Lesley nudged her office door open with her shoulder, one hand balancing a cardboard tray with two steaming cups of coffee. The familiar scent of roasted beans drifted upward, warm against the cool air of the office.
She barely made it a step inside before she froze.
Someone was sitting behind her desk.
Comfortably.
Feet crossed beneath the chair, fingers drumming against the armrest as though the office belonged to her.
"Surprise!"
Leanne threw her arms into the air with a grin so bright it almost erased the shock that had seized Lesley's lungs.
"...What are you doing here?" Lesley asked, still standing in the doorway.
Leanne placed a hand dramatically over her chest. "Is that really how you welcome your beautiful sister home?"
Lesley shut the door behind her and walked farther into the room, setting the coffee tray on her desk before folding her arms.
"I'm just asking because you don't usually come home twice in a year."
Leanne laughed softly. "True." She leaned back in the chair, rocking it once. "I wanted to stop by before I leave for Greece. I'll be there for a few months this time."
Lesley nodded once.
"And..." Leanne's smile turned knowing. "I figured someone might need her big sister right now."
Lesley answered with an exaggerated roll of her eyes, refusing to give her the satisfaction of a reaction.
Leanne only chuckled.
Then her gaze drifted to the tray on the desk.
"Hmm."
Lesley looked over instinctively.
"Funny," Leanne said, tilting her head toward the cups. "I think you already knew I was coming."
"What?"
"You bought two coffees."
Lesley's eyes dropped to the cups.
She had forgotten they were there.
"No."
Leanne raised a brow. "No? Then, since when do you drink two coffees before nine in the morning?"
"I..." Almost instinctively, Lesley reached for one of the cups and wrapped both hands around it, using its warmth as an excuse to avoid Leanne's gaze. "It was a buy-one-take-one promo. I just... took the free one."
The excuse sounded thin even to her own ears.
Leanne watched her for another second before giving a small shrug, seemingly willing to let it go.
Lesley wasn't listening anymore.
Her eyes lingered on the untouched second cup.
The order had come so naturally.
Two coffees.
One black.
One with extra caramel.
She hadn't thought about it. She'd smiled at the barista, repeated the usual order from memory, paid, and stepped aside to wait. Only when the drinks were placed on the counter had reality caught up with her.
There should have been one cup.
Just one.
Over time, stopping by their favorite coffee shop had become part of her morning routine. She would carry both cups upstairs, and by the time she reached the office, Denisse would already be waiting—usually pretending to work while secretly watching the hallway for her arrival.
Lesley could almost hear her.
"You're late."
She would complain first, then immediately reach for her coffee with a grin that never matched the mock annoyance in her voice.
Without realizing it, Lesley had ordered two coffees, just as she always had with Denisse.
Her hand tightened around the cup.
The other one sat untouched, its lid still pristine, steam curling lazily into the quiet office.
No one was waiting for it anymore.
No one was waiting for her.
"Then I'll have this one."
Before Lesley could answer, Leanne reached across the desk, claimed the untouched cup, and peeled back the lid just enough to blow across the surface. She took a careful sip, humming her approval.
"Still knows how to pick good coffee."
A knock sounded at the door, crisp enough to break the quiet settling between them.
"Come in," Lesley called.
The door opened, and Spencer stepped inside carrying a neatly organized stack of folders against his chest.
"Good morning, Ms. Ashford." He walked to the desk with practiced efficiency. "These are the documents from our IT department regarding the ongoing security upgrade installation at the Blue Moon Hotel Sun Valley branch."
"Just put them here."
Spencer placed the folders on the corner of her desk before opening the top file.
"And, Miss, we're scheduled for the inspection tomorrow."
Tomorrow.
The word landed heavier than it should have.
Lesley kept her expression even as she nodded. "Let the Philipps know we'll be conducting it in the afternoon."
"Yes, Ms. Ashford."
He gathered the empty folder in his hands, offered a respectful nod, and quietly left the office. The door clicked shut behind him.
Silence returned.
Lesley's eyes rested on the documents, but the neat rows of text blurred together.
Tomorrow.
She would have to see Daphne.
Since that day... since the kiss that had shattered far more than trust... she had never spoken to Daphne directly. Every email, every phone call, every meeting request had gone through Spencer. If signatures were needed, he handled them. If schedules had to be arranged, someone else made the call.
She had made certain it stayed that way.
She had no desire to see Daphne or hear her voice.
Not after everything she had cost her.
But tomorrow there would be no assistant standing between them, no email thread to hide behind. She was still the CEO. Personal conflicts had no place in the decisions she had to make. Responsibilities didn't disappear just because forgiveness did.
