An Exceptional Twist (28 page)

In spite of his physical pain, Stefen was
extremely grateful to be in a bed at Caleb and Abby's house. It’d
been a rough day of traveling and getting settled in, but he’d do
it all over again to get away from his parents. Not that he’d
actually spent any time with them.

Abby strolled into the bedroom. “Time for
your medication.” She wiggled a bottle of pills in her hand. “How
are you feeling?”

“I think I over did it the last couple of
days. Everything is sore.” Wincing, he tried to push himself up
with his uninjured arm.

“Well, hopefully this will help.” She handed
him a glass of water and his prescribed meds, then in an instant
she was covering her mouth. Quickly turning on her heels, she flew
out of the room.

She'd been getting sick to her stomach since
he got here earlier, and he felt bad adding the extra burden of
taking care of him. Despite the fact that he couldn't believe they
were having a child so soon, Stefen was happy for them.

Abby reappeared looking a little green and
apologized.

“Why are you sorry?” He frowned. “I feel
awful that you’re stuck with me while you’re feeling bad yourself.”
He focused on the blanket that lay on top of him and pulled on a
loose string.

She placed her hand on top of his. “Stefen,
we’re happy you’re here and safe. Don't feel bad. This stage will
pass. I’ll be fine before we know it.” Just then, her cell phone
rang. She looked down to read the display. “Sorry, I need to take
this. I haven't talked to Leah since she left town.”

“No problem.” His frown deepened once she
turned away.

Leah had been on his mind non-stop, but he
didn’t dare ask about her or where she’d gone. A lecture from Caleb
was still around the corner. He was postponing it as long as
possible.

“Hey, how are you doing?” Abby seemed
relieved. “You’re kidding me. You better not stay out there.” She
disappeared into the hall. Stefen hoped she wouldn't go far,
though. He wanted to hear what was going on.

“Oh, Leah, that’s awesome,” he heard from
the hallway. “Isn't he the one you were in love with in high
school?”

In love?
Stefen practically fell out of bed as he
stretched to hear Abby's whispered voice.

“Where are you guys going?
Oh, you love that place. That's the one in Pasadena, right? That
sounds like so much fun. You have to call me tomorrow night and
tell me
every
detail.”

Stefen’s heart hammered.
This was bad. Shitty, awful news. Leah was going out with an old
crush? He had no right to care, but he couldn’t help it. In his
eyes, nobody would ever be good enough for her.
Especially not me,
he reminded
himself.

“I'm serious, Leah. I know Alhambra was your
home, but you can't stay there. Doesn’t matter if you are
reconnecting with an old flame. You have to come back to me, here.
This is your home now. I don't care if it sounds selfish. I need my
best friend.”

He narrowed his eyes, feeling every bit the
eavesdropping old lady that he was acting like.

So that's where she went. Back home. Back to
where her family and high school love were.

Great. Just fucking great.

“Okay. Sweetie, don’t forget. Call me
tomorrow and let me know how your date went. I miss you. Bye.” The
deep sorrow in Abby's voice was obvious and, admittedly when he
heard the word ‘date’, he too was a bit dejected.

The door opened, and pain shot through him
as he scrambled back onto the bed.

“Sorry about that,” Abby said.

“Don't worry about it. Everything okay?” He
tried his damnedest to fake disinterest.

Furrowing her brow, Abby seemed unsure about
what she should share. “Yeah. I’m just worried about her. She
needed some time away, so she went to her mom's house. Says she’ll
be back at the end of the week, but…I don’t know. I noticed that
she started withdrawing when we came back from our honeymoon, and I
feel like she’s staying away. A lot.”

The poignant look she gave Stefen made him
feel like crap. He should’ve fought his feelings from the
beginning. He never should’ve let it go as far as it did. Because
of his careless actions, he’d hurt others as well.

“Anyway,” Abby swallowed, “now she might
have more than one reason to stay out there for good.”

For good?
Surely, she couldn’t leave her store behind. She
had a business here. A life here.

Breathing in a sharp breath, he tried to
hide his own panic. There was a big part of him that wanted to make
things up to her. “But she has her shop. Who’s running it?”

Looking down at her hands, she whispered,
“That's part of what scares me.” Abby looked up. “She just hired a
new employee and has practically made it so she doesn't even need
to go in anymore.”

He was getting more flustered by the second.
“And the kids she teaches?”

Shit
, did he say too much?

“Knowing her, she’d probably drive once a
week for the classes.” She smiled. “By the way, that was an amazing
thing you did. She adores those kids, and they love spending time
with her.”

Oh good, she accepted the
offer that nasty cougar gave her
. He’d
wondered about it since he agreed to pay, whether Leah took the
proposal or not.

“It was an honor to help out. It’s only
money.” He shrugged.

Abby chewed on her lip, her face pensive.
Stefen was starting to feel like the biggest piece of shit. This
was all his fault.

He tried to show her he identified. “I know
what it’s like to not live close to your best friend. It hasn’t
been easy for me to be so far from Caleb all these years.” He
couldn’t believe he was about to say this. “I’m actually
considering moving here permanently to be close to you guys.”

Abby’s eyes got watery. “Really?” she asked,
excited. “That would be so great. I know Caleb misses you and Bri
terribly. We would love it.” A few tears leaked down her cheeks.
Not the reaction he thought he’d get.

“I'm sorry, Abby. I didn't mean to make you
cry.”

“Don't worry about it.” She chuckled,
sniffling. “It's these damn hormones. If I'm not throwing up, I'm
bawling.”

