by Leigh, Anne
Copyright © 2019 Anne Leigh
This is an e-book property of Anne Leigh. All rights reserved, unless permitted by the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976. This cannot be reproduced, stored, transmitted, or copied in any way, shape, or form, without the permission of the author.
This novel is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to peoples living or deceased is purely coincidental. Names, pigments, and characters are figments of the author’s imagination. The author is NOT affiliated with real life business organizations, government organizations and entities.
The author respectfully acknowledges all registered trademarks and owners of trademarked products that may have been included in this work of fiction.
Cover: Pink Ink Designs
Formatting: Allusion Graphics, LLC
Editing: KMS Freelance Editing
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Epilogue
Acknowledgements
About the Author
Other Books by Anne Leigh
To J, for helping me soar.
To my daughter, for keeping me grounded.
To my readers, for lifting me up.
Thank you.
Character List
Love Unexpected:
Zander and Sedona Zobowski
Children:
Sofia Mae Zobowski
Nicholas Ryan Zobowski
Alissa Mae Zobowski
Love Untouched:
Kieran and Brynn Stone
Child:
Kassius Lawrence Stone
Fight or Fall:
Milo and Ava Tanner
Children:
Matteo Andrei Tanner
Reece Anna Tanner
Love Undefeated:
Xavier and Nalee Lockheed
Children:
Serafina Angela Lockheed
Geneva Cassandra Lockheed
Greyson Dalton Lockheed
“Her grief grieved her. His devastated her.”
Arundhati Roy
Matteo
Ten years old
My mom said that it’s not a good thing to pull on my tie.
But the half-Windsor knot that Dad struggled with helping me perfect this morning was strangling me, and I was left with the urge to faint.
So slowly, I pulled on the black silk tie and tried to loosen it from my neck.
Dad held mom’s hand as she walked to the pulpit, he stayed close to her as Mom’s hands shook while fixing the microphone.
If there was one thing I hated, it was seeing my mother cry.
Her grey eyes were wet with big fat tears, her voice shook and Dad placed a comforting hand on her left shoulder. It was hard to picture my burly father so gentle, but he had no other look when it came to my mother.
My friends, Gary and Donovan, who were seated five pews back, often teased me that Dad looked like he could beat John Cena to the ground. They were joking, but they weren’t too far off from the truth. While Dad was an Olympic swimmer, he was also a talented fighter. He kept SWF’s new crop of talent fresh and humble whenever he was on the mat with them to spar. Mom forbade it, but Dad could pretty much talk Mom into anything, and I thought I saw mom’s shadow inside the gym when she thought Dad wasn’t looking.
Mom’s soft voice rang through the church, it was filled with so much pain and sadness that it made me tug on my tie again.
I grabbed my sister’s hand when Mom started talking. Sometimes Reece liked to run and Dad would get upset if my sister ended up jumping on the stairs leading to where Mom and Dad where standing. Reece didn’t like to be contained, she loved to roam around and hide in every nook and cranny. There were lots of nooks and cool hiding places in the church, but now was not the time for hide-and-seek.
“Naomi wasn’t just a nanny to me. She was also my second mom. She’s been with me through the worst times…” Her voice slowed and I saw Dad hold Mom’s right hand. If there was one thing that my father hated the most in this world, it was watching Mom cry. Dad looked like he wanted to pick her up and shield her from today’s events. He whispered in her right ear, and Mom nodded.
“She taught me how to love everyone regardless of what possessions they held. She taught me how to look beyond a person’s past and acknowledge them for the future that they were working towards.” Mom continued in-between sniffles, “She taught my husband to look past his own mistakes and to forgive. And,” Mom looked down towards me and gave me a soft smile, “She taught my children how to cherish everything they had.”
I gave her a nod because Mom wasn’t lying.
Nanny Naomi taught me how to smell the flowers when we walked, cook with the least amount of ingredients, and spend some time talking to random people so I would know that there was life beyond the palace that I lived in.
“I can’t believe that she’s gone.” Mom’s weeping became louder and Dad leaned in so he could whisper into her ear once more.
I heard the sobs from the people behind me. Aunt Sedona was visibly shaken and so was Auntie Nalee. Mom and Dad invited the people who knew Nanny Naomi the best, and even though there was less than fifty people there, the magnitude of love that they held for the 85-year-old El Salvadoran woman who had been a part of my family more than my own grandfather, was abundant and overflowing.
I knew that if Nanny Naomi was alive and awake instead of sleeping in the open casket filled with flowers and notes of love, she’d tell everyone to stop crying and to celebrate the life that she’d lived instead.
Mom finished her speech and Dad held her weight through the rest of the funeral service.
