Page 30 of Peach Blossom Hollow

Violet couldn’t believe Leo had actually rented a limousine to take them to the parts store. This man who drove a beater like her, because he couldn’t bear to pay for something new, had hired a limo. When his own car was right there in the parking lot, ready to go. She couldn’t wrap her mind around it. Leo was unlike any man she’d ever met. He was serious,focused and driven. But he was also playful and fun. He was up for an adventure, but also balancing life and responsibility in a way that looked easy. It looked like something she wanted.

“Drink?” he asked, opening a side panel near the limousine’s rear seat. She’d overlooked it, assuming it contained a fire extinguisher or fuses. But inside was a minibar.

“No way! That’s a fridge?” Violet slid forward on the soft leather, the lack of restraint causing her to hesitate for a second. Why didn’t people have to wear seat belts in a limo?

On the lookout for other secrets and surprises, she glanced around the interior, feeling like a kid again. She loved stories where the characters discovered hidden passageways or compartments, and she’d spent hours on her backyard swing imagining and willing her home to reveal secret passages to her. A stairway, maybe a half door hidden in paneling, a room revealed only if you pulled the right book from the bookshelf. Even a safe tucked behind a portrait would have been satisfying.

“I want this to be my next car!” she squealed when she pressed an indentation in the armrest and a lid popped up, revealing stereo controls. She touched a few buttons and soft music came through the speakers.

Leo laughed and held out a mini bottle of champagne as the limo glided down the city streets. “It’s game day, so I can’t drink, but you can.”

“Leo! It’s nine in the morning.”

He shrugged. “Limo life.”

She shook her head, unable to come to grips withthe thought that champagne and limos were the norm for some. “It’s game day for me, too.”

“Did they give you a diet plan? Athena’s been brutal with us, like she thinks what we eat can bring us together as a team and earn us some wins.”

“Mascots don’t have to perform at quite the same level. No fancy dietary plan for me.”

Leo offered her an iced tea, which she accepted. She leaned back in the seat with a happy sigh, the cold bottle clutched in her grip. “I could get used to this.”

“Me, too.”

“Then why don’t you? You have the means.”

He shrugged.

After last night’s heart-to-heart, she understood that he was like her, responsible and sometimes too serious. They’d both been raised that way—her by a strict Korean mother, him by a strict cowboy father. But she’d learned last night that he’d taken his sense of responsibility to the extreme with pouring his pro rodeo income straight into the family ranch rather than living high off the hog.

She gripped the cap on the iced tea before realizing she didn’t know what it cost. In a limo a drink like this could easily run them double digits, couldn’t it? She put it back in the fridge.

“What are you doing?”

She waved away his questioning look.

“You’re not thirsty?”

“I’m good.”

“Is this your first time in a limo?” he asked.

She nodded.

“You didn’t ride in one to your—”

Wedding.

It was sweet that he caught himself mid-sentence.

“To my wedding? No. And I didn’t ride in one to my prom, either. Did you?”

“Nope.”

Violet noticed a glimmer of sadness in his eyes, and murmured, “There’s so much I still don’t know about you.”

“Let’s play Twenty Questions.”

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