I felt Leo studying my profile when I stepped back on the gas again. Reed Community Center was almost a half-hour away, so ignoring him for this entire drive would be near impossible.
“What?” I asked him in a low voice and glanced in the rear-view mirror to see Dad still busy talking.
“You drive stiff. Like you’re scared to make a mistake,” Leo noted. There was no judgment in the statement, just simple observation. “I’ve never seen someone sit that straight in my life.”
“I drive alert,” I argued. “And I don’t remember asking for your opinion.”
“Maybe not. But I remember wish number two,” he whispered.
My cheeks burned as he continued.
“Chill out long enough to learn how to swim.” He leaned back in his seat and rolled the window all the way down so he could lean his elbow out.
“I don’t see any water in here.”
“That’s your problem. You’re so stilted in everyday life and it follows you everywhere. Especially in the water.”
“Love that you think you have me figured out from the limited interactions we’ve had,” I mumbled.
“We can change that.” He smiled at me.
I sighed. “I said I’ll think about it.”
He made a thoughtful humming sound. “You spend a lot of time thinking.”
“Again, an interesting comment from someone who doesn’t talk to me.”
“Am I wrong?” Leo wondered.
I let out a breath, trying to deny what we both knew was fact. Dad’s voice raised, a little angry at whoever was on the other end. When I made eye contact with him in the mirror, he shook his head like I shouldn’t be worried. But whenever he used that tone of voice made me anxious enough to squirm.
“Hey.” Leo’s voice was low and gentle. “What’s wrong?”
I shook my head and reached over to turn the radio up a little. The rest of the ride, we listened to the music that drowned out a one-sided conversation.
Leo followed me to the back of the truck once I parked in front of the community center. I unhooked the chains keeping the truck’s carry-on trailer closed.
“Your Dad is always this… serious in the mornings?” he wondered.
My gaze flickered back to where Dad still sat, arguing. “No. Not really.”
Dad, being this intense with strangers on the phone, was a newer thing. It was concerning considering how bad he was at maintaining business contacts. I could do a lot of things but mending burning bridges wasn’t exactly my strong suit.
“Are we going to wait for him?” Leo asked.
I laughed. “Nah. If we waited for my dad, then we wouldn’t finish a job until the end of the week. You have any experience with hedge trimming?”
When he gave me a blank look, I said, “I don’t know why I asked. Follow me and I’ll show you a few tricks.”
I unloaded the hedge trimmer and grabbed a set of protective earmuffs and an eye shield. Leo followed suit. It didn’t take me long to go through the basics because it was a fairly simple task. The hard part would come when he realized making the circle-shaped hedges in the building’s front was even harder than it looked.
“Don’t touch those.” I gestured to the foliage. “Just focus on the square-shaped ones. I’ll handle that after I’m done mowing.”
“I can do it,” he insisted and accidentally turned on the trimmer while it was too close to his legs. In a swift panic, he shut it off, nearly dropping it in the process.
I looked at him, unimpressed when he tried to play it off cool. “Do I need to give you a safety lesson too?”
“No, I got this.” He shook his head and then reconsidered. “Actually, maybe a few tips wouldn’t be so bad.”