When it came time to lower her casket into the ground, I placed the sunflower I’d been holding in my hand from the minute we’d stepped inside our car to head to the church. Nanny Naomi loved sunflowers. She said they were the brightest and the happiest flowers, and I had a feeling that she was looking down on all of us and giving us a beaming smile.
I felt my mom’s hand on my shoulder and I responded with a grip on hers.
Without Nanny Naomi, my mom would probably have had a totally different life. A life void of generosity and vibrancy.
I never knew my grandmothers. Dad’s parents died from a boating accident when he was barely a teen, and Mom’s mom died from a fall after several years of being incapacitated as a result of a car accident. I had no one to call Nana or Gammie like my friends did.
But Reece and I had Nanny Naomi.
And last week, when she peacefully died in her sleep, I’d felt the strongest sense of loss. I was going to miss her smiles and her tidbits of wisdom.
I’d felt sad, but I didn’t cry.
Dad said it was okay to cry, Mom asked me if I was crying.
I told her yes because I didn’t want her to think that I wasn’t feeling sad.
But I never really cried.
Not for me.
Not for anyone else.
“How’s baseball going?” Kassius, my cousin, asked while drinking the sparkling water he’d grabbed from the table.
“Alright.” I was the shortstop for Lewis Prep, and I liked the demands of the position. Our team won against his school, Monterey Academy, last month. Kassius watched with his friends, but he’d cheered for me. “How about you? How’s swimming?”
/>
Kassius dropped his body down to the bench where I was sitting and said, “Good. Dad said that I need to work on my backstroke, my kicks aren’t as strong as they should be, so I’m doing a couple of workouts to improve it.”
Like his dad and my dad, Kassius loved swimming.
And just like them, he’d be racking up the medals in future Olympics. He was already being held to the same, if not, higher standards than his father, Kieran Stone, who still held World and Olympic records that no one had broken.
Uncle Kieran didn’t force swimming on Kassius, but what could you do when gills were in your blood? I liked swimming too, but it wasn’t something I competed for.
I was more of a field sports guy.
I liked baseball and lacrosse. I tried football, but it wasn’t me.
“When are you going to Iowa?” Kassius was two years older than I was. This year he’d be qualifying in the higher levels for the Junior Olympics and I knew that he was beyond stoked.
“We’re leaving next week. Dad wants to be there three days early and Coach Kwan agrees. Mom’s not thrilled because I’m gonna miss school, but I just wanna be there and compete already.” Kassius’ blue eyes reminded me so much of Auntie Brynn’s, and if he could jump into the pool in front of us right now, I feared that he would without as much thought to the navy blue wool suit that he was wearing.
“I can’t go.” I hung my head low, “I have games, and I got so much homework to catch up on.” Mom’s condition reigned over the house. I could play sports as long as I kept my grades up.
“It’s cool.” Kassius waved a hand to tell me off, “I’ll send you videos. If not me, then Dad for sure. He’ll send them to Uncle Milo.”
His dad sent my dad videos of Kassius during competition so he could see them and also give advice. My dad also held tons of Olympic records even after he was banned from swimming for two years after that incident with Uncle Kieran. It happened a long time ago, and I found out when I was eight because a classmate asked me about it. Dad never hid the truth from me. He’d made a mistake, didn’t want to own it, and his swimming career had suffered because of it. The upside was that he and Mom found their way to be together during that time and the rest, as they say, was history.
Kassius dusted off his suit and stood up, “You think we should head back in?”
After the ceremony, Mom and Dad hosted a lunch at Crystal, the new American-Spanish fusion restaurant that opened up at our hotel, Carte Blanche. The mood was more festive and everyone shared funny stories about Nanny Naomi. It was the kind of party that she’d have loved.
Then Mom and Dad’s closest friends drove back to our house to catch up. Everyone was in the living room when I headed to the pool to be alone for a few minutes.
“Yeah, let’s go back.” Mom would no doubt be wondering where I was, and Dad would be pissed if I made Mom worry, especially today. Nanny Naomi was a big part of our lives, but she was an even bigger piece of Mom’s life. She’d been with my mom long before I was born, so the loss affected her deeply.
We were about to head back through the glass doors when Nicholas rushed out, “Have you seen my sister? I’ve been looking for her,”
“Sofia?” Kassius’ face scrunched in anxiety. “She was hanging out with Jonah and Reece earlier, they were playing Code Names.”
Trust my cousin to know where Sofia Zobowski was at all times.
Kassius had the biggest crush on Uncle Zander’s eldest, even when she never gave him the time of day, and the fact that she was four years older than him never stopped my cousin from making emoji heart eyes at her.
Nicholas shook his head to the side, “No, Sof’s still playing with Greyson. I’m looking for Ali.”
Ali was the youngest of the Zobowski clan. Everyone called her that and to me, it sounded like the popular boxing champ.
