationers renting bungalows and checking into boardinghouses and bed-and-breakfasts were returnees or, as they referred to themselves, repeaters.
Kayana had just walked out of the kitchen when Leah waved to her. She had to admit her friend looked incredible. Her flawless brown complexion radiated good health and her once chin-length chemically straightened hair now brushed her shoulders.
“Hey, stranger.”
The cook stared at her. “Leah?”
“In the flesh.”
Seconds later, they were hugging and jumping up and down like a couple of schoolgirls. Kayana eased back, holding her at arm’s length. “What brings you down here off-season?” Leah removed her oversize sunglasses, and Kayana gasped. “What the hell happened to your face?”
The contusions she’d suffered when Alan punched her had been black and blue but were now a yellowish-green, and she knew it would probably take another week before all of the bruises faded completely. The first time she looked into a mirror and seen her face she nearly fainted. And once she observed her naked body in a full-length mirror she’d covered her mouth to muffle a scream. There were bruises and abrasions from her face down to her feet. Caleb was right. She looked as if an MMA fighter had punched, kicked, and pummeled her into submission. Leah had left the bathroom to get her phone and take photos of her nude body from every angle, which would serve as visual documentation to Dr. Brady’s medical report.
“My husband beat me,” she said as she concealed her eyes with the glasses.
“Holy shit! I hope you had the bastard arrested.”
“I left him but didn’t report it to the police. I’ll tell you everything later. I’m here because I had to get away from Richmond to heal and get my head together before I go back and begin divorce proceedings.”
“How long do you plan to stay?”
“I’m going to rent a room at the boardinghouse until I can move into a bungalow for the summer season.”
“You don’t have to do that, Leah. You can stay in the upstairs apartment.”
She knew Kayana had a two-bedroom apartment above the restaurant with one bedroom she’d converted into a reading room. “I don’t want to intrude on you.”
“You can’t intrude because I don’t live here anymore.”
“Where are you staying?”
Kayana held out her left hand. It was Leah’s turn for her jaw to drop when she saw the narrow gold band on her third finger. “You’re married?”
“Yes. Graeme Ogden and I were married last Christmas. We’re living in his house here on the island, so the upstairs apartment is yours for as long as you like.”
Leah recalled the tall, middle-aged man with large gray eyes who’d taught math and economics and had come into the restaurant practically every day. He was always staring at Kayana, but Leah never suspected they were seeing each other.
“Congratulations, Mrs. Ogden.”
Kayana lowered her eyes. “Everyone still calls me Kay Johnson, so it’s going to be a while before I get used to being called Mrs. Ogden. By the way, have you eaten?”
“I stopped in Charlotte and had breakfast.”
“Do you have any luggage?”
“Yes. I’ve loaded up the trunk of my car with clothes I’ll need for the next six months.” It was the end of January, and she planned to stay on Coates Island until the third week in August.
“Give me your keys and I’ll have Derrick bring your bags up. Meanwhile, do you want to eat down here or upstairs?”
“I think I’ll hang out down here. I just need to use the restroom to wash my hands.”
“I’m going to lock the front door before anyone else decides to drop by. As soon as these folks leave I’ll sit and eat with you.” Kayana walked to the entrance door, locked it, and turned over the sign indicating the restaurant was closed.
“You’re going to have to tell me why you decided to change your mind about playing in your own sandbox,” Leah said. Kayana had stated emphatically that she would never get involved with any customer who frequented the Café.
Kayana rolled her eyes upward. “I can’t believe you remember me saying that.”
“I remember a lot of things we said to one another last summer. Have you heard from Cherie?” Leah and Cherie had had a few verbal confrontations until they were able to work through a few misconceptions.
“Yes. We exchanged Christmas cards, and she enclosed a note saying she has been working overtime to accrue enough hours to extend her three-week vacation to five.”
“I hope . . .” Whatever Leah was going to say died on her lips as she stared at Derrick Johnson as he entered the dining room. He wore a white chef’s jacket, black-and-white-striped pants, running shoes, and had covered his head with a painter’s cap.
If Graeme Ogden had stared longingly at Kayana, then Leah was guilty of staring lustfully at Kayana’s older brother whenever they occupied the same space. Tall, dark, with an incredibly toned body, she thought him to be the most beautiful man she’d ever seen. Kayana and Cherie had teased her that as a married woman she shouldn’t be gawking at men.
“You’re salivating, Leah,” Kayana whispered in her ear.
Waves of heat eddied up her chest to her face, and Leah was relieved she was wearing the dark glasses because she didn’t want Derrick to see the fading bruises on her cheek and around her eyes.
“He’s gorgeous,” she mumbled, not moving her lips. There was something about Kayana’s brother that made her feel things she did not want to feel because she knew nothing would come of it. Legally she was still married, and although she knew he was widowed with a teenage daughter. Kayana had admitted Derrick refused to get involved with a woman until his daughter was older, and she didn’t know if he would even be remotely interested in her.
Kayana approached Derrick and looped her arm through his. “Derrick, do you remember my friend from last summer?”
Derrick smiled, and a matched set of dimples creased his lean jaw. “Leah Kent.”
