“I’m sorry,” Leo finally managed to say with a slight flex of his jaw.
“It’s okay,” she told him, letting him see she was now content with her past. “My social worker was overworked and frustrated, so she sent me to check out this charity that was just starting up when I was thirteen. And when I got there”—a smile finally touched Nadia’s lips—“Anna took one look at me, and I swear she understood everything I had ever been through, right there.” The brighter tone carried on in her story as she found her happy ending. “She got me into an amazing program where I got to go to a boarding school for free in St. Louis, and there I met my best friend, Haley. When I graduated, I came back to Kansas City and started working for Anna, because all I wanted was to help others like me.”
“And now?” he asked curiously, wanting to hear the rest. “Do you still work for Anna?”
“Unfortunately, she passed away last year … from cancer,” she told him, letting him know that, while she had gotten a happy ending from her past, it didn’t mean that there still weren’t bumps in the road in the future. “But she left her charity, Moonbeam, to me, and I still get to help so many teens today.” Proud of what she had accomplished was an understatement. Moonbeam, which had started out in the same building it was housed in today, was about to get an upgrade in their mission to help shelter even more at-risk teens, thanks to her and Haley. “That’s why I’m stuck here.” She laughed. “I met your father at his casino hotel for a meeting.”
“Did you get your donation?” he asked with a slight smile, knowing why she must’ve come.
“Oh, I got a bit more than that,” Nadia joked, looking at where she sat in the middle of the freaking ocean.
The two sat for a few more eternal moments under the moonlight, not needing to say another word. The hardest part had come, and now she had to wait, for not only when Leo was ready to talk, but if. It hurt to know he would have to come to her first, as all she had done was open the door.
Feeling like she had accomplished enough with Leo for one night, she stretched out the next few moments until she yawned then got to her feet. “What do you say to getting some sleep? That way, we can spend the day resting in the sun tomorrow?” she asked with a smile while she held out her hand to help him up.
“Sounds good,” Leo told her after a few seconds before taking it. As he did so, both of them had a silent understanding that he was taking the helping hand not only literally but figuratively as well.
The walk back to the cabins below was spent silently between the two as they were careful to not wake anyone else on the boat. Whispering good night to the boy, she then opened the door to her room when she heard him speak.
“Nadia?”
Nadia turned her head to look at Leo, who stood down the hall just a bit outside of his door.
“Thank you.” He said the words so gratefully that it almost broke her.
She swallowed, hoping her voice didn’t come out hoarse from too much emotion. “You’re welcome.”
Watching him slip into his room, she slipped into her own and wiped away the tears that were able to fall upon both her cheeks. There was always that fear she had when she dealt with teens who had extreme cases …
Nadia just hoped she wasn’t too late.
Eight
Thinking of You