Page 64 of Off the Grid
@TheBakingBandit: Too much meringue!
@Sprinkle-Ella: I prefer more lemon curd, personally.
@TheGourmetGoddess: THANK YOU
The rest had been history. The private chat had been nonstop for the past two years, branching off from the show, shifting to their personal lives and work instead. McKenzie had tried to push Jo and Addy away, but she’d failed. They wouldn’t let her put her walls up—they’d bulldozed right through them instead. Now, they were the two best friends she could ever imagine. Even with everything that had happened these past few days, she wouldn’t change anything. And she had a feeling that if she ever had the chance to meet them in person, the same thing would happen—they’d weasel their way into her heart. They’d nestle so deep she’d never get rid of them, and she’d never want to. That was true friendship. Not catty whispers or drunken giggles, but something deep. Something real.
A familiar laugh drew her face to the open window, pulling her from her thoughts. Leo stood outside, helping a few guys lift a table. The sight of him drew her back to the night before, to being wrapped in his arms, to his soft eyes and the way they seemed to see through all the defenses, straight into the heart of her. After so many years of solitude, it had felt amazing to finally let someone in, to let him in. Now, he was all the way across the yard, out of reach, right where she’d pushed him.
Leo was joking with another man. He dropped his head back and his shoulders bounced, the picture of ease. One of the guys said something McKenzie couldn’t quite make out and Leo brought his palm to his face, covering it as he shook his head.
You’d never know they were strangers, she thought, a little twinge of jealousy curling in her gut. How did he do it? Blend right in? Make it look so easy? He’d been through more horrors than she could imagine, but he still found a way to smile.
Maybe I can too.
What if she didn’t push him away? Or her friends? Or the world?
What if she stopped hiding in the kitchen?
What then?
The very thought terrified her, but maybe the fear was a good thing. Maybe it meant she was alive. An idea stirred in the back of her mind—wild and crazy, just the sort of thing Jo would love.
But first, there was something McKenzie had to do, an easy step to proving to herself that she wasn’t the bitch the world wanted her to be, to proving to herself that she could change if she tried. She walked out of the kitchen and down the hall, searching empty rooms until she found the three girls in matching silk robes she’d been looking for. They all glanced up with wide eyes when she walked through the door.
“Hey…” McKenzie said as her heart pounded in her chest.What are their names? What are their names?For some reason, Huey, Dewey, and Louie were the only things coming to mind. She shook her head.Improvise.“…ladies. I’m sorry about before. It’s been a long couple of days, and I let the stress get to me. If you’re still interested, I’d love some help in the kitchen. I’m sure your friend Alice would love to know that her best friends had a hand in bringing her dream wedding cake to life. I know if I were in her shoes, there’s nothing I’d want more.”
- 23 -
Leo
The wedding ceremony had come and gone, followed by a heavy-on-the-liquor cocktail hour and a cobbled-together dinner service. Beneath a carpet of starlight, a staticky old stereo system blasted music into the night. No one seemed to care that the floor rental hadn’t made it in time. They danced with wild abandon on the grassy lawn, their bared feet growing slick with mud. Despite the storm and the cancelations and the stress, Leo had a feeling that this wedding would be remembered as the best night of the married couple’s lives. From what he could tell, there wasn’t a frown or a dry eye in the place. After all, it was the people who made the evening, not the things—a fact he couldn’t ignore as his heart flipped in his chest upon spotting McKenzie through a break in the crowd.
Up until that moment, he’d been trying to convince himself he hadn’t been searching for her every time his gaze scanned the celebration. It was a futile effort. Leo was like an adrift sailor setting sights on land for the first time—the sight of McKenzie filled him up, settled the nerves, and eased the tension. He didn’t know how it had happened in such a short amount of time, but seeing her was like seeing home, comforting in a way he didn’t know how to explain. He didn’t try. He just slipped around the perimeter of the dance floor and snuck up behind her.
Leaning close to her ear, he whispered, “There you are.”
McKenzie jumped a little, but the tension vanished almost immediately and she turned to face him with a wide smile on her lips—the smile he’d been yearning all day to see. “Give me a heart attack, why don’t you?”
“If I wanted to do that, I would’ve come over here with the megaphone the best man used to give his speech.”
The corners of her lips twitched even as she dryly murmured, “Ha. Ha.”
“So where’ve you been all day?” Leo couldn’t stop the words from spilling through his lips. They were supposed to sound nonchalant and slightly teasing, but there was an edge of desperation to his tone. If she heard it, she didn’t say.
Instead, McKenzie shrugged. “In the kitchen. The bridesmaids wanted to help with the cake, and I didn’t have the heart to say no.”
Leo tossed her a pointed look and arched his brows.
“Okay, okay,” McKenzie corrected and rolled her eyes. “I told them no at first, but then I changed my mind and let them help. Needless to say, it was a little slow going.”
“I’ll bet.” He snorted. “Why the change of heart?”
“I don’t know,” she murmured, glancing toward the floor before looking back up and meeting his gaze with a poignant gleam in her eyes. “It seemed like the right thing to do, I guess.”
Leo squinted at her, trying to read the emotions behind the words. She was trying to tell him something, in her own guarded way. He knew she was. Before he had a chance to understand, she blinked and looked out at the makeshift dance floor, clearing the expression from her face.
“Anyway,” she continued, “after the ceremony, I had to go back to the kitchen to finish up on my own.”