Gross.
But he smiled. “You know, Caleb is really lucky to have
you.”

“No.” Abby’s face was tender as she sat down
at the edge of the bed. “I'm the lucky one. I never thought I'd
find a man as wonderful as him. He amazes me every day.”

The intimate but loving way she spoke about
Caleb gave Stefen a longing he’d never felt before. Maybe, someday,
he could possibly see himself having that…someday.

“Now if I could just find
another exceptional guy here in Santa Barbara for Leah before her
heart is stolen by the football quarterback, then my life would be
complete.” She grinned and batted her eyes in a silly way. “And
don’t worry. I’m
not
referring to you. She told me about what went down, and there
will be no repeating that.”

Stefen winced. “What exactly did she tell
you?” He was curious about Leah’s exact words, certain that she’d
painted a not so pretty picture.

Abby placed her palm on the covers. “You
were there. You know what happened. I will say this. You’ve got
charm, and I can’t bring myself to hate you, but…” She pointed her
finger at him. “If you even think about messing with her again,
you’ll deal with me and my crazy prego hormones. Understand?”

He tried not to laugh at her serious stance.
She was so sweet. There was no way Stefen could be afraid of her.
What did frighten him was disappointing her again. Abby was one of
those people that just brought the best out in a person, and he
couldn’t fathom hurting her again.

“Got it.” He nodded once.

“I’m letting you off easy because I know
Caleb’s still planning on talking to you.” She brought her chin to
her shoulder and smirked.

Well, that happy little
thought doesn’t make me smile.
“Yeah, I
figured.”

She stood up. “Enough of all of this
seriousness. I'm about to make dinner. I'll bring it in when I'm
done, unless you feel up to joining us at the table. Caleb should
be back from the store with Madison soon. In the meantime, relax.”
She lovingly patted his blanket-covered leg.

How is it that Abby can show me tender
motherly love like this and my own mother has never even hugged
me?

“I'll probably just read for a while. I
haven't finished Caleb's last book yet. Do you mind handing me my
tablet?” He pointed to the chair where it was sitting.

“It’s so good,” Abby gushed. “I think it's
my favorite so far. He finished writing it after we started
dating.” She handed the e-reader over.

Reaching, he took it from her hand. “I
noticed this one has a little more romance than his others. I'm
sure you inspired that.”

“Well let’s hope so, at least. Okay, see you
in a bit.” She beamed, spinning around to start dinner.

Stefen tapped on his social media app. He’d
been cyber-stalking Leah somewhat since her profile was open to the
public. If they ever spoke again, he’d have to tell her how
important it was to change the privacy settings on her page.

She wasn’t big on updating her status, but
other people in her life were and seemed to enjoy tagging her in
their posts. ‘Dani’ had tagged her in a post that said they were
out to dinner at a restaurant in Alhambra.

Dani looked like a woman, though, so he
opened up her page, feeling suddenly stupid when he realized it was
Leah’s sister. Why he still couldn’t seem to remember her name was
beyond him.

Going back to Leah’s page, he noticed a new
comment under the ‘check-in’. It was from a ‘Ben McKendrick’. The
message read, ‘Great running into you tonight’.

Stefen grunted.
Do I really want to know who this guy
is?

Too curious, he clicked on Ben's page next.
Again, it was public.

What is it with these people not marking
their profiles as private?

Stefen couldn't complain. Stalking her was
so much easier this way. He noted that Ben had also checked into
the same restaurant. Then Stefen scanned through the photo
albums.

There were plenty of self-portraits taken in
front of a mirror—or ‘selfies’, as they were currently being
called—a few pictures of him from high school in a football
uniform, and more recently added pictures of him in scrubs.

Damn
.
The guy’s a doctor?

Stefen sighed, setting down his electronic
tablet. He really wanted to throw it across the room, but then what
the hell would he do with his time?

Sinking down, he muttered
under his breath.
Leah’s going on a date
with Dr. McDreamy tomorrow, and there isn’t a damn thing I can do
about it.

He cursed his injuries and the fact that he
was stuck in this god-forsaken bed. Most of all, though, he scolded
himself for hurting her in the first place. He had a chance, and he
blew it.

Not that it would’ve worked out, but he just
couldn't shake her from his system. Stefen had never met anyone
like Leah before, and no matter how hard he tried to resist, she
was forever embedded in his heart.

There was that damn ache in his chest. Lying
here, helpless, was driving him crazy. Agitated, he shifted under
the covers, but nothing worked to make him more comfortable. Under
the current circumstances, he may never even see her again. Unless
he logged in.

Ben had picked Leah up just after her mom
and Dani left for work, and she was bummed she didn’t get a chance
to show him off. She was a bit surprised when he showed up in a
button-down shirt, jeans and tennis shoes, but she figured not all
guys were into the whole slacks and a jacket look.

She’d dreamt about this night so many times
and went all out. Her hair and nails were done, and she even bought
a new outfit, chonies and all. Maybe it was just a girl thing.

Her mind couldn’t help but
roam back to the night of dinner and dancing with Stefen.
Now
that
was a
man who knew how to wear a suit. Realizing what she was doing, she
had to mentally slap herself away from his image.

Finished with dinner, she and Ben walked
hand in hand down the busy sidewalk. Dinner was a bit awkward, with
plenty of silence in-between topics. Regardless of how slow and dry
their conversation was, Leah still couldn't believe she was on a
date with Benjamin McKendrick.

Since they’d grown up in the same schools,
they shared plenty of childhood memories. It was almost as if
they’d known each other forever, yet just barely met.