“Alissa?” I said, and a twinge of anxiety filled me, “Where was she last?”
“I don’t know. One minute she was in the kitchen getting some chips and then she was gone,” Nicholas said in an insistent manner. His hands were pulling at his dark hair.
I liked to pull on my tie or any piece of clothing when I got nervous.
It seemed like the NFL’s greatest son liked to pull on his hair.
“Let’s find her before Dad freaks out,” Nicholas stated. Uncle Zander was very protective of his girls and if he found out his baby was nowhere to be found; he’d have the SWAT team surrounding our house in a matter of minutes.
“You go look on the second floor,” Nicholas wasn’t asking anymore, he was taking charge and Kassius was listening.
“I’ll go look in the third floor,” I said, yanking the sleeves of my black shirt up, Vegas had the hottest weather. It was only July, but I felt like I’d been inside the oven for an hour instead of the twenty minutes that I’d been outside.
“Let’s meet here in fifteen minutes.” Nicholas eyed his watch and Kassius and I nodded as we both checked the time on our phones.
3:43 PM.
Nicholas and Kassius were familiar with the layout of my house. They’d spent a few Thanksgivings with us so they knew where to look.
I took the stairs to the third floor. The parental units would wonder why I was in a huff if I took the elevator which was in full view of the living room.
When I reached the third floor, I strategically walked from the farthest room, the nook area, to the library, then to the entertainment room.
Nope.
No Alissa.
Alissa didn’t like to wander.
She often stayed in the same area where her parents were and where her brother and sister were in close proximity.
Where could she be?
I saw her at the funeral and she’d looked sad like everyone else.
Her honey blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail and she’d kept her sobs to herself, once in a while dabbing a tissue over her eyes.
I was ready to go back downstairs to help Kassius and Nicholas look for her in other areas of the house. Mom often complained about having a big house, but Dad said that it was big enough to hold everyone during the holidays so they never got around to giving it up.
I was about to go back down when I thought I heard a noise come from inside my room.
I never locked my door, it was just me, myself, and I on the whole floor so I never cared to.
I didn’t have to turn the metal knob of my door to know that she was in there.
“Why didn’t you cry?” She wasn’t a talker like her brother, Nicholas. Rather she saved her voice to ask important questions.
I stepped inside my room and found her holding a frame that I’d been staring at most of last night, until sleep finally found me.
I didn’t say anything. I could be mad at her for touching my stuff, but as often as I found myself annoyed at people, it was hard for me to find her annoying.
“Alissa, your brother’s looking for you,” I said, trying to change the subject. “He’s worried about you.”
Her face turned towards me, and the violet eyes that always seemed to pierce into my thoughts had a questioning look in them. On her ears were the small white pearl earrings I asked my mom to help me shop for as a Christmas gift for Ali. Hers was the only gift I spent time shopping for. Ali loved pearls and I like giving Ali what she liked.
“Don’t you feel sad? She’s been with you for a long time.” She was totally ignoring what I’d just said. “Don’t you have tears, Matty?”
My shoulders felt heavy and I found my feet going towards the lounge chair that I’d sat on and slept in since I found out that Nanny Naomi was gone. For some reason I didn’t feel like sleeping on my bed.
“Alissa, we have to go and tell your brother that you’re here,” I replied, refusing to listen to her words just as she was refusing to listen to mine.
“I can’t hear you, Matteo.” Her face was set in a challenge. “I can’t hear boys who hide the truth from themselves.”
“You don’t know
me.” I let out, the bite of my voice strong, “You don’t know what you’re saying.”
She didn’t say anything for a second.
Then she took one, two…
Three steps towards where I was sitting.
Then slowly she placed my hand in hers, “You miss her. You’re allowed to cry. You don’t have to be so strong all the time. Sometimes being strong means you cry.”
I’d broken bones from playing sports.
And I’d felt the pain of having them reset yet tears never threatened my eyes.
But right now, right here, I felt the unfamiliar sting around my eye sockets.
“I’m here. I’m your friend, Matty. You can cry…” Then without warning, she placed her small hand on my cheek and liquid that felt so unfamiliar started flowing from my eyes.
My shoulders started shaking and my voice broke as I stared into the eyes of the girl who seemed to understand me when even I couldn’t understand myself.
I cried.
I cried.
I cried…
Until finally, the tears stopped coming.
And she stayed right there
With me.
Alissa
The sweltering heat was oppressive, making me feel as if I was drowning in my own sweat.
It didn’t matter how many times I took a shower during the day, I never perspired this much during the past twenty years of my life.
“You sure you want to go back there?” Greyson’s green eyes searched my face, concern written all over them.
Yesterday was the first time we went there. We’d been here for a month now, and as much as I loved visiting all the iconic attractions, I felt a distinct connection to the children in that place.
