Laura pushed Janet’s money away. “Of course, but it’s my treat. Y’all paid for our hotel room. It’s the least I can do.”
As Laura made her way to the vending machine area, she began to feel dizzy. She stared at the glowing soda machine, remembering her conversation with Brian the night before. What if he had complications with the surgery? What if he couldn’t play football again, and they were stuck living with Rob and Janet forever? What if Brian, like Janet, just expected her to get pregnant and pop out three babies by the time she was twenty-five?
As she pushed the Diet Coke button, she felt a wave of frustration pass through her. Janet expected Laura to focus her whole life on Brian. It was selfish. But honestly, hadn’t Brian been a little selfish, too? Brian had let her quit high school to be with him. Yes, she had wanted to do it, but he’d never even questioned that decision, never encouraged her to think about what she might be giving up.
Laura grabbed the soda from the machine and she pushed the button for the Cherry Coke, startling as her phone vibrated in her back pocket.
It was a text from Vince.
Missed you in class today. Mr. Leblanc may or may not have been stoned. I’ll tell you everything when you’re back. Hope the surgery’s going well.
Laura smiled and started to write back, her stomach fluttering a little. Then Madison’s words from the night in the hot tub popped into her head: “Does this have anything to do with Vince?”
She stared at the screen for a second, her heart beating out of her chest. Maybe Brian was being selfish, but if Laura was being honest, she was in the wrong, too. She’d developed an emotional connection with another guy. She looked forward to seeing Vince in class and laughing with him over lunch. Hell, she’d talked to him about wanting to go to college when she hadn’t worked up the courage to tell Brian that yet. She clicked the lock screen on her phone and put it back in her pocket.
Anxiety bubbled up inside of her, and she tried to fight it off. Brian was her husband and he needed her right now. He was in surgery and his career was on the line. That was where her attention—her heart—should be. Not with some other guy.
She headed back to Rob and Janet, and spent the next few hours with her headphones in, focusing solely on her schoolwork—something that she could actually control.
? ? ?
BY DINNERTIME, THEY were allowed to see Brian. The doctor had told them the surgery went perfectly and they had high hopes for his recovery. After Rob and Janet fussed over their groggy son, they left Laura and Brian alone in the room.
“How’s the food?” Laura asked as he took bites of the roasted chicken, rice, green beans, and carrots the hospital delivered to his room.
“I can’t believe I’m gonna say this . . .” His voice was hoarse from the breathing tube they’d used during the surgery. “But I’d rather have your cooking than this crap.” He smiled and patted the cot. Even though the joke was at Laura’s expense, she appreciated his attempt at humor. She sat down next to him, being careful not to touch his leg.
She grinned back. “You’re a jerk, you know that?” She pushed his blond hair off his forehead and stroked his cheek.
“I can’t wait to get back onto the team and move back to Baton Rouge with you,” he said, a little slur in his voice thanks to the painkillers coursing through his system. “Maybe we can get a house off campus next year, with a backyard and a puppy.”
Laura kissed his cheek. “Can we name him Gumbeaux?”
“We can name him whatever you want.” He squeezed her hand. “Just as long as he’s, like, a hearty dog . . . like a bulldog or a Lab.”
Laura laughed. “Works for me.”
Brian focused his bleary eyes on her. “I love you so much. Thanks for being here for me.”
“I love you, too, babe,” she said, kissing him again. They had been through a lot this year, but it would only make them stronger.
“From here on out, it’s all gravy. Red carpet events, private jets, a mansion . . . baby, I’m gonna make you so happy,” he went on.
Her phone buzzed. She stood up from the bed and read the message from Vince.
When are you back?
She held her phone close to her heart as Brian continued talking about the life they were going to have. Laura closed her eyes and imagined it, too. A happy marriage, a successful husband . . .
She looked back at her phone and stared at Vince’s text again. She hovered over his contact information, then with a deep breath, pressed DELETE. A few seconds later, Vince was no longer in her contacts. She put her phone down, smiled at Brian, and took another deep breath.
For better or worse, in good times and bad, she’d committed herself to Brian. They were married, and Laura for one believed in keeping her promises.
36
gabrielle
IT HAD BEEN a little over a month since Gabby had broken up with Tony and shattered both of their hearts—a long, miserable month. Tony’s father, of course, had been gleeful about the breakup, but true to his word, immediately started the process of getting her mom released. It had been agonizingly slow but Gabby kept telling herself that waiting a month for her mom was a million times better than waiting the remaining six years of her sentence.
First she’d had to fill out a petition for her mom, which Mr. Ford submitted to the governor, who in turn passed it along to the parole board. She knew that Mr. Ford being best friends with the governor had everything to do with the pardon getting the green light, but Gabby also liked to think that the board felt empathy for Elaine’s circumstances and could see that she was a good person.
Now the day of her release was finally here. Excited as she was to have her mom back, Gabby wondered if she’d think of Tony every time she saw Elaine, of the life she could’ve had?
As she stood outside the penitentiary, waiting for Elaine to exit through the barbed wire fence, Gabby scrolled through her messages from Tony. It’d become a habit over the past few weeks, as if rereading his words could somehow bring him back into her life. The last text was sent on April thirtieth, and it was the most excruciating of all: I just need to talk to you. Do you know how hard it is to not have closure on something like this?