Not that she was hiding exactly, but America had hoped for a little more time to cool down before having to face Leo. An apology was owed to him for the things she had said when it had felt like the world was out to get them. With a cooler head, and dose of reality that sobered her up, she knew what she had to do.
As Leo pushed the door open and came into the diner, a little bell jingled and announced his arrival. He brushed his wet boots off on the doormat and combed his fingers through his golden hair. He took a deep breath and scanned the seating area.
Standing, America waited for him to walk excruciatingly slowly toward her. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out.
“Hi. Can I sit?” he said. Leo’s normally rosy complexion was pale, and his eyes were red like he had recently cried. If she wasn’t feeling bad enough already, seeing him so low was a pain unlike any other.
“Leo…” America reached for him, and he shrugged away. “Okay,” she said and threw her hands towards her shoulders. “I deserve that.”
They sat across from each other and the same waitress who served them breakfast came to their booth. “Back already?”
“Our car was broken into,” Leo said.
“Rough morning. You look like you could use some coffee. I’ll be right back.”
In the waiting silence, there was no eye contact between them. Every time America looked at Leo, his eyes were down, staring at his phone screen. When she turned her head, she caught him glancing up at her in the reflection of the frosted exterior window between the paper hearts stuck there.
The waitress, with a tray in hand, placed two napkins on the speckled plastic laminate tabletop, followed by two mismatched mugs, a trivet in the center, and a whole pot of coffee in the space between them. “It’s on the house,” she said.
“Thank you,” America said, and poured some coffee into Leo’s red mug.
The warm drink mellowed them both out, and after trading a few looks, there was no hiding their attraction for one another. Scowls turned to smiles, and when Leo winked at her over the rim of his mug, she couldn’t help but crack. “Leo, I?—”
“I got you something,” Leo interrupted her half-prepared speech and tucked his hand into this jacket opening. He pulled out a heart shaped box and placed it on the table. Its cardboard edges were warped, and the ink had melted the words into a mix of colors from moisture exposure. “I was planning on giving it to you while on the plane, but… you know.”
America opened the box lid and peeled back the thin pink cellophane wrapping inside. Foil wrapped chocolate morsels shined under the fluorescent lights and they looked to be dry. She picked a square one and unwrapped it. “I talked to Carol.” She placed the rich brown chocolate on her tongue, and it instantly began to melt from the heat the coffee had provided.
“How are things at home?” Leo asked and checked his phone again. After the last bad news he had gotten through text messaging, she was in no hurry to know what he was looking at.
She put up one finger until she finished chewing the caramel center. “She got in a fight with Pa. Finally.”
“Oh, this should be good,” he said. “What do you mean by finally ?”
“You know their past? I guess he pressed her to tell him why she’s hated him for so long. The thing is, she’s too embarrassed to tell him the truth.”
“What’s the truth?”
“That she loves him.” She picked another chocolate and unwrapped the gold foil. “And she’s been in love with him since high school. I’ve never heard her talk like that. She thought she was protecting herself from getting hurt or hurting others but all she did was close herself off and hurt people, specifically Pa.” America played the conversation in her head, picturing what it must have been like all those years for Carol to keep a secret as big as hers, and here she was thinking her little lie about marrying Leo a week early in Vegas was bad. “She saved Pa’s life.”
“Is that so? By being a thorn in his side.” Leo chuckled.
“Her dad was a drunk and had threatened to kill Edwin. That night, the night of the dance, Carol’s dad was on a bender and she thought he might actually do it. So, I guess she felt like she had to do what she did that night and forget about him.”
Leo’s mug shook in his hand. “I had no idea.”
“No-one did. She played it off for all these years so well,” America said. “I suppose she blames me for cracking her hard exterior. All I know is she loves him, like a lot.”
“And Pa?”
“You tell me? You’re his best friend.”
“I know he loves her too. I think she’s the main reason he moved back to the Cove after he got out of the military, and why he stayed long after the water dried up when almost everyone else moved away.”
America reached across the table for Leo’s hands. His fingers were cold to the touch, and she held them tightly in her palms. “She told me to make things right with you, and that I’ll never forgive myself for treating you badly. Leo, I am so sorry for saying that all of this is your fault. It’s not. None of it.”
Leo dropped her hands and came around to her side of the booth. Their legs touched under the table and his arms circled her shoulders. “Of course, I forgive you, how could I not?”
America hugged him back and felt the weight of her remorse lift from her heart. “You know I love you?”
“I love you so much America Greene?—”
“Thorpe,” she interrupted with a smirk.
“Thorpe,” he repeated and kissed her on the forehead. “I’m so sorry this week hasn’t gone how you planned.”
“It’s hasn’t, but to be honest, there’s no way I could have planned to accidentally marry the man of my dreams, in Vegas of all places, and then road trip across the country to get home in time for a wedding that people still think is really happening.”
