He hesitated.
“Good grief. Here.” She thrust the tea at him. “For someone who’s quick to give gifts, you seem awfully reluctant to take them.”
“Oh?” he asked dryly. “How does that feel? To want to give something to someone who’s reluctant to take it?”
She laughed. “It’s my turn to complain about you! You’re not allowed to twist this into an opportunity to complain about me.”
On the next play, Dylan jogged onto the field. Leah cupped her hands around her mouth. “Go, Dylan!”
They were too far away for Dylan to hear. She scooted forward on the seat, back straight. The play went off. She shouted encouragement,clapped, winced, then clapped some more as the boys regrouped in a huddle.
Watching her was the best entertainment in Georgia.
“You got this, Mountaineers!” Leah yelled.
A few minutes later, the team failed to convert on third down and had to kick. She shook her head. “When they run the ball, they convert on third down sixty-seven percent of the time. So I’m not sure why they attempt to pass on third downs.”
“Can I go get a candy bar?” Rudy asked his wife.
The older woman released a frustrated sigh. “You already had half a Kit Kat, remember?”
“I’m still hungry.”
“Here. I have some carrot sticks in my purse.” Tess handed Rudy the snack she’d packed in a Baggie.
“Pretty soon,” Leah whispered to Sebastian, “Rudy will make a trip to the restroom and, when she’s not watching, buy and eat a cupcake.”
“I like them.”
She surveyed him from the corner of sparkling eyes. “I’m glad you’re here.”
“There’s nowhere I’d rather be.”
In a short period of time, she’d become too important to him. Stupidly important to him. His old priorities had crashed like a game of Jenga, and now she sat at the top. Which left him vulnerable. He’d been trying to hold himself and his emotions in check. He was losing the battle, though, and that knowledge planted a seed of dread in him.
If he was smart, he’d live in the moment, enjoy the time he had with her, and accept whatever came.
Instead, he’d begun to long for promises from her she wasn’t ready—might never be ready—to give.
He wanted her to promise that she’d love him forever.
That she wouldn’t leave him.
That she wouldn’t die.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
The following afternoon, Leah waited anxiously at the curb outside her house for Sebastian. She could count on him to be either early or punctual, and he was scheduled to arrive three minutes from now, at 1:45 p.m., to take her to a production ofFiddler onthe Roofat the historic theater downtown.
Above, charcoal-tipped clouds spat drizzle. She pulled up the hood of her quilted jacket.
Sebastian’s Mercedes rounded the corner, and she exhaled with relief. He came to a stop before her, and she slid onto the passenger seat.
“Is something wrong?” he asked immediately.
“Yes, but let’s drive while I tell you about it.”
The car slid forward, windshield wipers clearing the field of vision. Pinpricks of rain. Cleared again by the wipers. Pinpricks of rain.
