Page 25 of Fractured Hope
“You cut that out, young man, or no baklava for you.” Yaya sent Lyric a warning glare.
“I’m sorry, Yaya,” Lyric said quickly. “Pleeeease don’t take away my baklava!” he whined.
“You behave.” She turned back to me and muttered something under her breath in what must have been Greek because I didn’t understand a word.
“Now, you tell me you’re okay. Our Atty is taking care of you and treating you well?” She looked at me imploringly.
I couldn’t help my honest response as Yaya studied me with such...hope?
“Yes, he’s been taking such good care of me. He’s been so generous and so kind. I’ve never known anyone like him.” Icould feel my cheeks heat as I glanced at Atticus out of the corner of my eye.
His smile took up his whole face as he beamed at me. The way he gazed at me made me feel like the only person in the yard, even though it was filled with people.
“Ah, I see he’s done well then,” she said, looking between us and our goofy smiles. “Now, how can we get you to make an honest man out of our Atty?”
She announced this just asAttyhad taken a bite, and he started coughing. His mom was quick to smack his back so he could start breathing properly again. I poured him some water from a pitcher sitting on the picnic table.
“Are you okay?” I asked, trying to hold in my laughter at the shocked look on his face.
“Thanks.” He coughed and took a big drink. Once he could breathe again, he looked at his Yaya, who was sitting serenely, the picture of innocence—apart from the satisfied smile on her face. I’d never known a grandma could be soto the point.
“Come now, Atty, when hope drops such a wonderful young man in your lap, don’t you want to lock him down as soon as possible?” She seemed so serious that I was getting a little nervous. Was this how families and grandmas were supposed to act?
“Yaya, please!” Atticus shot me an apologetic look. “It’s not like that, really.” He added somewhat desperately. I was beginning to feel sorry for him and wanted to set his mind at ease.
“Maybe he should at least take me on a date first, and then we’ll see.”
Everyone at the table appeared stunned. Did I say the wrong thing?
Atticus looked shocked. “Would you really like that, to go on a date. . . with me?” He set his hand on mine and gazed into my eyes.
I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at his genuine shock. I mean, we did kiss yesterday. “Yes, of course I would.”
“Well, there you go, Yaya. I’m going on a date and that’ll have to be enough for now.” He finished pointedly.
The whole table burst into laughter, and I took a moment to squeeze Atticus’s hand reassuringly. We looked at each other, and I couldn’t believe I’d been crazy enough to suggest a date.Me!My heart soared. I was safe here with his family, and everything I’d seen so far told me Atticus was a good man.
14
ATTICUS
I was flyinghigh after the events of Sunday and such a great weekend. My bolstered mood kept a smile on my face all through the night and into the morning. I couldn’t believe sweet, shy Bodhi had basically asked me out in front of my family. More and more, he seemed to be coming out of his shell, and after our kiss on the ridge, I’d hoped we were progressing toward a date.
Of course, Yaya had to jump the gun. In this case, I was glad she did. My heart warmed at the thought of how fast he’d agreed to a date.
I reminisced as I poured our Monday morning coffees into travel mugs. Now I had to plan a perfect date. Should it be in town, or should we venture out into the city? What would he like? He deserved to be spoiled. With that in mind, I set about planning our date as Bodhi finished getting ready.
After a great weekend, it was hard to get back into work. We had such a busy week ahead that Seb, Lyric, and I were all working on cars. Bodhi had started answering the phone and organizing the office. He was better on the phone than Lyric,or at least, quicker because he didn’t flirt with every customer, something I was thankful for.
We fell into a domestic rhythm, living together and going to work. I hadn’t had a chance to bring up the date yet, so we were in a holding pattern. Did he regret saying yes to a date or feel pressured because of my family and Yaya’s little dig? The last thing I wanted was for him to feel obligated.
Bodhi had made himself at home in the office and was working through our backlog of clients, ordering parts we’d needed, and taking on all the office work that had fallen to the side. He mentioned updating the computer system and downloading a few additional apps that he wanted. He said the apps would help him work better. I was happy to let him have access to anything he needed.
He refused to rest, and after sitting around for those first few days, he insisted he wanted to be useful. I approached him on numerous occasions with the offer to pay him for his time, but he flat-out refused.
After over two weeks of Bodhi taking control of the office, we were on top of everything. The shelves were stocked, and we were running more efficiently than ever. On Thursday while I was doing the annual service on Mama’s old Toyota Corolla, Seb and Lyric approached me.
“Hey, we need to talk about Bodhi,” Lyric said, looking very stoic.
