47Chapter 3 – Sickness in the Family
"Leah, it's an "Ethan Longacre" Jeremy yelled up the stairs.
"What!" Kelly asked Leah when she heard Jeremy's response.
"Ethan Longacre!" Leah shouted as she ran down the stairs to the front door.
"Hi Leah," Ethan said calmly.
"Don't 'Hi Leah,' me! What are you doing here? First you tell me that you can't have a relationship with me because you can't leave your family and now you're here on my doorstep after six years. Do you think I'm going to forgive you? I'm getting married in three weeks Ethan, to Jeremy. Something you could never promise me! Now leave me alone! I, stop, leave, me, alone!" Leah had started to cry.
"Leah! Stop, stop yelling at me" Ethan said.
"You, you, leave me alone. Can't you tell that you're hurting me? I loved you, and you made me leave." Leah shouted.
"What's going on, are you Leah's Ethan?" Kelly asked Ethan when she had climbed down the stairs and was standing in the hallway with Leah, Ethan, and Jeremy.
"Yes, I would be Ethan Longacre, how do you do?" he asked Kelly taking off his hat and giving a slight bow.
"I'm Kelly Steves, Leah's best friend" Kelly replied.
"Don't talk to him!" Leah shouted at Kelly.
"Leah, what are you talking about? I didn't know you loved an Ethan Longacre. Please explain to me honey," Jeremy asked.
"Ethan, is Amish, and I am not. I met Ethan's little sister Rebekah, when I was in the hospital when I had bone cancer. Rebekah and I became good friends, and so did Charity and I, Charity is Rebekah's older sister, I visited Ethan, Charity and Rebekah at the Longacre's farm. Ethan and I started courting, than after a while we fell in love. When little Rebekah died I felt like my heart was breaking, I can't start to imagine how the Longacre's felt. Then Ethan broke up with me, and then I new that my heart had really broken. For months afterwards I was feeling depressed, I couldn't go out with anyone. Then I met you Jeremy." Leah finished off her story.
"Why, why didn't you tell me?" Jeremy asks.
"It was to painful to talk about," Leah replied.
"Then why does Kelly know about Ethan, she didn't meet you until university, if it's so painful to talk about, how does she know about it?" Jeremy asked Leah, his voiced sounded painful, and angry.
"Kelly only knows about Ethan because I would wake up crying, and she heard me screaming." Leah said. "What do you want Ethan? What are you here for?" Leah said facing Ethan; her long lost love.
"I came to talk to you, Leah." Said Ethan. "Can we sit in the living room?" He said gesturing towards the living room.
"Whatever you came to say, you can say it right here, in front of Jeremy and Kelly." Leah said.
"Ok, your wish." Ethan said.
"So what do you want to talk about?" Leah asked.
"It's about Charity." Ethan said dryly.
"What's happened to Charity?" Leah asked.
"She's, she's sick Leah," Ethan said.
"WHAT?" Leah asked again.
"Leah, she's dying."