"So..." Leanne's voice was gentle this time. "You're really meeting Daphne tomorrow?"
Lesley looked up, unsurprised.
Of course Leanne knew.
Her sister always had a way of finding things out, especially when it came to her. Leanne had never needed to be in the same city to know when something was wrong. One phone call, one worried look from their mother, a conversation with the right person, and somehow she always pieced everything together.
"I'm not surprised you already know."
Leanne shrugged, completely unapologetic.
"Mom was worried about you." She cradled the coffee cup between both hands. "She told me everything she knew."
A pause.
"Then I talked to Daphne."
Lesley's brows lifted slightly.
"And your friends."
"My friends told you everything?"
Leanne laughed.
"You know how loyal they are." She smiled into her coffee. "They gave me enough to understand what happened, but every single one of them said the same thing."
She looked directly at Lesley.
"'If you want the whole story, hear it from Lesley.'"
A small smile escaped Lesley before she could stop it.
Trust them to protect her, even from her own sister.
Leanne leaned back in the chair, balancing her cup on one knee.
"Your big sister's here now." Her voice softened. "You can tell me everything. Whatever you've been carrying..."
"I know."
Lesley's gaze drifted back to the coffee in her hands.
Thin wisps of steam still rose from the opening in the lid.
She watched them disappear into the air, saying nothing.
For the first time in days, someone was waiting for her to speak.
She just wasn't sure where to begin.
"Don't you want to come with me tomorrow?" Lesley asked after a moment. "She's your friend, too. And judging by that suitcase, you only got here this morning. Don't you want to see her?"
Leanne's expression lost the lightness it had carried since surprising her.
"I already did."
Lesley looked up.
"She told me everything." Leanne rested her coffee on the desk, her fingers lingering around the cup. "Everything she did to you... and to Denisse."
The silence stretched between them.
"I told her I couldn't pretend I wasn't disappointed."
Lesley watched her sister's face carefully. There was no anger in it now, only a quiet firmness that somehow felt heavier.
"When you and Daphne broke up," Leanne continued, "I never thought I had the right to choose sides. What happened between the two of you belonged to the two of you. My friendship with her was separate."
She let out a slow breath.
"That didn't mean I wasn't hurting because my little sister was."
Lesley's chest tightened.
"But this..." Leanne shook her head. "This wasn't just about your relationship anymore."
She met Lesley's eyes, her expression softer now, but no less certain.
"She chose to hurt you. She chose to hurt Denisse."
A pause.
"Those are the people I love, Les." Her voice lowered. "And I don't know how I'm supposed to pretend that didn't happen."
Lesley didn't answer right away.
She knew what Daphne meant to Leanne. That was what made it harder.
Leanne didn't let people into her life easily, but once she did, she held on. She remembered birthdays, old stories, inside jokes, traditions that stretched back years. Daphne wasn't just a friend. She was someone who had been there long enough to become family.
They had shared holidays with the Ashfords. They had laughed over things no one else understood. There had been a time when Lesley had believed Daphne would always have a place at their table.
And now that place was gone.
Not because Daphne had hurt Leanne.
Because Daphne had hurt the people Leanne loved most.
"I know," Lesley said quietly. Her thumb brushed along the edge of the paper cup.
Her voice softened.
"You two have been friends since high school."
Leanne's expression shifted, just slightly. Like she knew what Lesley was about to say.
"I would've understood if you stayed friends."
Leanne's expression softened.
"Les..."
"No, I mean it." Lesley gave a small shake of her head. "Daphne was important to you. I know that."
A silence settled between them.
"But I can't be around her anymore." Lesley exhaled slowly. "I can't pretend things are the same."
She held Leanne's gaze.
"Just... don't invite her to our family gatherings anymore."
Leanne didn't hesitate.
"I won't."
There wasn't a trace of uncertainty in her voice.
"And I won't be seeing her or talking to her until I'm convinced she understands what she did and apologizes to both of you."
Lesley gave a small shake of her head.
"If anyone deserves an apology..." Her voice caught for the briefest moment. "It's Denisse."
Images she had spent days trying to bury slipped back into her mind anyway.
Denisse's face.
The disbelief.
The hurt she hadn't even tried to hide.
Lesley's fingers tightened around the paper cup until it crinkled softly beneath her grip.
"We hurt her so badly."
The words barely rose above a whisper.
The ache she'd been trying to keep tucked away all weeks unfolded inside her chest again, familiar and relentless.
Lesley stared down at the ruined cup in her hands.
Tomorrow, she would have to face Daphne.
But today, she could only think about the person who had walked away because of them.
Denisse.