Restart (The Revival Series) (7 page)

Leah shook her head trying to clear any bad thoughts and took small bites from a chicken ball, dipping it in the sauce between mouthfuls, although not really tasting what she was eating as she was too much in shock over Ryan’s words.

*****

The rest of the week went passed in a blur of washing and packing, and secret meet ups with Greg in between. Leah had spent the whole week with a grin plastered on her face, and she even had to admit that even though she felt guilty about it all.

It had also improved her mood so much that life was easier to cope with at home, and the relationship she had with Ryan was improving, or, at least, it seemed to be. Either that or she wasn’t taking things to heart as much as normal, but either way, she felt happy.

Friday morning came around, and Leah took the kids and Cara's son Oscar to school, before coming home and getting all the cases and things she needed into the car, before driving to the petrol station and filling up in preparation for the long drive she had ahead of her that evening. She could have chosen to go the following morning, but she figured if she went tonight, it gave them a full day tomorrow, and the kids could sleep in the car tonight anyway.

After getting herself organised for the trip, she drove to Greg's brothers house and parked directly outside. She gave her reflection a quick check in the mirror before jumping out and going up to the door. She felt very unsure pressing the bell. Every time this week, Greg had been standing waiting for her at the door, and he knew she was coming to see him, as she had messaged, but today he was not standing there with his cute smile. Shaking her head, she told herself to stop being silly and to just ring the bell. He probably hadn’t noticed the time that was all.

After a minute, the door swung open, but it wasn’t Greg’s face looking at her, but his older brother Henry. Leah found herself stuck for words, it had been years since she had seen Henry and didn't know what to say to explain to him as to why she was there.

"Come in." Henry said bluntly, and turned and walked inside, leaving the door ajar for her. Not wanting to stand on the step like an idiot, Leah, gingerly walked into the hallway and kicked her shoes off by the door.

"Erm, Henry - Sorry is Greg here?" She asked just as Greg jogged down the stairs, a look of anger on his face. When he reached the bottom, he learned in and gave her a peck on the cheek. "Come on, let's go for a walk," he muttered, and turned and slipped on his trainers.

Leah followed suit and gave a quick glance at Henry, who stood at the entrance to the kitchen staring at the pair of them, a look of disdain on his face. Leah was taken aback by how similar Greg and Henry were, they had the same eyes and hair both in shape and colour, despite a slight difference in their mouths and Henry having a few grey hairs, you wouldn’t know they weren’t twins.

Following Greg out of the house, he walked ahead, and they walked in silence and over the road to the small pathway that leads down to the country park, eventually after walking for ten minutes, Greg stopped and flopped onto a bench, and put his head into his hands.

"Greg, what’s going on?" Leah asked, confused at the situation and why Henry had seemed so hostile towards her.

"I had to tell Henry, Leah - About us,"

"Oh." Leah sat down next to Greg on the bench and dropped her bag by her feet on the damp grass.

"He came home early from work today, said he wasn’t feeling great so decided to work from home, I had no choice as you were already on your way and I know you don’t look at your phone when you are driving, so I had no way to stop you coming over."

"I'm guessing from his reaction then, he doesn’t approve." Leah sighed, and the reality of everything was hitting her. There was no way they would be able to keep this a secret, it wasn’t as easy as that and the situation hit her hard, a knot forming in her chest and she didn’t know whether to scream in anger or burst into tears.

"No, no he doesn’t. He thinks I'm setting myself up for a fall, and that this cannot end well, and that someone will end up hurt, and he’s worried that someone will be me."

"You know I would never hurt you, Greg, not intentionally"

"I know you wouldn't Leah, and as I've told you, I am willing to wait for as long as it takes, as I know your situation is difficult, but he can't understand that. He doesn’t understand that love is worth waiting for, no matter how hard things are."

    Leah felt as if she had been hit by a great force, things seemed to be going from naught to sixty in hardly any time at all, and hearing the 'L' world, made her stomach turn. Not that it hadn’t crossed her mind, and she knew she had strong feelings for Greg, but love was something she took very seriously and a word she didn’t use lightly.

