Page 47 of Leo and His Love Bunny

I know I should offer to do something else, but I don’t think she minds. In fact, I’m thinking she’s really liking this, just as I am.

Chapter 21

Nora

“He carried you all day? Everywhere?”

“Yes. He insisted on it.”

My friend Zoey and I are sitting by the river. I have my foot propped up on an old stump, and she’s sitting in the grass beside me. I’ve always loved this spot, but after being here with Leo, I can’t come here without seeing him beside me and feeling his hand in mine.

“Wow. He must really love you.”

The hazy glow-bubble of happy reflection that is shimmering around me pops immediately at her words.

“He doesn’t love me. We’re just friends.”

“Friends don’t carry friends around all day long. He’s definitely in love with you.”

“I disagree. But even if he is, he’s got a lot going on and he doesn’t have time for a relationship any more than I do.” I know the words are true as they’re coming out of my mouth, but I don’t want them to be. I want Zoey to be right. I want Leo to be in love with me, as impossible as that sounds to me. And I want us to be able to be together all day every day forever and ever.

But that’s a fairy tale.

“You make time for what you want.” I’m sure I’ve said that to Zoey before and she’s just throwing my words back in my face. But they’re true words. We do make time for what we want.

But not in this case.

“How’s your voice-acting business going?”

“Slow.” Zoey lifts a shoulder. “The author I usually work for is having a baby, and she’s not going to write a book for at least another six weeks. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if she doesn’t write for years. Babies are not easy.”

“What are you going to do?” I try not to act worried. Zoey quit her job to pursue her dream of voice acting almost ten years ago, and there have been some lean times. Times when she wondered if that was really her calling in life. So far, God has brought her through all the tough times.

“Trust the Lord. If this is what He wants me to do, He’ll provide the work.” She picks at a blade of grass, looks at it for a minute, then throws it in the river. We both watch it float gently downstream. “I’m working as hard as I can to promote the works I’ve done. I have that money coming in, and I’m keeping my eye out for anything else I can do. And that’s all I can do. So, I’m doing my part, God can do His, or I’ll assume the door for this time of my life is closed and I should look for something else.”

“What about the foundation your parents started in South America? Can you help with that?” I forget what it is about, some kind of conservation or something.

“No. I love my parents, but we get along better if we have a little distance between us.”

I know that. Zoey has mentioned it before. Her parents don’t have much in the way of values and morals, and some of the things they’ve done have been pretty shady. Zoey tries to stay as far away from them as she can, but I know, maybe better than anyone, how much Zoey wishes for a good relationship with both of them.

Sometimes we just don’t get what we want.

“You know, maybe you ought to examine your life and what you really think God wants for you. A man like Leo doesn’t come along every day. Maybe you’re throwing away what could be the best thing that ever happened to you.”

I don’t feel like I am throwing anything away, but I’ve learned over the years to trust Zoey when she hands out advice. She doesn’t do it very often.

“Did he stay with you all day?”

“He did.” It’s been several days now, and my ankle feels a lot better. It still gets swollen when I’m on my feet a lot, like I was today. We were making the cupcakes I need for the first speaking engagement I’m doing with Leo. It’s tomorrow, and I’m excited. Some because of the cupcakes, but mostly because of seeing Leo again. I haven’t seen him since earlier in the week when I sprained my ankle.

“Even at work?”

“He made me sit on a stool at the cash register, and if I needed anything, he was my feet.”

“Wow. He’s such a sweetheart. And I’ll say it again, I think he likes you a lot more than you think he does.”

“But I haven’t heard a thing from him since.” I try not to wail. After all, we’d spent one of the best days of my life together—and that’s saying something considering I’d sprained my ankle, but other than that, Leo had made everything so much fun. Then...crickets. Not a text, not a call, not a sighting.

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