First Kiss Last by Sara Miller (read e book .TXT) 📗

She turned toward Sky, ready to mention something vague about her nieces and school but Sky was staring at her so oddly. Leah didn’t speak.

“Where were you last week?” Liam asked, interrupting her exchange with Sky.

Leah turned her attention back to the swings and was going to answer but Allison piped up.

“We all got sick. I puked!”

“Me too,” Emmie confessed less proudly.

“Aunt Leah puked the most though.”

Thank you, Allison. Leah wanted to groan. Grownups weren’t as proud of puking.

“She got real sick and mom took her to the hospital and everything!”

Leah glanced over at Sky. She could tell Sky was thinking, thinking hard. But she had no idea what was running through the teen’s head.

“But she’s all better and the baby is fine. Right, Aunt Leah?”

Emmie had needed reassurances when she’d gotten home from the hospital and apparently still did. Liam also looked up expectantly.

“Yes, Emmie. We’re both fine.” Leah saw Sky stiffen. Was her pregnancy the reason Sky had looked at her so strangely? She would have noticed before now, wouldn’t she?

Leah thought back to sitting at the park bench, when she saw Liam and Sky in real life for the first time. Sky’s attention had been focused on Liam. And then at the picnic table, she’d been sitting again. Could the table have obscured her view? Leah considered maybe Sky had missed it. But there was no missing her baby bump today. They were now standing side-by-side at the swings and Leah’s clothes were fitting more tightly every day.

“You’re pregnant,” Sky said. Leah heard it more as a statement than a question, but nodded anyway.

Allison called out to her just then and she barely caught what Sky mumbled next. It sounded like “Oh, that’s rich.” Leah wondered at her choice of words. Why would Sky care if Leah was having a baby or not? Deciding the phrase might be teen slang she was not familiar with, she let it go and answered Allison instead.

A few minutes later, Leah’s back and ankles were screaming at her.

“Okay, I need to sit,” Leah confessed. She set the snack bag down in the sand and took the swing next to Liam. Everyone laughed. Even Sky seemed genuinely amused, until she saw her friends approaching.

“Liam, I’m gonna go over there, okay?” Sky pointed.

Liam didn’t seem to care. Instead of responding, he continued to swing his legs as evenly as he could.

Sky eyed Leah warily but left Liam behind on the swings anyway.

After several minutes, the girls were ready to move on. They begged Liam to come slide with them but he kept swinging and they ran off. Leah stayed where she was after promising to catch up with them soon.

As soon as the girls were out of earshot, Liam drug his boots across the sand to stop his swing.

“I waited and waited for you.”

“Last week?” she asked. Hoping that’s what he meant.

“I didn’t know you were sick. I hate being sick.”

“Me too,” she agreed easily.

His little face still looked sad.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

“I wish you could visit again.”

There it was. Leah looked around for a way out of this conversation but there was none. Allison was sliding down as Emmie was climbing up. Sky, far away, had her back to them.

“Everybody was happier then,” he confessed.

Leah was not expecting him to say that. “You mean they were happier in the dreams?” She shouldn’t have asked but she wanted to know so badly.

Liam considered. He kicked at the dirt.

“Yes and in real time too. Now Sky is mad and Dad is grumpy. He’s working a lot of extra hours. That’s why we’re here. He’s got a big job down the road. He said Sky has to watch me. So we come here so she can see her stupid friends.” He stood up and stomped on the kicked up dirt, leaving small boot prints.

“I just liked it better before,” he looked at her expectantly.

“I’m sorry, bud.”

“Can you come back?”

“I don’t think it works that way,” Leah shook her head sadly. She did not want to tell him she tried and failed almost every night. She couldn’t tell Liam his dad did not want her back.

“I wish I knew how it did work,” his little face was so serious. “Then maybe I could fix it.”

Leah nodded, unsure what to say. Liam didn’t say more. Several moments of silence passed between them, before Liam looked up.

“I think I’ll go slide now,” he shrugged, then slowly walked away to join her nieces.

Where was the animated chatterbox she remembered? Leah missed his energy and enthusiasm. Had she broken him too? She was overwhelmed by the change in him.

Instead of dwelling on it, Leah decided she should either join the kids by the slide or move to her favorite bench. She tried to get up, but nothing happened. Uh-oh, maybe sitting in the swing was a bad idea. She decided she would make a few more attempts, before she fully panicked. Her second try was no different.

“Need help?”

Leah looked up in surprise. Sky had returned. She was the last person Leah would have expected help from, but was grateful for it. Within seconds, Leah was back on her feet.

“Thank you so much, Sky. I really appreciate your assistance. I also want to tell you I think you are a good big sister, the way you look out for Liam.”

“I try,” Sky shrugged off the praise.

Leah studied Sky’s face, wanting to reassure her. Instead, she smiled and spoke the first thing that popped into her head, “Hey, cool. I like your nose piercing. I didn’t notice it before.”

“Thanks,” Sky looked up and smiled genuinely. “I got it last month for my birthday. Most adults hate it. Dad still does. Liam likes it though. And I love it. So yeah,” she shrugged.

“It’s just a little hint of sparkle. Very pretty. And happy belated birthday!” Leah added.

“What was Liam saying to you?”

The abrupt subject change caught Leah off guard. She thought for a second before she spoke, “Honestly?”

The teen nodded so Leah told