    "I know this is going fast Leah, but I need you to know how I feel, I am in love with you, in fact even after all these years, I don't think I ever fell out of love with you."

    "I - I don't know what to say, I'm sorry Greg but this is such as shock, and so fast, I just wasn’t expecting it -"

    "It’s ok Leah, I don’t expect you to say it back, the fact that you are here and have been spending time with me this week, says a lot. I'm not expecting the world from you, but I need you to know how I feel and I need you to know before you go away. I am going to miss you every minute you are gone."

    Leah didn’t say anything in response, just leaned into Greg, who put his arm around her shoulders, his eyes darting around the green surroundings to make sure they weren’t spotted, and they just sat in silence for what felt like hours, just taking in the enormity of the conversation.

Leah, however, couldn’t get the thought out of her head, that this was no longer their little secret, and that someone else was in on it, and could she trust that someone not to break it and shatter her life into a million pieces.

Chapter 8

    The drive to Carrie's was a long way, and Leah made sure she had an energy drink with her in case she started tiring, but with so much going on in her mind, it was too preoccupied and Leah wondered if she would even sleep tonight. Halfway there, she pulled into a service station and got the kids some dinner at the restaurant, and picked at a burger and chips herself, although Ben finished it off after she gave in that she didn’t have a big appetite.

    Finally pulling into Carrie's gravel courtyard, just before midnight, Leah suddenly felt guilty for putting herself on her friend at such a late time, it now occurred to her that being on a working farm, that Daniel and Carrie would be early risers, and staying up so late to see Leah and the kids arrive, would mean they would be getting less sleep.

    Turning off the engine and the lights, Leah stepped out of the car, and caught a glance of her best friend by the door to the barn, a huge grin on Carrie’s face as she ran over and enveloped Leah in a warm hug.

    "It’s so good to see you!!" Carrie screeched, practically jumping up and down. "How was the journey?"

    "Hit a small bit of traffic, and got caught behind a tractor or two, but generally, it wasn’t bad. Caz I'm so sorry for arriving so late, It’s only just occurred to me, that being on a farm you are probably in bed by now normally-"

"Oh ssh Lee! Don't be silly!" Carrie cut Leah off, "I think it’s great you came tonight, it means I get to spend more time with you, and we get a full day tomorrow, let’s grab your bags and get you settled."

    It didn’t take long to get the bags and cases from the car, and to unload everything into the barn. The kids, who had been too stubborn to sleep on the journey, instead opting to play on their tablets, practically fell asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow!

    Carrie made hot chocolate in the kitchen, before being joined by Leah, once she had settled the kids. Leah took in her best friends appearance, and once again, as she was every time she visited, she was shocked at how much her friend had changed. Gone were the suits, smart dresses and heels, and they were replaced with jeans, jumpers and boots! But despite it being different, it suited Carrie now, and Leah could tell how much the lifestyle now fitted Carrie.

    For a while Carrie had made trips back and forth to London, keeping up with her roots and keeping in touch with her job and career as much as she could, but slowly her career had taken a back seat, especially after her son, Tyler was born. She still worked freelance for her old boss Angela, but the majority of it was now done by email and it had been over a year since Carrie had travelled back to London for business.

    "Please don't let me keep you up Caz," Leah said, taking a seat at the wooden table that adorned the middle of the quaint little country style kitchen.

    "Oh don't be silly Leah, I've always been a night owl, you know that. Just cos I live in the country now doesn't change that. Daniel sleeps early but I use this time to get my work done or catch up on TV or reading." Carrie passed Leah a cup of hot chocolate and joined her at the table. "Daniel gets up early, I sleep in till 7 and then get Tyler up for school. I might be married to a farmer, but trust me farm work isn't for me, I'm still a city girl at heart. Daniel has plenty of staff to do the dirty jobs, he doesn't need my help."

"It's so good to see you Caz." Said Leah, as the emotion of everything, hit her like a ton of bricks. Carrie was the only person in the whole world, that she felt she could really talk to, but yet although she wanted to tell Carrie everything about Ryan and Greg, she held back, worried that her best friend would be disappointed in her, and so she kept it all to herself, and instead a single tear fell down her cheek.

