Page 43 of Leo
The front door of the store opened, the tiny bells jingling, and Bethany ducked away, making a beeline for the kitchen before anyone could see she’d been crying.“Good talk,” I called after her.
“Go be useful,” she called back.
Ah.Good.We were back on solid ground again.I turned to face our customer and knew my smile was dorky as it bloomed across my face.“Leo!I thought you had a service this morning?”
“This morning’s wrapped up.I have another at three, though.Edward spent this morning with his Aunt Gnome and Uncle Mike, but we just had a trip to the library for ourselves before I have to be back at the home for another service at two,” he said, shrugging sheepishly.Edward was clinging to his leg, staring at the case of treats with wide-eyed want.“You already had breakfast,” Leo reminded him.“And you’ve eaten more sweets this week than the rest of the year combined.”
He snorted.“Don’t be silly.I eat lots of sweets.There’s nowayI had that much this past week.Right, Ambrose?”
“Ah, that’s not my call to make, kiddo.”
Edward’s lips curled down in displeasure.“Well, it’s not possible.I know it.Besides, I’m just looking!”
Leo shook his head, a small smile playing on the corners of his lips.“I was actually taking him over to Naomi and Mike’s to hang out for the day while I took care of the Liebman funeral.When he saw the sign for the shop, he wanted to stop and say hi.”
“To the cupcakes?”
Leo’s laugh sent a warm, caramel-rich shiver through my body.“Probably.”
“Well, if it was just him wanting to say hi, I suppose I shouldn’t ignore him.”I started to move around the counter, but Leo was quick, stepping in front of me.“Hi?”
“Hi.”He glanced at Edward, who was fiddling with his tablet, and bent to brush a quick kiss across my lips, leaving me stretching up for more.He chuckled and gave me another, then another, then another… That turned into me clutching the lapels of his suit jacket to keep him in place while I deepened the kiss.just a tiny bit—not enough to scare the health inspector if they just popped in for a surprise inspection or something.Finally, when we broke for breath, Leo looked as dazed as I felt.“Maybe,” he whispered, “I took the long way to Naomi and Mike’s so we could stop in and say hi and it was all my idea.”
“You have great ideas,” I said, reaching for him again.
“Dad,” Edward said loudly.“Dad, we have to go.You told Aunt Gnome we’d be there by one and it’s almost one and you have to help bury Mr.Ramirez and I know he can’t tell time now, but I bet his daughter can.”
Leo sighed.“Call you later?”
“Oh!Wait!Want to come over tonight?Bethany and I are doing pizza and a movie.She suggested inviting the two of you,” I added, seeing the startled expression on his face.
“The four of us?Dinner and a movie?”His startled expression settled into something wary, cautious.“That’s… cozy.Four of us.Dinner and a movie at home.”
“Are you a parrot?”I chuckled nervously.“Yeah, ordering pizza, seeing what’s on streaming or digging into the big box-o-DVDs I can’t bring myself to donate to the library.”
Leo opened and closed his mouth as if he couldn’t get the words out.Finally, he shook his head.“Uh, yeah.Maybe?We’ll see how today goes?Edward gets overwhelmed sometimes so—”
“I wanna go!”Edward announced, suddenly right up on us.“Can we dad?Please?Bethany has the coolest books about beetles, and I can bring that one about the Hercules beetles I got at Cal Academy last summer.Oh!You said you’d think about letting me get one for a pet, but I forgot to ask again.Can I?”
Leo, visibly flustered, shot me a glance fraught with something I couldn’t quite untangle.“Let’s get you to Aunt Gnome’s, huh?I bet she’s got something fun planned for the afternoon.”
“Not really,” Edward shrugged.“Leslie has softball tryouts, so I think we’re just hanging out at home and waiting for her to get back.”
“Well, we won’t know till we get there, will we?I’ll text you later, Ambrose,” he called, scooping Edward up with a startled sound of protest from the boy and headed for the door.
Bethany poked her head out of the kitchen as the door jangled shut behind them.“What the hell was that?”
“I have no freaking clue.”
“Well… I got something that might take your mind off it, but I don’t know if it’s a happy thing or one of those things where you’ll get that vein on your forehead and your neck gets all blotchy.”
“My neck never gets blotchy,” I muttered.“What is it?Oh, god, not another offer from those Sugar and Spice people!I swear, I’m going to find a lawyer who does pro bono work and get them to send a cease and desist at this rate.I—”
“Uh, no.Definitely not them,” Bethany said, a hint of excitement in her words.“Look.”She held up her phone and, after I grabbed her wrist to steady it, I was able to make out my face paused mid-word.
“Wow.That’s… That’s attractive.What’s going on with my mouth?”I squinted.“Do I always look like that?Wait, what is this?Is this one of the YouTube videos you shot?Bethany—”
“Look!”She tapped the screen, indicating the number of views.“One.Freaking.Million.”
