“Abby.” Leah is trying to stop me, but I can’t wrap my mind around this, and the guilt of having left my family for the summer for my own selfish reasons returns.
“We
’ll make sure the treatment team is on track and follow everything the doctor says to do. I mean, God, are you supposed to even have coffee?” I stand up, grabbing her cup to take it back inside, but Leah grabs my hand to stop me, putting her cup back on the patio table.
“Abby, stop it.”
“I should be making you tea or something. Didn’t Mom drink that god-awful raspberry tea or something? Coffee is probably bad for us. We’ll go vegan for Christ’s sake.”
“Abby, enough.” She squeezes my hand and I’m forced to let her go and sit back down.
“I am so sorry I left.” The tears fill my eyes, and for one brief moment, we’re sisters the way sisters are meant to be. Crying and laughing at the same time, which makes no sense.
“I’m glad you did.” Leah shakes me a little and I turn my head, unable to follow her thoughts. “You needed to go and find out who you are and not who you should be under Dad’s thumb. And I needed you to leave so I could figure myself out.”
As I’m about to respond to her, the door inside opens and we both watch Lucas storm into the condo toward the deck. “Abby, you left a client waiting and your dad has been calling for the last hour.”
“Oh, um, sorry about that. I didn’t know I had anyone scheduled.” I realize my phone is inside on Leah’s counter still, probably blinking and buzzing. The perks of a do not disturb mode.
“Right, and had you not ran out, you would know that. Don’t worry. I covered for you and took the client. I’ll just make some lunch. Leah, babe, I’ll make you something?” Lucas leans down and kisses Leah on her cheek, pushing the scarf on her head behind her ear gently.
I can’t help but stare and again take in all the shocking changes I haven’t come to grips with while I was gone. Lucas goes back inside and Leah turns back to face me.
“I’m only kind of sorry about that.” Leah winces and shrugs, nodding back to Lucas who is preparing a late lunch for her in the kitchen.
“Don’t worry. I forgave you weeks ago for taking him off my hands.” I shrug too and we laugh out loud, causing Lucas to look up and study us suspiciously. I stay and have lunch with them, making a promise to return tomorrow since Lucas will be out at a client lunch with my dad. The rest of my day is spent roaming a few shops I used to frequent. I find a friendly sales clerk who understands American Express and I pick up a half dozen beautiful silk scarves for Leah that will be soft and pretty. Exhausted, I get back to my apartment, order some Thai food, and pick up my phone to call Roman.
ROMAN
My day is complete shit by the time I get back from the marina with a completed list of things that needed to be fixed and handled by my project manager and the builders. The supply house had screwed up the order and the engineers had deflected to the builders who went off the wrong blueprint. I swore somebody’s head was about to roll until I realized the original mistake was mine and I’ll have about a dozen apologies to make in the morning for acting like a raging asshole at the marina. I’m distracted with worry for Abby, so none of this made me feel any better.
When my phone rang, I was in the middle of a meeting with a Japanese investor who is looking to build several luxury boats. It’s a huge contract with an enormous payout, which will let me buy back the remaining loan from my investor. Flipping the ringer on silent and keeping it in my pocket, I felt like shit. I promised to call Abby back as soon as I could.
Sadly, I’m not able to call her until it’s already after 10 p.m. I’m afraid she’s asleep or busy or mad that I haven’t called to begin with. I say fuck it to myself and dial her number. It rings about three times, making me sweat before she picks up the phone.
“Roman?” a groggy voice calls my name into the receiver and it’s a balm to my storm-battered soul.
“Abigail.” My heartbeat speeds up and, obviously, it knows what it wants more than I ever did. “I miss you.”
“Miss you too, sailor. What kept you so late?”
“Work. I was at the marina fixing a problem I made all by myself, and then I had to deal with some Japanese investors looking for a small fleet of boats.”
“Ugh, sounds busy and not fun.”
“It wasn’t. Hey, did I wake you?” Hearing her voice has the stress rolling off me. She’s got more important things going on than my deal building boats. Her office schedule probably has her keeping long hours, and I worry she’s not taking care of herself, which is one of the reasons I sent Vinnie to drive her where she needs to go. The last thing she needs is to have an accident because her mind is elsewhere.
“No, I was just laying here thinking about my delinquent boyfriend,” she drawls, and I bet her sassy mouth needs something to occupy her.
“Ah, and how was your day? Did you see Leah?”
“Yes. It was… oh god, Roman. It was hard. I’m only now just kind of processing everything we talked about and how she looked. It was like seeing my mom all over again.”
“Oh, baby, I’m so sorry.” There’s not much I can say, is there? “How is the diagnosis and treatment going?”
“Um, it’s stage III breast cancer. I don’t know. I’ve missed so much this summer.” And there it is…the overwhelming chasm of guilt she’s drowning herself in. “I’m just really, really worried.”
“Abby…”