“Oh Lee, what’s going on?” Carrie questioned, sliding her chair closer to Leah and putting a protective arm around her shoulders.

“Nothing Caz, honestly,” Leah mumbled, sniffing back her tears. “I’ve just been fighting a bit with Ryan, and I really need this time away, not only that but I’ve missed you so much, and it really does feel wonderful being here.”

Carrie smiled at her friend and pushed a stray, strand of brown hair behind Leah’s ear.

“You know if you ever need to talk Leah, I’m always here. Always available on the phone whenever you need to talk, and if you needed me to, you know I would jump in the car and come to you as soon as I could. You’re my best friend Leah, always have been and always will be.”

Leah knew everything she was saying was true, and she knew that she would do the same for Carrie, and she felt like she was deceiving her best friend by not telling her the full extent of what was really going on. Taking in a deep breath she decided that now was not the time to have that conversation, even if she wanted to, and that it would be best saved for another day and time, and maybe when she wasn’t so tired.

Finishing off their drinks, the pair said their goodnights and gave each other a quick hug, before Carrie left the barn and walked over to the farmhouse.

Leah locked the door when Carrie had gone, before returning to the kitchen to wash up the mugs they had both used, and then checking on the kids, who as expected, were both sound asleep and snoring into their pillows.

Finally Leah, flopped down on the double bed in the master bedroom, and pulled her knees up to her chest, she wouldn’t let things get in the way of her having a good time this week, and although she knew it would be hard not to focus on the mess her life was becoming, she was determined to try her best.

****

“Muuuuuuummmmmmmmmmmm!” Leah woke to the delightful sound of Emma, screaming from the living room, and the muffling of Ben’s force in full argument, just not raising his voice.

Leah pulled herself from the comfort of the warm bed, before unzipping her suitcase and retrieving her long cream robe that she had packed, and slipped it over her bare shoulders.

Entering the living room, she encountered Ben sitting sprawled out on the sofa, with the television remote in his hand, looking the spitting image of a younger version of his father, and Emma sitting in the chair, with a look on her face that could kill.

“Kids, please, we're here to have a good time, can we just try and keep to the arguments to a minimum,” Leah said, trying to calm the situation.

“But mum, Ben is being unreasonable! He’s only watching rubbish TV that he wants to watch, instead of finding something for both of us!”

Leah sat down on the sofa next to Ben, and reached over and took the remote from his hand.

“But mum..” Ben stuttered, and before he could argue, Leah aimed the remote at the television and switched it off.

“There, that’s better. If you both can’t get along, then you both go without. Now, go and get yourselves washed and dressed and I will pop over to see Carrie, and see what the plans are and if we can pinch some cereal or bread as I forgot to bring anything for breakfast.”

Slowly the kids, left the room, grumbling to themselves, and Leah went to the kitchen and made herself a cup coffee, with one of the sachets that Carrie leaves out for guests to the barn, and using the tiny pot of milk that accompanied it.

Leah, left the kitchen and walked back to her room, taking the coffee with her, and placed in on the bedside table, before rifling through her suitcase for clothes and towels.

After a nice hot shower, fresh clothes and the coffee, Leah felt much more human, and after calling to the kids, she opened the barn door and stepped out into the cool morning air, taking a deep breath of the countryside at the same time, as walking across the courtyard towards the farm house.

Before she got to the main door, she saw a figure walking from around the back of the house, and smiled when she saw Daniel, in full farm clothing, in khaki greens and wellies, walking towards her.

“Hey there pretty lady, what's a city girl like you doing in these parts?” he said, teasing her and putting on the strongest Cornish accent he could manage, before enveloping her in a strong hug.

“Hey Dan the man!” Leah replied, hugging him back.

“It’s good to see you, Leah, kids still in bed?”

“No such luck I’m afraid, I’m on the scrounge if I’m honest. As usual, I’m so organised and I forgot to buy anything for breakfast, so was wondering if I could pinch some cereal until I go shopping later on.”

“Well I think we can do better than that, go back and fetch the kids and come over, Carrie is cooking up pancakes for everyone, it’s all prepared, she was just waiting for you all to get up.”

