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“I’ll switch out the SIM,” I say. “That way, if your parents ring, you have a phone.”
“Oh, heavens. Please tell me you haven’t called them.”
Her eyes dart between Stella’s and mine.
“Calm down,” Stella says, gripping Leah’s other hand. “No one has called them. We all wanted to see how you were doing.”
Leah’s shoulders visibly sag.
I rub my thumb over the back of her hand. “You need to tell them. I’m not having your mum yell at me for not letting them know.”
Leah grins. “Scared of my mum?”
“Damn right,” I say, altering the next words out of my mouth. “She’s our child’s grandmother, I’d be silly not to be.”
Leah throws her head back and laughs, then grimaces.
“I think that’s enough. Leah needs to rest,” a voice comes from the doorway.
We all turn to see a woman standing with her arms folded. Stella leans forward and kisses Leah on the cheek.
“I’ll call you tomorrow,” she says before shooting me a look and leaving.
Leah smiles before gripping my hand more tightly as I move away.
“Thank you, Gabriel.”
I turn back, dropping a chaste kiss on her lips.
“I’ll see you later.”
I offer her a smile before turning and walking away. The greater the distance, the heavier my heart.
I make my way towards the exit.
Caleb has disappeared again, no doubt sorting out everything I should have done for Leah. But as twins, we’ve always had a way of knowing what the other needs.
“Gabriel.”
I turn to find Stella chasing after me.
“Stella. Are you okay? Do you need a lift?” I ask, wondering why Leah’s best friend is chasing me down.
“No, but thank you. I just—” She stumbles over her words.
“Whatever it is, talk to me,” I say, stopping in the middle of the corridor.
“I just wanted to say thank you for being here for Leah. Ever since you came into her life, she’s been happier. She’ll probably kill me for saying that, but I’ve noticed the change, and we’ve been friends for what seems like forever. Please don’t hurt her. She survived Vince. I’m not sure she’ll survive you.”
Her words knock the wind out of me.
“I promise you I have no intention of ever hurting Leah,” I admit.
I know I will do everything in my power to make sure that doesn’t happen.
Stella smiles at me. “That’s what I thought.” She pauses before adding, “When I saw you together.”
Caleb appears out of nowhere.
