Read Online It All Started With a Lima Bean by Kimi Flores - Free Book Online Page B

going to continue this conversation any longer. Abby stormed over to the driver’s door, flung it open and heard, “Don’t you dare walk away from...,” just before she slammed the door shut, turned the car on and drove away, leaving Tiffany standing there livid. Then the waterworks started. Abby pulled into her driveway and utterly broke down, crying hysterically, before calling Leah.
    “Can you please come over?” She sobbed.
    “On my way.” Abby loved her best friend. Nothing else needed to be said. She would be there soon, and Abby could cry herself to sleep knowing she wouldn’t be alone.
     
     

     
    Furious, Caleb couldn’t believe the call he’d just received from Grace. Leah had called her to warn them about that monster’s mother. She’d apparently attacked Abby the day before, and the woman that was slowly finding her way into his heart wouldn’t be at school today. It was a half-day as all Fridays were and Caleb had already planned to keep his Madison home anyway. She still hadn’t fully recovered from the torment she’d experienced the day before.
     
     

     
    Abby peeled her crusted eyes open after stretching and felt a warm body next to her. Leah. She’d spent the night to make sure Abby was okay. There were no words to express her gratitude for this woman beside her. She thanked God every day for sending Leah into her life. Abby quietly got up, went to the bathroom, and cleaned her eyes with a washcloth. As she headed to the kitchen to make them a late breakfast, she heard a light knock at her front door. Not thinking or even caring about what she may look like, she headed to the door and opened it. There stood a crisp looking, clean-shaven Caleb in jeans, flip-flops, and a surfer t-shirt, holding a brown paper bag.
    “Good morning.” His eyes scanned her body. She looked down and noted her boxers and tank top. She hid behind the door and peeked her head out. “I’m sorry to come unannounced. Grace asked me to drop these bagels and cream cheese off for you.” He handed her the brown paper bag.
    “Oh, um okay?” She reached for the bag then for a throw blanket from the couch closest to her. “Would you like to come in?”
    “If I’m not intruding.” His eyes wandered past her as though he was looking for someone.
    “Not at all, come in.” Holding the blanket up to her braless chest, she placed the bag on the coffee table after closing the door behind him. “Have a seat. I’ll be right back.” She scampered off down the hallway toward her bedroom to get dressed.
    “How are you feeling?” She heard a sleepy voice coming from her bed.
    “I’m freaking out; that’s how I’m feeling.” Abby shook her hands up and down while pacing back and forth.
    Leah shot up to a sitting position, “Why? What’s going on?”
    “Caleb Hunter is sitting in my living room and I opened the door to him looking like this.” She gestured to her outfit and her ponytail that was hanging on for dear life.
    “Oh no, mujer. Go into the bathroom, fix yourself up, and I’ll grab an outfit for you.” Could there actually ever be a better friend than Leah?
    Abby pulled herself together, brushed her hair and teeth, and then put on the jean capris and white eyelet blouse she’d just gotten from Old Navy. Leah had laid them out on the bed as a mother would have done, before jumping into the shower herself.
    Caleb stood as soon as she entered the living room. His presence enveloped the room, and Abby welcomed it. “Would you like some coffee?”
    “Sure.”
    She headed to the kitchen and got the coffee going before joining him again. He seemed nervous.
    Looking toward the hallway, he asked, “Uh, is your boyfriend here?”
    “What boyfriend?” That was odd. Then she realized he could hear the shower in her room. “Oh no, that’s Leah.” Relief washed over his face. “She stayed with me last night.”
    He opened the bag, pulled the containers of cream cheese out as well as the plastic knives