After she grabbed the kids from the barn, they followed Daniel into the farmhouse, the smell of the sweet pancakes, invaded Leah’s nostrils, and she felt famished.

Taking in the familiar surroundings of the house, she noticed that although a few things had moved, that they hadn’t decorated since she had last visited, and she was glad as the house felt so warmly and welcoming.

Entering the kitchen, behind Daniel, she smiled at the figure of her best friend, slaving away over the hob cooking. Carrie turned and smiled at Leah, and wiped her hands on the tea towel that was sitting on the side.

“Leah, did you really think you guys wouldn’t be having breakfast with us, especially this morning? I’m not sure whether to be offended or not,”

“I didn’t want to put you out Caz, you wouldn’t be doing this for normal guests at the barn, they would have needed to provide their own breakfast.”

“Very true, but you’re not normal guests and I wouldn’t dream of you spending your first morning here anywhere but at this table with us all. Please stop littering my kitchen and sit down.”

Emma giggled at Carrie telling her mum off and slid into a bench seat next to the table, and Ben walked around to sit as far away from his sister as he could. Leah shook her head at the silly behavior of her kids and walked over to Carrie.

“What can I do to help?”

“Have you gone deaf Lee? I said sit down, so sit your backside down on a chair. Dan, can you give Tyler a nudge please.”

Daniel saluted at his wife and turned and walked away through the house. Leah took a seat by the table, not wanted to get told off by her friend again.

It didn’t take long for Daniel and Tyler to appear in the kitchen, and little Tyler bounded over and threw his arms around Leah.

“Auntie Leah!” He shouted, straight into Leah’s ear and she had to pull her head away, as her ear had started ringing from the loud noise, but at the same time, she enveloped his tiny body in a big bear hug.

Pulling away from Leah, Tyler straightened himself up, and pulled himself up tall, and made his way over to sit next to Ben, trying to act all grown up. Ben smiled at Tyler and put his hand out for a high-five.

Leah smiled, at how good Ben was with Tyler. Although there was a five year age gap between the boys, Ben still took Tyler under his wing and Tyler looked up to Ben like a big brother.

It wasn’t long before Carrie placed a large plate of thick, soft pancakes into the centre of the table, along with bottles of honey, maple syrup and caster sugar, and they all tucked in hungrily, even if Emma did have the hump having to have her food cut up for her like a baby, as she still had limited use of her broken arm.

“So, what’s the plans for you all today then?” Daniel asked, pouring a glass of orange juice.

“I’m not too sure, what do you fancy Leah?” Carrie asked, and then popped a large piece of pancake into her mouth.

“Oh, I hadn’t really thought about it. I know I need to pop to a supermarket and grab some bits and bobs, so we don’t eat you out of house and home, but apart from that, I have no idea.”

“Okay well let’s make today a day for shopping then, pop into town, get some bits for you guys and take the kids for lunch and ice cream,” Carrie replied, standing up from the table and taking her plate over to the sink.

The kids all cheered at the mention of ice cream, and Leah loved the idea of spending time with Carrie and the kids.

“Sounds great,” Leah said, finishing up the pancake on her plate.

“Great, so that’s settled then, I will see you when you get home then.” Daniel said, standing up from his chair, and ruffling Tyler’s hair, before walking over and kissing Carrie, and giving them all a wave before he left and went back to his work on the farm.

It wasn’t long before they all climbed into Carrie’s truck and she drove into town, with them all singing along to the chart songs on the radio.

Once they got into town, Leah felt her phone vibrate in her bag, which was sitting on top of her foot. Pulling her bag onto her lap, she retrieved the phone from the inside pocket and looked at the screen; She had several messages from both Ryan and Greg.

Ryan: Hey babe, hope you all got there safe. Call me when you get some signal x

Greg: Hi gorgeous, I hope u have a fantastic week. I miss you. Gx

Greg: You have only been gone less than a day, and it's driving me crazy already that I can’t speak to you Gx

Ryan: Leah, where’s the passports?

Leah pulled a face at the last message; why on earth would Ryan need their passports? Leah immediately thought about how nice Ryan was about her going away, and suspicion started rearing its ugly head, and she started wondering about Ryan and Melissa.