It was a revelation—maybe even a revolution. But revolutions didn't happen overnight. She needed more time to reconcile his truth with hers.
The car heater hummed quieter now, tempering the air but not the weight of fourteen years of misunderstanding.
“I'm truly sorry, Leah,” Avi said softly. “I was a stupid kid fighting my own demons. If I’d realized for a second what that would mean in your life, I'd have dragged the whole battle of the band’s after-party right into youronegjust to make it right, I swear. What can I do to convince you I am not a guy who would ever intentionally ruin such a sacred event?”
She wanted to believe him. The sincerity in his voice made her chest ache, but she couldn’t let go of her hurt—not yet. “I think I’m going to need a few more miles on the odometer before I can put it behind me, but I'll try.” She took a shaky breath. “Maybe it would help if we start over—at mile one, okay?" She managed a small smile. “Hi, I’m Letty.”
“Avi. And are we there yet?”
She rolled her eyes. “Getting there.”
Chapter Eight
“Why are you exiting?”
“Because I need to pee, you need actual shoes that cover your toes, and there’s a mall right there. With a food court. It’s a one-stop no-brainer.”
And because the last hour with you – and your playlist – was so intense, I need retail therapy.
Seriously, with the grim task of delivering Mrs. Horowitz’s belongings to her sister in Erie still looming, Leah needed to recharge under the fluorescent lights and bask in the piped-in Christmas music for a while.
Turned out she had a pretty gifted DJ sitting shotgun, after all – once she finally handed over the phone to him. Curating playlists from her own downloaded favorites, but also sharing music he had discovered over the years. And, whether he hadn’t come across it or was humbly ignoring it, he hadn’t played her even one Painted Doors song.
“You want me to walk into a shopping center in the middle of America during the holiday season?” He looked equal parts terrified and intrigued.
“I’m sure Mall Santa is okay sharing the limelight with you.”
It felt good to stretch legs and get a gulp of fresh, cool air. Avi was careful to dodge the potholes and puddles this time. But his steps slowed as they reached the main entrance to the mall, and even though he held the door for her, it seemed he might bolt the other way any minute.
“Here they come, your adoring fans! I’ll fend them off. Oh wait, it’s just mall walkers.” She gave a little push to his furry shoulder in jest.
“Yeah, yeah, point taken.” His brows lifted sheepishly, disappearing under his shaggy swoop of hair across his forehead. “Let’s go pop some tags.” He swaggered a bit in his new Macklemore coat.
“If it makes your ego feel any better, it is only 10 am on a Wednesday, and the teenyboppers are probably still in school.”
“My ego feels just fine, and is that what you think of my music?”
She shrugged, only shooting a cursory glance at the trendy store they had just passed. Hanging between the tinsel and BOGO signs were several of Painted Doors’ licensed apparel items.
“I’ve heard your band is quite the…hot topic.” She couldn’t hold her giggles.
“Yeah, yeah…keep walking, Gellman.”
Leah made a beeline to the ladies’ restroom.Ah, sweet relief.No sign of Avi when she came out, so she meandered into the pop culture lifestyle store that had his merch in the window and promptly bought a winter hat, black knit with PAINTED DOORS embroidered in bright yellow. On clearance.
It was already Hanukkah somewhere, wasn’t it?Plus, Buffalo was going to be colder than Erie.
She also checked her texts while waiting in line at the register. Jaz has sent a plethora of emojis that Leah took to mean “drive safe/have fun on the boat” and…eat eggplant in the rain?
She was spending way too much time at Bramblewood with the old folks and was out of touch on the latest lingo. She accented Jaz’s text with a question mark, and noticed Avi had not erased his texts as promised. A new one in the chain from an unknown number had come in, displaying its preview:
Baller no bueno. Spain was great, in Haifa now. I won’t say anything to S but keep me posted if you change your mind.
Baller, as in Matzo Baller, the same event she was going to on Friday? And who was S? Leah wasn’t sure what intrigued her more. It was her phone, should she feel bad for peeping?
She walked out and found him at a kiosk in the middle of the aisle, trying on sunglasses that were no doubt out of her daily budget. “Seriously?”
He whipped his head to face her, and the price tag dangling across his nose confirmed it. “We’re here for practical, weather-appropriate items, remember? Three hundred dollar sunglasses won’t prevent frostbite.”
