An Exceptional Twist (11 page)

“Last door on the
left.”
Ugh.
She
hated that space.

It was one of the original rooms in the
studio and had a strange, musty odor. Stefen held the door for her
again, and she tried to hide her grimace as they all walked down
the long hallway, past a few other classrooms. All eyes naturally
turned in their direction as he past.

Oddly enough, Stefen didn’t even pay
attention.

His eyes are glued on me? What is he trying
to prove?

As soon as they entered the room, two of her
students came barreling into her. “Ms. Leah!” they screamed in
unison.

Getting the wind knocked out of her, she
laughed as soon as she caught her breath. “Hey guys, are you
excited to get started tonight?”

Simon spoke first, pointing at Stefen.
“Yeah, but who’s the dude you brought?”

Snickering, she understood. Her young
student had Down Syndrome and was partial to being overprotective.
Not to mention the fact that he had a crush on her and made it
known to any male who stepped into the studio that Leah was off
limits.

“Do you remember Madison’s daddy, Caleb?”
she asked him gently.

“Yeah.” Simon appeared to be skeptical.
Crossing his arms over his chest, he peered at Stefen through his
thick bifocals.

“Well, this is his cousin.” She motioned her
hand toward Stefen.

“And my uncle,” Madison chimed in as she
trotted away with Amber, another student.

Extending his hand, Stefen greeted Simon
with a warm smile. “Nice to meet you.”

Narrowing one eye, Simon looked at Stefen’s
outstretched hand, then at his face like he was trying to see if he
was for real. After a brief stare down, Simon accepted his
handshake. “Ms. Leah is my girlfriend, and when I’m all grown up,
she will be my wife.”

“Good for you, man. She’s
a real beauty.” Stefen glanced up at her, causing her breath to
catch.
He’s only saying it because of
Simon, but man I love hearing Stefen call me beautiful.

“Yeah, she is,” Simon agreed. “And she likes
when I dance for her.” Simon began to strut his stuff in front of
Stefen, shaking his hips and busting into his best running man.

Stefen looked at him sincerely. “Dude, you
have some serious moves. You’re gonna have to show me how to do
those so I can find a girlfriend, too.”

“Maybe later. I have class now.”

A few other students had arrived, and after
checking the time, Leah was disappointed that only five were able
to come.

Gathering the kids, she announced, “Okay
guys, let’s begin.” With Madison directly behind her, everyone took
their place, including Stefen.

Facing the mirror, she couldn’t believe he
was going to participate in the class and not just sit on the
sidelines like the parents and caretakers. If that didn’t make her
want to burst into tears, than scanning down to his now bare feet
and pink toes surely would. There was a side to him that he kept
hidden from the world and it was such a shame. She liked that he
was opening himself up to her, though.

The class did warm-up exercises with some of
the equipment they’d brought, then performed the moves the kids had
learned in the last session. The best part was watching the kids
try to teach Stefen the moves. Gone was the stoic business man. He
was different with these kids, acting silly and genuinely enjoying
himself.

Toward the end, Simon came up to her and
tugged on her sleeve. “Ms. Leah.”

“Yes, honey?” She toweled off the sweat from
her neck.

“I think Stefen is cool. You can hang out
with him. I’m okay with it. And can he come next time, too?” He
nodded to himself like he’d been thinking really hard about it.

There was the reality. Stefen wouldn’t be
coming to anymore classes. He was leaving.

With a heavy heart, she gulped hard and
looked at Stefen across the room, talking to a couple of her
giggling female students. She bent down until she was at eye level
with Simon. “No,
hon, I’m sorry. He lives far away. He’s just visiting.”

“Oh.” His shoulders slouched.

She hated disappointing her kids.

Then he burst out, “Maybe he’ll visit us
again.” A bright smile broke on Simon’s face.

She loved how quickly her kids could bounce
back. If only it was that easy for her.

Madison knocked out the second they were in
the car. Stefen was still on a high from the dance class and
wondered if he should share the reason he’d enjoyed himself so
much.

“You know,” he started, “there was a boy in
my high school that had Down Syndrome. His name was Toby.” His
chest constricted a little just mentioning his old friend. “We were
kids, and none of us really paid much attention to him. But one day
during senior year, my swim team and I found him doing laps in the
pool before practice and, you know what?” He paused a moment to
look at her.

Wide eyes stared back, waiting for him to
continue.

“He was fast. Not quite as quick as the rest
of us, but faster than the average person. Toby’s passion for
swimming was contagious and we loved being around him.”

He swallowed down the lump of emotion and
pushed past his discomfort to tell her, “After talking to our
coach, we decided to make him an honorary member of the team.
Wherever we went, they knew that Toby would be opening the meet. He
swam a handful of laps before any of us got in the water and would
joke around, saying that he would pee so it was nice and warm for
us.” This made him smile. It wasn’t a memory he shared with just
anyone, but it felt really good to show Leah a deeper side of his
life.

“Stefen, that’s so inspiring.” Her eyes
began to gloss over. “What happened to him?”

