| Chapter 23 Leighanne was in the kitchen making breakfast when Gary walked in the room. "You're up early," he said with a smile. She glanced over her shoulder at him, "Yeah, couldn't sleep." Gary sat down at the table, "Whatcha making?" "Blueberry muffins," she replied, pulling a pan out of the oven. "Sounds good," Gary said. Leighanne flipped them out of the pan and put them on a plate. She grabbed the coffee and carried the plate to the table and sat down. "So, what are you doing today since we don't have to be at the set?" Gary asked grabbing a muffin. "I thought I would go talk to Brian, it's been over a week now. I need to tell him some things," she said. Gary looked at her, "You need me to come along?" Leighanne thought for a moment, "No, I need to do this by myself." "Alright, I've got some errands I need to run, but if you need me you have my cell," Gary said. Leighanne smiled at him, "I know." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tara and Howie were in the kitchen fixing brunch. They had all slept late, and decided to take the day off and relax. Everyone was in a pretty goofy mood. A.J. was dancing around the table singing Hotel California, only he was changing the words. "Welcome to the hotel Car--ter, It's a lovely place, to feed your face," A.J. sang. Everyone burst out laughing. Brian and Nick were sitting at the table involved in a game of dominos. "K guys, soup's on," Tara said from behind the counter. Everyone grabbed a plate, loaded it up and sat down. "So D, you never did tell us about your date last night," Nick said. Howie's face turned red for some reason, "It was a date," he said with a smile. A.J. nudged Howie, "Now D, you wouldn't be taking some of my advice now would you?" Howie looked at him with a grin, "Hell no, I'm not that freaky." Another round of laughter. "Howie, how are you and Kira getting along?" Tara asked. "Great, we have so much in common," Howie said. "D, I'm glad you found someone that you can have fun with," Brian said. "Yeah, we have the best time together," Howie said. "I bet you do," Nick said. Howie blushed again, and everyone laughed. "Now, now boys, be nice to your brother," Tara said in a motherly tone. "Yes mamma," A.J., Nick, and Brian said in unison. Just then the bell rang, Tara got up, "I'll get it," she said leaving the room. Tara opened the door to find Leighanne standing there. "Hi Lee," she said, shocked at seeing her there. "Hi. Is Brian here?" Leighanne asked. "Yeah, we're all in the kitchen eating breakfast," Tara said letting Leighanne in. They walked down the hall in silence and entered the kitchen. The guys were laughing, but stopped when Leighanne entered the room. Brian stood up, "Lee, what are you doing here?" "Brian, can I talk to you?" she asked. "Yeah, sure," he said walking around the table towards her. "Lets go out on the patio," he said leading the way. They all watched them go out on the patio, and sit down. "This should be interesting," Nick said. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Brian and Leighanne sat in silence for a moment. "How are you feeling?" Leighanne finally asked. "OK, I have good days and bad," Brian said. Leighanne looked down at the ground, "Brian, I wanted to come and clear some things up, I didn't like how we left things at the hospital." Brian looked at her, "Lee, whatever I did, I'm sorry." She looked at him, "Brian, it's not that simple anymore. I came to ask you something." "What is it?" Brian asked. Leighanne took a deep breath, "Do you still love me?" "With all my heart," he said. She closed her eyes, "How do you feel towards Tara?" Brian looked away from her and said nothing. "I see," Leighanne said, feeling the anger creep up inside her. "Lee, it's not like that. I just don't know how to answer that," Brian said. They sat in silence again. "Lee, do you still love me?" Brian asked. Leighanne thought for a moment, "I'm not sure anymore," she said softly. Brian could feel his heart in his throat, "What changed? We used to be so in love, what happened?" "I don't know, things are just different. I don't feel the same way I used to," Leighanne said. "Then how do you feel?" Brian asked. She looked into his blue eyes, "Bri, I still care about you very much, I'm just not in love anymore." Brian's heart was breaking into a million pieces. "Lee, what can I do to change that?" he asked. She thought for a long time, "Break your bond with Tara." "What?!" Brian said looking shocked. "You heard me, break all contact with her. Don't see her, don't talk to her, don't think about her," Leighanne said. "Lee you know it's not that simple. I can't just will it to go away," Brian said fighting back the tears. "Brian, either you do this, or we have nothing more to talk about," she said. Brian turned away from her, wiping away the tears that had found their way down his cheek. He thought for a long time. He closed his eyes, "I can't," he whispered. Leighanne looked at him, he could tell she was angry and hurt. "Then I guess there's nothing more to say," she said standing up. Brian reached out and grabbed her hand, "Lee, please don't do this," he pleaded. "I'm sorry Brian, you made your decision, it's over," she said with a tear in her eye. She pulled her hand back and went inside the house. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Leighanne made her way through the house and out the front door. Howie, Nick, A.J. and Tara sat at the table in silence. "Something tells me that didn't go well," Nick said. "Where's Brian going?" A.J. asked. They all looked out the patio doors to see Brian heading toward the back of the property. "Maybe someone should go with him?" Howie said. All three guys looked at Tara. "I get the strong feeling he wants to be alone right now," she said. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Leighanne burst through the front door. She slammed her purse down on the couch and looked around. Gary's car was outside, where was he. "Gary?" she called. Gary came up the stairs from the basement and shut the door, "Hey you just get in?" he asked. "Yeah, what are you doing down there?" Leighanne asked. "Just putting some things away. How'd it go?" he asked. Leighanne plopped down on the couch, "He picked her over me," she said. Gary sat down next to her, "What do you mean?" She looked at him, "I told him I wasn't in love with him anymore. He asked me what he could do to change that, I told him to stop all contact with Tara. He couldn't do it." Gary pulled Leighanne into a hug, "Anne, I'm sorry. I'm sorry he hurt you, I wont let him do that anymore." Leighanne looked up at him. He took her chin in his hand and leaned down. He gently kissed her. Leighanne pulled away and looked at him, "Thank you for being here for me," she said. Gary smiled at her, "I wouldn't be anywhere else." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Brian sat at the edge of the pond. He had cried until he had no more tears, now he just felt empty. He laid back and stared at the sky. What was he going to do now? He knew that was it for Leighanne, she meant what she said. He could see it in her eyes. My life can't get any worse, he thought. And it couldn't, he was dying, and his wife just left him. To bad I'm not a country singer, this would make a great song, he laughed. "Brian?" Tara called. He just laid there, hoping she would go away. "Brian, I know you're out here, I heard you laugh," she said. He sat up and looked over at her. Tara walked over and sat down by him, "If you want me to leave I will. We were just getting worried about you." Brian looked out across the pond, "Naw, you can stay if you want." "Do you wanna talk about it?" she asked. "Not really," he answered. Tara looked at him, "Brian, I know you're hurting, I can feel it." He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, "She's gone for good now." "Brian, what happened?" Tara asked in shock. He looked at her, the tears were back in his eyes again, "She told me she doesn't love me anymore. She's not coming back," he said. "Bri, I'm so sorry," Tara said, opening her arms. Brian leaned into her arms and began to cry on her shoulder. Chapter 24 |