America closed her eyes and thought of the past few days. She wasn’t usually someone who liked grand romantic gestures, but dinner at the Eiffel Tower was a magical experience that made her feel like the most loved woman in the world. The first night sharing a bed with Leo, her husband, made her feel anxious and all the more loved when he respected her space. The memories of so many wonderful moments forced her to admit that the trip had actually been really nice overall.
“I think the thing weighing on you is the guilt about lying to the people you love.” Leo poured another cup of coffee and sipped some. “I haven’t had to worry about it, since you’ve made all the phone calls and I’ve only texted with Grant about how the retreat is going this week. All business, nothing personal. But you… You’ve skirted around the truth, and I think it’s time to come clean.”
“Leo. I can’t. My parents will be devastated,” she said.
“Are you certain?” Leo asked and checked his phone again.
America couldn’t stand not knowing what was holding his attention so acutely. “What do you keep looking at that stupid thing for?”
“I called in a favor to help us out of this. I hope you won’t be upset.”
“Leo? Why would I be upset?” As the words came out of her mouth, she saw the reasons coming through the front door of the diner. “You called my mom?”
“Texted. But I guess, yes.”
America shot a look of disbelief his way as she stood from the table. “Mom, Dad, how are you here?” She hugged them both at the same time and leaned back to look at them. The two people that could help the most were somehow in Buffalo, to be with her.
“We were in the neighborhood,” Paul, her father, said with a side grin.
“We landed in Pittsburgh this morning and were driving east when we got Leo’s SOS. We headed straight here,” Mom said and linked arms with America. “I hear you’ve had a rough day.”
“You don’t know the half of it,” America said and sat beside Leo.
“I know more than you think,” her mom said as the waitress approached.
“Can I get you folks something?” she asked with a pen and notepad in her hands.
“Mom, you should try this lemon curd donut. It’s very good.”
“I’ll have that. And a cup of tea please.” Ever since Vivian got back from Italy the previous year, she had preferred tea to coffee, something about the way it reminded her of the leaves on the vineyard vines.
“Anything for you, mister?” The waitress turned to Paul.
“You got anything stronger than coffee?” Paul said with a chuckle. “Club sandwich, and a coke?”
“Coming right up,” she said.
“So, you two got hitched in Vegas?” Paul said.
“I guess we’re getting right to it,” Vivian said and nudged Paul with her elbow into his ribs.
America looked at Leo. “You told them? You went behind my back and against my wishes?”
“Are you actually upset that I did, or do you feel relieved that you don’t have to pretend anymore?” Leo asked and held her gaze until she capitulated.
America focused on her mother’s face. “I didn’t know how to tell you. Plus, you were on a cruise when all this happened. I thought we could just carry on and no one would be any the wiser,” she said and held her mom’s hand across the table. “I’m sorry I lied about it. It’s just that sometimes there’s no easy answer.”
“The truth is always the easiest way out, dear.”
“Your mother’s right,” Paul said as the waitress placed a soda and water onto the table. “And we’re not mad at you in the slightest. So, you got married already, who cares? We are just happy for you both.”
“But what about the wedding, all that money?” America whined. “Everyone is looking forward to the big day, and how do I cancel everything this late?”
“We figured, we could still have the ceremony and reception as planned. Maybe we could tell everyone the truth about what happened in Vegas. No harm, no foul. We just don’t want to let anyone down,” Leo said, and America nodded in agreement.
“What is it that you two want? Really.” Vivian asked.
“Earlier I said that I wanted to go back in time and redo the last week of my life, but now…” America looked at Leo and smiled. “I just want to go home, with my husband.” Leo mouthed I love you and she kissed him lightly on the lips. This man, who swept her off her feet and made her see herself through a new lens, not the version she thought people wanted to see but the real America. She wanted nothing more than to get him alone, with a bottle of wine, and a good romcom on the TV. What she craved now, more than ever, was a normal day.
“The wedding is two days away. If you want to move forward with your plan, your father and I will help keep your secret, though I don’t know how long before someone finds out. You know how small towns are. But if that’s what you want to do…”
“And there’s the magazine to consider,” America said remembering that all the couples who got married alongside them were to be listed in the next issue.
“Well, if we can’t have it, why don’t we just give the wedding to Carol and Pa. Solve everyone’s problems,” Leo laughed but America didn’t find it funny.
“That’s not a bad idea,” Vivian said. She looked up to the ceiling as though she might find the answer written there.
“Wait. I was totally joking,” Leo said and mumbled through a backtrack of what he had just suggested.
Considering her mom and Leo, America ran scenarios in her mind about how it could work. She could call Carol and they could hatch a plan together to surprise Pa. All the same people would be there whether it was America and Leo, or Carol and Pa getting married. After all, they were already the best man and maid of honor for the ceremony. It could work.
“I know that look,” Paul said as his towering sandwich arrived. He clapped his fingers together and grinned at the plate of food. “Sandwich time.”
“And who’s gonna tell Carol and Pa?” Leo said, probably regretting having spurred the women’s imaginations on.