Who knew we had something like this in
common?

A wave of grief passed over him, and he
rubbed at his eyes. “He got really sick before one of our biggest
meets and ended up in the hospital.” Breathing deep, he swallowed
hard. “We were all pulling for him and visited him whenever we
could. We even had a parade in his honor. His mom set him up in a
chair by the window, so he could see us march by with signs.”

This part was even more difficult to share.
Taking a big breath, he let it out slowly in an attempt to keep it
together. He spoke softly as his voice tapered off. “He died
shortly after.”

He looked out the driver’s side window,
blinking hard. He felt too vulnerable. “There were so many people
at his funeral. A handful of members from every team we’d ever
competed against were there, on top of our whole school, team, and
everyone in our community that he had some kind of effect on. The
speeches went on for hours. He touched so many lives in the short
amount of time he was here.” His voice went soft as he really
thought about it. “I can’t imagine I’ll have anywhere near half as
many people at my funeral.”

Taking a chance, he glanced over to
Leah.

Her lips quivered as she stared back at him,
sniffling. “I’m so sorry.” She placed a tender hand on his forearm.
“I understand. I’ve already lost one of my kids. There isn’t a more
genuine or beautiful love than the one these kids bring into the
world.”

Trying not to let her reaction get to him,
he continued, “Toby taught me a lot about life. Honestly, being
around him was uncomfortable at first, but not because of his
special needs. Seeing him give his heart away without reservation,
and others doing the same in return, was just mind-boggling. My
parents are not really the nurturing type, so selfless love wasn’t
something I’d ever seen or experienced before.”

Shit. Why did I just share that? It’s too
personal.

Pausing again, he wondered if he should
share the rest. Finally, he added, “I was so intrigued by him, and
I know I was blessed to have him in my life before he died. When I
graduated from college, I got involved in the Special Olympics, in
Toby’s honor. He was supposed to compete the summer after he
passed. I don’t have a whole lot of time on my hands, but I’ve
enjoyed helping out as a swim coach a couple of years. Working with
these kids is so rewarding. Having to deal with the rest of society
is the difficult part.” Gulping, he stared intensely out the
windshield.

Pulling into a parking spot behind her
flower shop, he finally took another glance at Leah. That look in
her eyes held so much. Admiration, surprise, and many other
emotions he didn’t want to acknowledge.

Shit, now I’ve done it. I let her in. I
never let people in.

What the hell am I going to do now?

Leah was at a loss. She’d spent last
Wednesday with “Uncle Stefen”, and now her emotions were going
haywire. He bombarded her thoughts and fantasies nonstop.

She felt something so
strong from him, and she wanted more.
But
why him?

Filled with regret that she’d let her guard
down, Leah had to face the facts—Stefen was leaving next week. And
it was totally going to destroy her heart.

Her phone rang as she was pouring her first
cup of coffee. Checking the caller ID, her double-crossing heart
started to dance in her chest.

“Hello?”

“Hey, beautiful. How’d you sleep?” Stefen’s
rough voice sent her pulse racing.

I can only imagine what he looks like right
now, curled up in bed, wearing god only knows what. I’d like to
wake up to that every morning.

I need to stop.

Brushing away that thought, she decided to
taunt him. “I'm sorry, who is this?”

“Hmm? It's Stefen. Don't you still have my
number programmed into your phone?” He stopped for a moment before
adding, “Were you expecting someone else?” She could practically
hear his teeth gritting through the line.

He had no claim on her. Though, she didn't
exactly hate hearing his jealous tone. As painful as it was, she
reminded herself that she also had no claim on him.

Now she was bugged. “No, no one else. I was
just joking,” she grumbled while playing with a loose string on her
tank top.

Sighing, Stefen said, “I was just wondering
what time I should pick you up.” He sounded as though he was
stretching out, and Leah’s mind wandered to visions of him in bed
once more. Distracted in that thought a little too long, Stefen
asked, “Leah? You still there?”

Slapping her forehead to
clear the images, she attempted to remember what he’d asked. “Why
don’t I pick you up this time
?” Who cares
if he hates my minivan? It’s just a stupid car.

Without hesitating, he blurted out, “No,
that’s okay. I can come get you. Bri and your sister are going to
meet us around three. It makes more sense if I have a car
there.”

Good save.
Leah already knew their sisters were coming home
from The San Francisco Bay area today, but she didn’t know what
time since Dani hadn’t called.

“I have to run some errands beforehand, so
how about we just meet at the tour company’s office. Nine-thirty?
I’ll text the address.” She could play this game. If that’s what he
was doing.

“Fine. I’ll see you at nine-thirty.” He
huffed, obviously irritated that he wasn’t getting his way.

She was noticing Stefen
could go from zero to asshole in a very short amount of time. He
could have such a shitty attitude.
Why am
I so attracted to him again?
Visions of
him in those board shorts filled her mind, and she slapped her
forehead again.

Oh, yeah. That’s why.