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CHAPTER NINETEEN
ONE MINUTE SHE was certain they had no future.
The next moment, she missed him with all her heart.
Lea expelled a huff as she paced back and forth in the bungalow. With each pass, the walls felt as though they were closing in on her. She needed to keep herself occupied.
And she didn’t feel like going to the office. However, she did feel like some good old-fashioned hard work—like cleaning. It’d been quite a while since she gave the place a thorough spring cleaning. And with the kitchen done, she might as well keep going.
Lea started toward her bedroom to strip her bed and throw the linen in the wash, when she came to a pause outside Xander’s room. Not that it was actually his room. In fact, it was as good a time as any to clean away any lingering memories of him.
She opened the door and stepped inside. Her gaze took in the pastel green and purple walls. What in the world?
There was a new light fixture. New windows and curtains. There were even new closet doors that worked, unlike the old ones. And inside the closet, she found shelves above the clothes rod. Plenty of room for the baby’s things.
Lea’s vision blurred and she quickly blinked away the tears. She turned and took in all of the baby furniture. It was the wooden cradle that called to her. She walked over and ran her hands over the smooth lines of the wood. It was beautiful. She didn’t see any store tags like the ones visible on some of the other pieces in the room. As she examined it more closely, she started to suspect that it might be handmade. By Xander?
She recalled how he’d been absent a lot lately. He was always going here or there. Could this have been what had him so preoccupied? Was he creating all of this for their baby?
The impact of his actions caused an emotional lump to swell in her throat. Tears stung the back of her eyes. If the baby meant this much to him, why had he left? Why did he leave so much unsaid between them?
As the questions crowded into her mind, she moved out of the nursery, pulling the door closed behind her. Staying here wasn’t going to help her. She needed to get away.
Lea went to her room, a room where they’d made love so recently. Memories of Xander were everywhere. She had to get away.
She pulled a duffel bag from the back of her closet. She grabbed random articles of clothes from the closet and tossed them on the bed. Her movements were abrupt, causing her to almost trip over her own feet.
She couldn’t get out of here fast enough. It felt like if she stayed here any longer the memories would suffocate her. That was it. Different scenery and some fresh air would hopefully give her a clear perspective. If she could get away from everything that reminded her of Xander, she’d be able to breathe easy. But she wondered if that place existed.
Knock. Knock.
Xander?
Lea’s heart raced. Had he come back? What should she say to him? She had no answers.
“Lea?” The front door creaked open as Popi let herself inside.
Lea’s heart slowed and she expelled a pent-up breath. “I’m back here.”
It was good that her friend was here. It would save her a trip over to Popi’s place. But how did she explain all of this to her?
When Popi appeared in her bedroom doorway, her gaze landed on the clothes scattered on the bed. “Going somewhere?”
“Yes.”
“With Xander?” Popi glanced around as though searching for him.
“No. By myself. Xander is gone.”
“Oh. Um... Do you want to talk?”
Lea shook her head. She didn’t think she could speak of Xander without breaking down in tears and that was the last thing she wanted right now. If she could just get away from the place where she’d spent so much time with Xander, she’d be okay.
Without meeting her friend’s gaze, she said, “I need you to handle things for a few days.”
“But where are you going?”
Lea hadn’t stopped to think about that. Her mind was in a tizzy. She could leave the island altogether and head for the mainland. There were plenty of places to lose herself there. But she wasn’t up for sightseeing and she really didn’t want to deal with people.
And then a thought came to her. When she’d first arrived on the island, she’d done a lot of exploring, even stumbling upon an abandoned cabin. In that moment, she knew where she could go. The secluded spot would give her a chance to formulate a plan. Because even though she’d spoken to her mother and they’d started the process of patching up their relationship, Lea realized this island and the people on it were now her home. There had to be a way to save it that she hadn’t thought of yet—even if it came down to an internet fund-raiser. She would not lose the island.
