He dialed Maddie’s number.
Painful hope leapt within Maddie when she saw that the incoming caller was Leo. She dried her hands on a dish towel, scooped up her phone, and took a few steps into her parents’ mudroom adjacent to their kitchen. “Hello?”
“Maddie, it’s Leo.”
She loved how he always announced his identity. “Hi.”
“Hey, I’m sure you’re probably really busy and that you don’t have any time to spare, seeing as how it’s Christmas Day and all, but I’m at home for the next few hours. I just put Charlie down for a nap, and I’d . . . really like to see you.” He made an irritated noise in his throat. “That sounded presumptuous . . . me calling and telling you that I’m at home and that you can come over. I’d come see you if I could. If you were free. But now that Charlie’s asleep, I’m stuck?—”
“I have some time. I’d be happy to swing by. Definitely don’t wake a sleeping child.”
“You’re coming by?”
“Do you want me to?”
“Yes. Very much.”
“Then I’m coming by. I’ll be there in ten minutes.” They disconnected, and she hurried into the kitchen to gather her things.
“Where are you going?” Maddie, her mom, and her dad had been in the throes of preparing rolls and ham and mustard sauce to take to her dad’s side of the family.
“I’m going to swing by Leo’s.”
Her mom tilted her head a fraction. “Leo? I thought you guys finished your Mission:Christmas duties.”
“We did, for the most part. We just have one loose end left to tie up.”
“Loose end?”
“Mm-hmm,” Maddie said noncommittally. She knew better than to tell her mom anything about Leo until it was absolutely official. No sense getting Mom’s hopes up unnecessarily.
“We need to leave here in forty-five minutes,” her dad said.
“Who’s going to whisk the mustard sauce?” her mom asked.
“Brandon will have to do it. It’s high time we started making him contribute to this family.” Maddie pointed her steps toward the living room.
Brandon was slouched on the sofa playing a game on his phone. In one deft motion, she nudged his feet onto the floor. “Up and at ’em, little brother. You’re needed in the kitchen.”
“Huh? Since when am I needed in the kitchen?”
“It’s a new dawn. It’s a new day!” She sailed toward the door.
“What’re you so happy about?”
“It’s a new day!”
She practically ran to her car. She was tempted to press the accelerator to the floor as she drove across town, but she willed herself to slow down. The streets were slightly slippery and framed on both sides by the coating of snow that had fallen since yesterday afternoon.
Maddie came to a stop in front of Leo’s house and peered at it through her car window. When Leo had moved to town, the house he’d purchased had been a topic of discussion between herself, Britt, Hannah, and Mia. Motivated by extreme curiosity, Maddie had driven by once or twice, but this was the first time she’d been invited inside.
The isolated location of Leo’s house readcabin. However, its architecture readmodern sculpture. The materials of concrete, glass, and wood combined to form a structure that resembled a box with a diagonally slanting lid.
Maddie gathered her courage, and on wobbly legs, made her way to the door.
Leo opened it before she arrived. The fact that he’d been waiting and watching for her generated a rush of affection all out of proportion to the simple gesture.
Holy cow.She really needed to keep her composure. It may be, of course, that he wanted to see her so he could tell her he’d changed his mind about going on a date.