Her pulse quickened. It was obvious he hadn’t forgotten her. “I’m surprised you remembered my name.”
“It was hard to forget my sister’s book club friends. I must admit I was really impressed that y’all were willing to spend your vacation reading and discussing books.”
Leah met Derrick’s large, dark eyes, smiling. “And we plan to start up again this coming summer.”
“We’ve already selected our titles,” Kayana told her brother. “I hope it’s all right with you if Leah lives upstairs until she can move into a vacation rental.”
“I don’t mind, but she will have to earn her keep.”
“I’m willing to pay—”
“Don’t even go there, Leah,” Derrick said, interrupting her. “I was just teasing about you earning your keep. There’s no way I’m going to charge my sister’s friend to live here.”
“Right now, I’m recuperating from an accident, but as soon as I’m one hundred percent I’m willing to help out here in any capacity you want or need.”
Derrick gave her a direct stare. “How are you in the kitchen?”
“Are you asking if I can cook?”
“Yes and no. But more importantly, are you familiar with what goes on in a kitchen?”
“A restaurant kitchen?” she asked.
“Any kitchen.”
Leah was stunned by his questioning. What was there about her that had people questioning whether she could perform tasks women all around the world did every day? When they’d met for their first book club meeting Cherie had made disparaging remarks about the size of the diamonds in her wedding band and earrings, and that’s when she’d had to inform her that marrying a wealthy man wasn’t something she should aspire to.
“I am more than familiar with a kitchen, and I do know how to cook.”
“Stop messing with her, Derrick,” Kayana interjected.
“I can bus tables and double as a dishwasher. I—”
“Enough, Leah,” Derrick said, laughing. “I’ll figure out a way you can make yourself useful if that’s what you want.”
“It is what I want.”
“I guess that settles it,” Kayana stated. “You’ll live upstairs and help out any way you can. Derrick, can you please do me a favor?”
“What is it?”
“Bring Leah’s bags in from her car.”
Derrick disentangled his arm from his sister’s and held out his hand. “Leah, I’m going to need your key.”
Reaching into her crossbody, she gave him the fob. “It’s the Audi with Virginia plates.” She headed for the restroom, while Kayana reminded the remaining diners that the restaurant was closing in ten minutes.
Leah closed and locked the door behind her and then removed her glasses. Each time she saw her reflection in a mirror she felt like crying. She didn’t know why, but she blamed herself for staying in a marriage that she knew would never get better. There was the excuse that she didn’t want to leave Alan because her sons saw him as their role model, once they’d decided they also wanted to become lawyers. Alan had worshipped and spoiled his sons from birth, and it did not take Leah long to realize he was a much better father than a husband.
She’d come to Coates Island rather than go to Kentucky to be with her family to heal her body and her soul because it was the only place where she’d felt free for the first time in her adult life. It was where she could bare her soul to Kayana, because she was a former psychiatric social worker, so she knew she could trust her not to be judgmental. Her sons knew their father had assaulted her, but she refused to divulge more intimate details of their marriage. That information she would reveal to the attorney she would hire to handle her divorce. Leah still had to decide who she wanted to represent her before Judge Alan Kent was served with divorce papers. And while Alan could countersue and charge her with abandonment because she’d moved out of their home, she would level the playing field with medical documentation of his vicious assault.
Leah washed her hands, dried them on a paper towel, put back on the glasses, and left the restroom; she saw Derrick with the straps of a quilted weekender and large tote, with her laptop, looped over each shoulder while he wheeled the Pullman and a carry-on. It would’ve taken her two or three trips to bring the bags up the staircase to the second story while he would accomplish it in one.
“Thank you, Derrick.”
He winked at her. “You’re welcome, Leah. And I’m sorry about teasing you.”
“Not to worry. I’m not that thin-skinned.” Leah wanted to tell him she had to have a thick skin if only to endure the hellish years she’d lived at Kent House.
“That’s good to know. I’ll leave your bags in the bedroom.”
Leah sucked in a breath as pain shot through her body. She had delayed taking a pill because they caused drowsiness, and now her ribs were hurting.
“Are you all right?”
She turned slowly to find Kayana staring at her. “Not really. I need to take my pain medication.”
“Come and sit down. I’ll bring you a glass of water.” She sat down, her eyes filling with tears. Reaching into her crossbody bag, she took out a tissue and blotted them before they fell, and then opened the pill bottle and shook one out. Each time she inhaled she felt as if she was being stabbed with a sharp object. Dr. Brady had prescribed the medication for her to take every four hours as needed, but she usually waited twice that long because she feared becoming dependent on the opioid.
Kayana handed her a glass of water, and she swallowed the pill. It would take a few minutes before it took effect. “Thank you.”
“Don’t move, Leah. I know you like my brother’s lasagna, and there happens to be some left.”
“This is definitely my lucky day.” The first time Leah ate Derrick’s lasagna she’d overindulged; she’d looked forward to Sundays to eat, drink potent concoctions, and discuss books while bonding with her new friends. She did not want to believe she’d had to wait until she was nearly fifty to meet women that not only shared her interests but also treated her as their equal. The throbbing in her side eased, and she knew the medication was working its magic. After eating, she planned to take a nap before unpacking and settling into her temporary home.