Free Restart (The Revival Series) by Claire Thake Page A

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!!"